Exploring the Dildos of Halloween

Halloween is fast approaching, which means millions of social media feeds will once again be filled with ghost stories, costume inspiration and various other 'frightening' fare. But Halloween itself is about much more than just jack-o'-lanterns, specters and goblins. Everyone is aware of Halloween, fewer people however speak to the darker side of the ancient festival: the sexual themes inherent within it. Halloween and sex have a long history together - lusty mythology, trickster gods if you will - the pairing might initially seem a little strange to modern observers. Our approach to this subject will look at the more personal, sexual origins of Halloween; different forms of desired experience being a primary focus.

An Untold Story of a Traveling Witch and Her Broom

(One of the many classic Halloween related images: a witch on a broomstick.) The association of witches and brooms is based on a more carnal society, something most would not consciously recognize. Early European folklore describes witches using broomsticks to administer some form of hallucinogenic herb into their bodies; flight being the near-perfectly achieved illusion of a reproductive ritual. The bending of the broomstick itself represented (and still does to a point) all those shadowy, private hallucinogenic experiences - female sexual emancipation being one of the end results of this process. Beautiful young women were and are depicted as witches, possessing that all too desired, near-mythical power; the flying witch story and all that it implies, became and remains heavily sexualized.

But witches always seem to be searching for the letter "D."

The letter "D" here is shorthand for a man's dick. Witches have historically been associated with sexual immorality; consorting with Satan being one of the more well documented forms of this. Beliefs about witches having some form of sexual relation with the devil, or even 'the devil himself', were common in early modern and Medieval Europe. Gaining power through various sexual activities was thought to be part of their practice. From this point of view the sexualization of witchcraft in folklore reflects the great anxiety society felt towards powerful (often women) rebels - radicalism was and is a constant threat, limits being pushed past in every possible way. Sexuality became an important feature of the witch archetype; accusations of bewitching men for sexual gain followed naturally. Even now images of witches and their subsequent clothing are propagated, alluring and to some degree sexual.

The Halloween gods love sex

Before we can properly know the history of Halloween and all the European customs it originated from, keeping our feet planted in that history is necessary. The Christian Church observed All Hallows' Eve, and what we now call Halloween, as a near perfect transition between seasons. The mythology surrounding Samhain (and to a large extent all subsequent holidays) hinged on the thinning of the veil between living and dead. Deities historically linked to Samhain, or at least the transitional season, are and always will be, to me at least, philosophically and/or literally, sexed and/or fertility based.

For example, Molly Gan is a Celtic goddess of death and battle, [30] and a sexual feature is shared by them. When she, as archetype, had intercourse with Cú Chulainn, the hero and warrior, to change the course of events from his original story, she displayed a very feminine understanding - both of power and to some extent transformation - through her sexuality. Simultaneously, fertility and wildness were frequently associated with the Greek mythological god Pan. Over the centuries this image morphed into what we now recognize as the horned god, reveling on Halloween specifically.

What do these ancient deities have in common with the modern day practices we call Halloween? This link is the core of the duality experienced at the festival; jubilation of some sort, and the more near constant recognition of the brevity of life. Sexuality itself is an expression of that very thing - vitality, small and large scale, pure or otherwise imagined. Festivity (to me at least) cannot be separated from it.

Last remarks

There is a sensual history to Halloween that stretches back centuries; the holiday itself is most commonly associated with scary stories and various otherworldly creatures. The specific eroticism of the event evolved historically - witches, gods, or near constant sexual imagery being all part of those representations. Coming together of some form of sexuality, death and a certain type of pre-defined terror is always present. Various sexually loaded mythology surrounding Halloween deities, ancient fertilization rites and more 'lascivious' images of witches coalesce within the fuzziness that the holiday permits.

Halloween is not just about costumes and simple parties; reaching into the more personal, near primal life aspects - sexual activity being one of them - and the gradually lengthening nights is what the holiday represents. Remember this as you prepare to dress up and partake in all future celebrations. If you have a little more, go ahead and enjoy yourself further on Halloween Eve. You might just happen upon that harrowingly elusive weird thing with seasonal dildos, pumpkin shaped or otherwise.

Eerie extraterrestrial style dildos are at the true intersection of both Halloween and sex. Decorated like a pumpkin skeleton (a near perfect traditional symbol of the holiday) they will always have that quality to them. Silicone dildos will restore their form, new and thrillingly sensory based encounters are what we all long for. Long dormant desires are being reawakened by the holidays; try a pumpkin shaped (or any oddity of all things human) dill or not, but at least for a little while, let the strange, and all too human, beauty of the season fill you.