Halloween Part 2
Continuing the theme of outdoor, full scale dioramas, another household in Batavia offers the theme of a Madame Butterfly gathering of spirits on Halloween. The vivid colors juxtaposed with the somber skeletal reminders of death is effective to teach that life and death are never separated.
Additional background on Halloween:
The festival of Samhain marked the transition to the new year at the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter. Celtic people believed that during the festival, spirits walked the Earth. Later on, Christian missionaries introduced All Souls’ Day on November 2, which perpetuated the idea of the living coming into contact with the dead around the same time of year.
In order to avoid being terrorized by all the evil spirits walking the Earth during Samhain, the Celts donned disguises so that they would not be mistaken for spirits themselves and be left alone.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor saints. Soon after, All Saints Day came to incorporate some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before All Saints Day was known as All Hallows Eve, and later, Halloween. — Library of Congress
