Halloween

So, tomorow's HALLOWEEN!

Woo!

It is my absolute favourite holiday. I love Halloween. I love dressing up as someone else and spend a lot of time planning my costume and making it. I usually make my costume; I find it gives it more personality than the store bought ones. Unfortunately, my family views Halloween as a satanic and anti-religious holiday and they don't celebrate it, other than handing out candy. However, when I get older. Halloween will be celebrated all through out the month of October, much like Christmas and I'll have a big Halloween party for my friends and their kids and my kids.

So, here's a little Halloween history for you bloggers:

All Saints' Day (All Hallows Day) became fixed on November 1 in 835, and All Souls' Day on November 2, circa 998. On All Souls' Eve, families stayed up late, and little "soul cakes" were eaten by everyone. At the stroke of midnight there was solemn silence among households, which had candles burning in every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes, and a glass of wine on the table to refresh them. The tradition continued in areas of northern England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door-to-door "souling" (i.e., singing songs) for cakes or money. The English Reformation in the 16th century de-emphasised holidays like All Hallows Day or All Souls Day and their associated eve.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween)

Halloween is very popular in Ireland, where it originated, and is known in Irish as Oíche Shamhna (pron: ee-hah how-nah), literally "Samhain Night". Pre-Christian Celts had an autumn festival, Samhain (pronounced /ˈsˠaunʲ/from the Old Irish samain), "End of Summer", a pastoral and agricultural "fire festival" or feast, when the dead revisited the mortal world, and large communal bonfires would hence be lit to ward off evil spirits.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween)

I know about Samhain, thanks to my best friend who is Pagan. She celebrates it as both the commercial North-American version, and as a religious holiday.

Best of both worlds. TTFN.