It’s Hallowmas. That’s right. Halloween, you see, is derived from Old Hallow’s Eve, which makes today Old Hallow, or Hallomas. So what is Hallowmas? Why, it’s All Saints’ Day, or All Hallows’ Day, or the Feast of All Saints. Or Hangovermas, if you know what I mean. Halloween is one of the top five drinking nights of the year in the U.S., you know. Anywho, back to Hollowmas. Hallow means holy, so it’s simply a celebration of all the Christian Saints in one go. It’s origin has been lost in the mists of time, and it’s even more mysterious how such a holy day’s eve became a pagan holiday celebrating all that is frightening and evil. But, as they say, for every yin, a yang.
It is also De De Muertos. Or in this household, ‘Under the Volcano’ day. Read Malcolm Lowry’s towering novel which takes place on this day, where epic drunkard Geoffrey Firmin spends the day in an alcoholic haze wandering the streets of Mexico. It doesn’t end well but it ends the way he knew it would. Then fire up the amazing film adaptation directed by John Huston and starring Albert Finney in a performance which should have netted him an oscar. “No se puede vivir sin amar. One cannot live without love.”