Some of you young folk might be contemplating on which scary character you are going to get dressed up, with Halloween around the corner. Have you been surfing the net to select a spooky outfit? Halloween goes back many decades and did not originate as a festival that was meant to be eerie. Its early history derives from the day before the Christian commemoration of All Saints Day in November. Thus the day before this event was called ‘All Hallows Eve’ which turned out to be phrased as Halloween. On a rainy Saturday evening sipping mugs of hot chocolate some of my friends shared their memories of what they thought was ‘paranormal activity’.
One of the first memories came from a buddy who had visited a plantation Bungalow at Diyatalawa. These lush salubrious hills are serene where no one expects to be spooked out. Nevertheless my friend had been informed by his brother-in- law that there used to be a weird manifestation at night. Shortly after dinner the rest of the family had gone to bed. With the charcoal embers burning in the fireplace my friend waited patiently. Slowly his brother -in -law pointed towards the main wooden ‘Burma teak’ beam, across the ceiling where the visual of a British planter complete with top hat seemed to be seated. My friend had pointed his flashlight but the beams penetrated right through the apparition of the planter, who had once owned this bungalow. The holiday was cut short and they returned to Colombo!
We often deliberate if these sightings are true or a part of our own imagination which can be influenced. One of my cousins, Thomas had a bizarre incident some decades ago. It was taboo to carry pork in the night. Being quite carnivorous in our appreciation of meat, we were not keen on such warnings. Thomas had to return home to Kadawatha after a grand dinner at my aunt’s home. My cousin sister gave him a plastic box filled with deep fried pork. As innocent Thomas was leaving many aunties asked him to keep the box behind, as it was almost 10.45 pm.
Reaching his town close to midnight, he had to walk past the cemetery. Suddenly my aunties’ warnings seemed to ring in his ear. As he walked closer towards the graveyard he would later claim to have seen a large black dog. The dog sat still. He had to pass the dog as there was no alternate route. Gathering every ounce of energy in his body he ran past the dog, which began to follow him. Frenzied Thomas reached his residence, banged on the door and almost fainted. The chaos had woken some of his neighbours. A search was made for the eerie black dog and it was not to be found.
Two decades ago I visited Nuwara Eliya as part of an extended family vacation. We managed to reserve a splendid colonial bungalow. From day one the old Tamil caretaker entertained us with ‘ghost” stories, which we enjoyed as much as his succulent beef stew. Our bedrooms were upstairs. On the third night my cousin sisters came rushing into my bedroom claiming they heard footsteps. Armed with my penlight torch we found our way in the dark. Indeed from one of the closed rooms we thought we heard a noise. I boldly opened the door and saw what seemed to be the figure of a person - which caused all four of us to run down the wooden steps. On our way down we crashed into the old caretaker who was coming up! My parents were awakened. Uncle Godfrey now living in Sydney, always had a funny view of things and said the ‘ghost’ had come to eat the remaining beef stew. Alas the next morning the room was investigated and we found that the ‘figure’ was actually a coat rack with a coat and bowler hat in position, a relic from decades ago.
The debate on paranormal encounters has been on for decades. People are influenced by their beliefs, induced by religious teachings and perhaps the films they watch. From my generation our scary movies were Friday the 13 and Count Dracula. Some movies do have a very evil manifestation and are best avoided. A few years ago living in America I watched two movies, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Rite. During the latter film one of my blonde female buddies was so scared she jumped onto my sofa!
This present ‘4G’ generation has thankfully not been influenced by superstition and old wives dark tales. But many Sri Lankans still have a ‘concealed’ element of fear in their minds. When we actually analyze the root of these stories many are not real.
One of the ancient myths is the legend of Kalu Kumaraya (the black prince) who is said to roam at night, hoping to capture and seduce young virgins. Today we realise this character was created decades ago to protect young girls, after they attained puberty. There was no electricity then and parents feared for their young daughters: thus creating the black prince phenomena to keep them at home after dark. The same essence can be traced in the myth of Mahasona – a ghost with the head of a bear (seriously!). He too was ‘cooked’ up to keep young boys and girls indoors. We can see how one generation was not fully evolved in a social sense, relying on ‘paranormal’ beings to restrain their youth.
Thus Halloween is not an ‘evil festival’ that is to be ‘celebrated’ with spooky parties. We live in a democracy and the choice is yours. Again people tend to commercialise anything for revenue and someone may organise a dinner dance at a cemetery in years to come.
Going ‘trick or treat’ is an American practice and is innocent fun for the little kids. It’s ok to wear a scary mask and frighten a close friend. But cult induced interpretations of Halloween is not cool. It does not conform to Sri Lankan culture. On a deeper note there are such things as demon possessed people and evil spirits, which is another day’s story. Until then be wise, stay safe and enjoy the finer moments in life.