Season of Dreams
October.
The seasons changed. Summer is gone and the wind rustles the branches of the trees and blows the dried leaves to new graves. The air is crisp and the frost whispers onto the browning grass…
Oh you get the idea. It’s Fall. Autumn. And, if you’ve been reading this column for any length of time, you know that I’m excited. It’s time for Halloween!
Halloween is my favorite holiday. Always has been. I’ve always liked the idea of becoming someone else for a time. When I was young, I had an active fantasy life. A lot of that revolved around me magically becoming female. My Dream come True.
Funny that.
Halloween is based on ancient celebrations from all over the world. According to a Halloween History Website:
“Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”). The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.
The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. These are additional attributes of the history of Halloween…
Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them.”
Even Jack O’Lanterns have a history! “The practice of decorating “jack-o’-lanterns”—the name comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack—originated in Ireland, where large turnips and potatoes served as an early canvas. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, home of the pumpkin, and it became an integral part of Halloween festivities.” (Source)
However, a Google search couldn’t uncover any history of Crossdressing on Halloween. Not that anyone reading this knows of anyone who would do that.
Oh wait — I do. In fact, my “re-emergence” came about due to Halloween.
I’ve told this story several times before, so I’ll summarize. Back on Halloween 2008, my wife suggested we switch our costumes from the year before. The year before I did Clark Kent and she did Lois Lane. So she suggested I be Lois and she would be Clark. This was a week before Halloween. I’d been suppressing my feminine side for over twenty years at that point. So, with a week to plan it and pull it off, I enlisted the help of a coworker, and managed to do it. We went to a party, and then I went out with my co-workers. I looked horrible, but it didn’t matter. The Genie was out of the bottle, and I was on the path to being the woman I am today: a Woman who still has a long journey ahead.
So Halloween is my “birthday” as it for so many others. Angela says it’s the “High Holy Day” for T-girls. Hard to argue that.
Here in Philadelphia, we have a HUGE party on Halloween night called the Henri David Ball, which attracts Thousands to preen and show off amazing costumes. There’s also a Zombie Prom, Dracula’s Ball, and so many other things to do! Last year there was a Zombie themed party aboard the battleship New Jersey called the “Philadelphia Experiment!” The group that did that hasn’t released the location for their party this year, which attracts artists and their ilk, but the ad features a mummy, so I’m guessing it will be in the Egyptian wing of the museum at the University of Pennsylvania (one of the world’s foremost such exhibits.)
So you could say we take the Holiday rather seriously around these here parts.
My Three Past Halloween Costumes
How serious do I take it? Each of the past three years I’ve had my costume custom made by a very talented seamstress and spent a LOT getting everything oh so right. Like many others.
So how am I celebrating the Harvest this year? Oh, that’s top secret. I’m definitely going for a conservative, perhaps even frumpy look.
Okay, even I’m not buying that lie.
Maybe I’m going as the Blonde from Abba, Agnetha Fältskog. Perhaps a One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater. Or maybe I’m not dressing at all. I’ll just be me: Sophie.
Not very imaginative? Well, I still have an active imagination, and Halloween is the Holiday for imagination. On this night we can be whatever we wish and to Hell with conventions. It’s a night of Dreams and Dreams come True.
Some of you reading this may have never ventured out as a Woman. Perhaps on this night of Possibilities, you may find a way. Take those steps out the door that are impossible on any other night of the year. Make the night YOUR night. Feel the prowl.
In any case, with Halloween I commemorate my rebirth. And I can’t wait! What will the night bring this year? Will the Moon will be full and light the Night? Will the Spirits wander the misty fields, searching for whatever answers they need to move on to the next world? Passing children laughing and running from house to house in an orgy of sugar-fired glee. “Trick or treat, trick or treat, the bitter and the sweet.”
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How many of those children are like me?
Dreamers.
May all your Dreams come true this month.
Happy Halloween!
Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender History, Transgender Opinion
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It’s so true, Sophie! Halloween is a “free pass” of sorts. I know the first time I went to a party in costume at a gay bar was the first time I really integrated all the components of cross dressing. Hair, makeup, shoes and dress, it was a revelation. The next three Halloweens became stepping stones to integration of personality for me.
Great article! Thanks for helping me remember a fun time that has contributed so much to my present.
Nessa
Demi, you are quite correct. I didn’t go into the Wiccan beliefs as I really don’t know much about them. Believe it or not, I try not to discuss things that I know little about.
Perhaps you could wrote something for TG forum on the topic? I know I’d read it! 🙂
Bright Blessings everyone.
By all means enjoy Halloween, but some of us (like Druids and Wiccans) take the event a little more seriously. Pagan witch isn’t a dirty word unless you’re a fundamentalist Christian and how many of us fall in that unfortunate catagory?
Blessed Be.