Why Halloween should be bigger in Australia

I read that a Perth man had a heart attack while chasing kids who splattered his car with eggs as a Halloween stunt. A concerned neighbour said Halloween should be banned in Australia, that it is an American thing. I thought that too. I've changed my mind.

Travelling through Ireland, we were amazed at the prominence given to Halloween. Every shop was decked out with pumpkins and spooky figures. Plastic bats swooped from ceilings in the most unlikely places. Shops were flogging outfits, both scarily skeletal and spandex sexy, bulk trick-or-treat lollies - everything needed for a Halloween bash. How sad, we thought, that crass American commercialism had been so comprehensively consumed by the gormless Irish. Tsk tsk.

We moved onto London to find - more of the same. Fashion shop models sporting the latest in Halloween chic, Tescoes selling bins of treats. Clearly, something was on. We asked the owner of our apartment whether we could expect kids at our door trick-or-treating - yes indeed. We bought a huge container of chocolates - and waited.

Early in the evening, Hughie started lobbying to go out trick-or-treating, mounting every argument at a nine year old's disposal. The one I liked best was that if he didn't go now he would be too old. Syl and I can tough out these pleas when it is dark, cold and wet, but Matt is more susceptible. Hughie donned an over-size big brother's black coat, an orange beanie and, looking like a mugger, hit the streets with Matto in tow. They were back in an hour with a bag of goodies.

Over the next coupe of hours, spooks, skeletons and witches, the odd Darlek and try-hards like Hughie bashed on our door. At first, I just held out the bucket of chocolates and a rush of hands would pounce. Our supplies were rapidly depleted. I feared the worst if we ran out, that the crowd could turn ugly. We moved to war time rationing, solemnly dispensing two per child. Caity, realizing that leftovers would be hers, supported this conservative approach.

So what is this madness that has Ireland and England in its clutches? The answer is ancient celtic tradition! To quote Wikipedia it: celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year". The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks.

So, the puzzle isn't that Ireland gets into it, but that Irish Australia doesn't. Did those transporting poms suppress it? Did our Irish forebears have trouble detecting the light half from the dark half in the blinding Australian sun? Who knows. But clearly, this tradition harks back to our celtic roots. It is not an american transplant. Yes, I know, there's not a lot of tradition in spandex and cadbury, but Hugh has this morning thanked me again 'from the bottom of his heart' for letting him go. It was fun!  The dress-ups are great, the gifts voraciously received, the investment modest. Bring it on, I say.