Sacred Costuming
Updated: Oct 28, 2022
How Your Halloween Costume Can Help you Re-Imagine Yourself
I’m going to take a little break from the cards today to offer my thoughts on how Halloween can be a catalyst for self-exploration.
For me, Halloween costumes have always been a source of joy. As a kiddo, I broke my arm on the afternoon of October 31st. I remember going straight from the ER to put on my into costume (conveniently a mummy!) and then trick-or-treating. At age 12 I promised myself I would never miss a year of dressing up, and I never have! For others, I know that choosing a Halloween costume can be a source of stress and anxiety. If that's you, I'd like to help. Halloween can be an opportunity to practice some transformational magic- even if you decide not to dress up!
Halloween is the day that the jester rules the castle. The forbidden and taboo becomes permissioned and free.
On Halloween, children become superheroes, hobos, princesses, and goblins. Adults become political figure spoofs, villains, and "sexy" versions of heroines, animals, and legends. Don an orange jumpsuit knowing that come November 1st, you will be free. Take a cardboard box, paint it silver, and become an invincible knight of the round table.
Women can fearlessly throw off the unspoken rules of dress and reverse the power dynamics of sex by dressing as salaciously as imaginable, knowing that they will be safe from speculation, rumor, shame, ridicule, and obligation.
Though a woman wearing a "sexy" nurse costume may not have consciously articulated it, she is repossessing her full power. What could possibly be more radical than a woman unafraid of her own sexuality in the uniform of a healer?
Men can abandon the limitations of toxic masculinity to become teddy bears without embarrassment, or warriors without violence.
Halloween can provide a waking dream state. Our dreams are communications from our unconscious, helping us play out what we cannot do in real life. The purpose of our dreams is to help us process our feelings, hopes, and fears. Today, I'm inviting you to play with those feelings in the waking safety of a Halloween costume. If you don't normally enjoy costuming or you are like me and can't live without it, I hope my own story of Halloweens past can inspire you this year.