During secondary school in rural Ohio the music teacher annually dug out the moth-eaten scores for a bunch of Halloween songs including “Black and Gold,” (the lyrics of which I still somewhat remember). The song was a doggerel hymn about the colors of Halloween season and the lyrics were just a list of black and gold items: jet black cats with golden eyes, golden goblins, pumpkins, and black shadows. Some young wag always said “this should be titled ‘black and orange,’” which I thought was a fair point based on all of the orange and black candy and decorations around.
Allegedly the seasonal color scheme of black and orange go back to the ancient Celtic traditions which Halloween comes from. Orange (or rich gold/saffron, maybe) is the symbolic color of the harvest, the crops, and the autumn leaves whereas black represents night, death, and winter darkness. It’s a good color combination, but I always wonder whether the seasonal obsession with bright orange and black may be more a result of marketers rather than ancient Celts—or maybe they actually dug out black robes and golden sickles every year for Samhain just like the music teacher got out those smudged Halloween music sheets.
If it is a marketing tradition, the marketers chose well. Orange and black are beautiful together and perfectly fit the season, but you rarely see people running around wearing this combination other than tigers and baseball players (and tigers aren’t even people). I wonder of there are shopping seasons in the future that likewise will be known by color—like back to school will be aqua and puce. Perhaps the seasonal holiday colors are predetermined by the natural colors season. Do Australians have a creepy death holiday in their fall (our spring) or what? Or is everything just orange, dun, and buff there every season? What are holiday color combinations from other cultures?
Polynesian Halloween?
ferrebeekeeper 
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October 22, 2014 at 6:26 PM
hocuspocus13
Reblogged this on hocuspocus13 and commented:
jinxx xoxo
October 22, 2014 at 11:43 PM
Wayne
Thanks hocuspocus13! Also I love your name.
October 25, 2014 at 11:43 PM
hocuspocus13
xoxo
October 31, 2014 at 1:41 AM
Beatrix
Hmmm…….a vivid scarlet red & golden yellow are the traditional colors for just about every festival & holiday in Nepal (except for Holi where every color gets tossed about).
The closest thing to Halloween in Nepal is Gantha Karna. The festival usually falls sometime in August & only boys are allowed to participate. As legend goes the demon Gantha Karna ( “bell ears” ) came to Nepal to eat everyone but Nepalis killed him before he did so. Boys collect donations called ‘jagats’ (a ceremonial sort of toll) all during the day from passersby. With these donations the boys buy all the necessary items for Gantha Karna’s funeral that night. An effigy of Mr Karna is made & the boys kick, beat, insult & burn it before finally throwing it in a river. Then the boys march triumphantly home singing songs of victory. At times Gantha Karna has been known to come back to life & seek revenge for his humiliating death – so locking your doors is a must on this night.
In some places the festival includes a gathering of boys at around midnight at the gates of the towns & villages. The boys bang old pots & pans together noisily & fires are lit into which stalks of raw sugarcane are placed which make a tremendous gunshot like BANG when heated quickly. This racket is to keep any other demons from entering towns & villages.
Iron is supposed to ward off evil spirits so Nepalis often drive iron nails into their door sills & wear rings of iron on this day also.