All Hallow's Eve 2009

Well, I couldn't let this event go by without saying something about it. Yes, I celebrated Halloween yesterday; and last night, along with the rest of the world! What a great celebration of the dead. And who would know it, but this very night is the first of three days of celebrating the dead. The next day is All Saints Day and then November 2nd is All Soul's Day or better known as The Day of the Dead. It's all a big celebration of how the living and the dead are the closest to each other at this time of the year; beginning with All Hallow's Eve. And we don the masks and hand out the treats on Halloween night to scare away the evil spirits. The good ol' Jack'o'lantern even has a steeped history in himself; as does his colours. And there's a lot of things about Halloween that are linked with historical events; such as: it's the day that Harry Houdini died.

I totally enjoy the fun and spookiness that is All Hallow's Eve. I dress up the house, make lolly-bags and get into costume myself. It's all fun and games after the sun goes down. I even pull out the vampire and horror flicks from my dvd collection if there's nothing of the likes on television (which this year, there was 'Psycho' on ABC2! What a brilliant Hitchcock film!) and set a place at my table for the dead. In my case, I call on anyone who would care to join me for dinner and light a candle so I'd know they're there. There were only four kids, but they all dressed up really well; and I only got a photo of two of them (as the other two were new ones on the rounds; with a nervous guardian in the shadows. I didn't think it would be proper to ask for a photograph at night of their kids). But in the bags, I put in super-bounce balls, mini-mazes, yo-yos, glo-sticks, bubble bottles and only a couple of lollies from the Natural Confectionery Company (as they have no artificial colours or flavours in them; ideal for me to eat as leftover sugar fixes the following week!).

And once the movie was finished and kids were gone, I waited until midnight was upon us. Then, I went out into my back garden and performed a Halloween Circle to call in the Pagan New Year. And only 20 minutes later, it began to rain! Now, I call that good timing!

If you'd like to know more about this fun-filled holiday, you can google it, or visit this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/the-history-of-halloween_n_321021.html