Centuries ago in Persia, a young woman was given to a king as a new bride. She was the last of many, all killed the morning after their wedding in a move of bitter revenge by the king. He had been betrayed by his first wife, and met each new bride as an opportunity to act out his pain.
This new wife, a beautiful young woman named Scheherazade, managed to escape this fate through an ingenious trick of literary seduction Today, the tales come together as One Thousand and One Nights Today, we’re celebrating Halloween. A once pagan, maybe Roman, maybe Celtic holiday that took on Christian influences in the 7th century. For many, this day is all about transformation– transforming into the fantasy figure of your choice, taking on that identity, and living in an alternative story for a night. Maybe this means dressing as Scheherazade, the sharply clever, Middle Eastern woman who used intellectual seduction to save her life and spin a web of other-wordly tales. A pre-modern queen of tricks and treats Or maybe Halloween means a night as Medusa, snake haired monster of Gianni’s heart. An early ‘80s Madonna, gilded conical bra, lacey knee-length wedding dress, mutating into a mid 90’s bindi wearing boudoir For this night, it doesn’t have to end. -Ashley Simpson Halloween, October |