Is there a deeper meaning to Halloween?
Once a strictly northern hemisphere tradition, Halloween is now a must-do on the Aussie celebration calendar.
In the lead up to 31 October, front yards are decorated with pumpkins and skeletons, elaborate costumes are planned and fun-sized wrapped lollies are purchased for eager young ghouls scouring suburban streets in search of sugar.
But is there more to our captivation with Halloween than just dressing up in two-dollar shop wigs and fake blood?
Image: Rawpixel.com
Image: Rawpixel.com
One University of Queensland researcher says the fascination with the supernatural lasts all year round, and is linked to a strong desire to make sense of the world around us.
Associate Professor Tom Aechtner from UQ’s School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry teaches the popular History of The Supernatural course – using theories of religion to understand the influence of the supernatural on human history.
“The premise of the course is not to determine if ghosts, aliens and witches are real, but what purpose they serve in life’s narrative,” Dr Aechtner said.
“Each week, we use historical and critical perspectives from the study of religion to investigate different supernatural beings – exploring how they’ve evolved throughout history, why some of us believe in them and what this says about us as a society.”
Image: Maria Starus/Adobe
Image: Maria Starus/Adobe
According to Dr Aechtner, studying the supernatural as an academic discipline can reveal a lot about people and their behaviour.
With Halloween enthusiasts young and old preparing for another evening of trick or treating, UQ News spoke to Dr Aechtner about the universal fascination surrounding two popular supernatural phenomena.
Ghosts
The 1990 supernatural romance film Ghost saw the spirit of Demi Moore’s murdered partner lingering to protect her from looming danger.
Dr Aechtner said this type of narrative was a positive take on the common depiction of ghosts as eerie and haunting, watching over the living.
He said some people were inclined to believe in ghosts because we are psychologically inclined to see agency in the world and find it difficult to conceive life ending after death.
“Whether they are religious or not, these people are more likely to behave ethically within society because they think they’re constantly being watched over – that the afterlife still has agency in our world somehow,” Dr Aechtner said.
“Even children have a strong inclination that ghosts are spirits of people they know who have passed away … believing in the afterlife makes the inevitable more appealing.”
Dr Aechtner said belief in ghosts revealed a lot about the evolution of human thinking.
“In cognitive science of religion, there's this idea that ghosts and belief in the supernatural might be linked to more ethical outcomes in society,” he said.
“When we witness something occur in the natural world, like a tree branch snapping or a bush rustling, we have a tendency to assume there's an actor that’s caused it.”
Witches
Witches are usually depicted in Halloween stories as wart-nosed wicked and conniving women, stirring boiling cauldrons, mixing potions and casting spells.
Dr Aechtner said this central-casting stereotypical image of the bad witch reflected a common psychological tendency to cast blame when something negative happens.
“During the witch trials of the 1600s, people needed someone to blame when a family member became ill, if livestock died or if bad weather destroyed crops, so they accused female villagers of practicing witchcraft,” he said.
Image: mimagephotos/Adobe
Image: mimagephotos/Adobe
He said this need to blame a bad actor for inscrutable negative events continued even today, in the form of modern-day conspiracy theories.
“Conspiracy theories are efforts to explain an event with reference to the scheming activities of a group of ‘evil people' who attempt to cloak their role in manipulating those events.”
“When anxiety-inducing events such as the COVID-19 pandemic occur, insecurity increases and people look for something to blame.
“For example, the pandemic was so inexplicable that people began spreading the narrative that the virus was a biological weapon that was created for governments to take control.
“Conspiracy theories can soothe feelings of helplessness, offering some level of perceived understanding and control when it’s lacking.”
Why are we so fascinated by the supernatural?
Dr Aechtner said human fascination with the supernatural boiled down to the desire to have answers for unexplainable events that happen around us.
“We as humans find it very difficult to live in a world where things just happen, we need a reason – especially in times of chaos and insecurity,” he said.
“Ideas of the supernatural are often about articulating feelings, telling meaningful stories and contemplating questions regarding what it means to be human and how to make sense of the world.”
He said popular culture and entertainment, especially celebrating days like Halloween, makes the supernatural more palatable.
“Supernatural concepts often deal with universal themes about life, death, good, evil and human nature - topics that we grapple with every day in one way or another.”
Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 429 056 139
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