"Sometimes people ask me how we celebrate Thanksgiving in England. Hel-lo? 'Do you know why you celebrate it?' I want to retort. 'Perhaps the English should have a thanksgiving ceremony for ridding themselves of all those pesky puritans' is another comeback that springs to mind.

No, the English do not celebrate Thanksgiving but they do have a very special holiday in November that is as important to them (if not practiced with the same commercial intensity) as Thanksgiving is to Americans.

It is a typically English thing: incomprehensible and macabre to the outside world. It's called Guy Fawkes Day and has been celebrated every Nov. 5 since 1605. The celebration consists of creating a 'guy'--an elaborate scarecrow, fully dressed and life size--and by building a very large bonfire. That evening after dark, the bonfire is lit and when it is a towering inferno, the guy is swung with gusto and shouts of glee into the flames. After this enthusiastic effigy burning, fireworks and sparklers are set off until late into the night. Guy Fawkes was one of my most favorite occasions as a child.

Since the Mayflower sailed in 1620, it would be easy to suggest that one good reason that the puritans probably fled the English isles to the Americas was because of such pagan practices. However, Guy Fawkes was a Catholic attempting to overthrow a Protestant government. Mr. Fawkes (and several co-conspirators) attempted to blow up the British parliament by secreting barrels of gunpowder in the basement of the House of Lords. The government discovered the plot and the brunt of the escapade fell to Mr. Fawkes. He suffered mightily at the hands of his accusers. Tortured by all forms of burning and flame that the modern medieval mind could concoct (many fireworks are named after these torture techniques and devices), he finally gave way.

The English celebrate Guy Fawkes in the spirit of reliving the thwarting of a dark force and as a terrible warning to others. Therefore, it is in fact possible that some of those puritans who left England for America participated in Guy Fawkes celebrations in the spirit of a good witch-burning.

It's easy to laugh and point out the bizarreness of other people's cultural idiosyncrasies but it is more difficult to examine our own tightly-held traditions. Easter bunnies, wedding rings, Christmas trees, even driving on the right-hand side of the road all originate in a cultural circumstance far removed from our own.

We even have a few traditions in the making here in prison: the quarterly shakedown is a type of tradition although it goes under the guise of policy. We are building a tradition of Fun Days that has replaced the defunct family day. (Fun Day is an annually designated day when we are encouraged to have fun.) And why do we traditionally walk only in a counterclockwise direction on the prison courtyard?

There are several personal traditions. First canteen of the month. Roommate dinners. And in our living unit we are building a tradition of playing group games on the weekends and holidays that are open to everyone.

Anthropologically speaking, human beings are toolmakers and traditionalists. Ritualists. We like to commemorate, remember and celebrate with symbols. We like a day for fun. We like a day to say thank you. And we enjoy days such as All Hallows Eve and Guy Fawkes to remind us of the dark side, to keep us on our toes.

Thanksgiving began as jubilant relief and gratitude for making it through a terrible year. Guy Fawkes Day began as jubilant relief and stern warning. Traditions of grace and discipline we do well to remember daily." (Elizabeth Haysom, Fluvanna Review, November 18, 2004).

Elizabeth Haysom is presently incarcerated at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia. This column is one of a series, published under the general heading 'Glimpses from Inside.'