Halloween is essentially a rejig of the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, also known as the Day of the Dead, which was accompanied by lots of bonfires and sacrifices. Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic festival.
Interesting Tom I never knew that, from Wikipedia: In the 9th century AD, Western Christianity shifted the date of All Saints' Day to 1 November, while 2 November later became All Souls' Day. Over time, Samhain and All Saints'/All Souls' merged to create the modern Halloween. Historians have used the name 'Samhain' to refer to Gaelic 'Halloween' customs up until the 19th century
November 1st marked the beginning of the Celtic year, representing the beginning of winter. Christianity pretty much hijacked all of the old "pagan" festivals, including of course Christmas which was the winter solstice. People often think of the Celts as being the forerunners of today's Welsh, Scottish and Irish people, but they were spread much, much further. Celts had strongholds in modern-day Germany and France, along with Britain and Ireland. Ancient Rome saw them as a major threat and indeed, the Celts sacked the ancient city. Julius Caesar wiped out the Celts in Gaul, whereupon Rome turned its attentions to Britain. England was largely Celtic and only subjugated after the defeat of the warrior queen Boudicca. Scotland and Ireland - and to a lesser extent - Wales, retained more of their Celtic origins and the Samhain festival is still celebrated, though without the sacrifices these days!
It is STILL morning, as the Party goers STILL awake and rise from the dead....of sleep, that is! Good morning, on DAY TWO of our Halloween Party! Terry and Lara, have got things rolling, and some new folks will be showing up. Here is our invite again. BOO-SKIDOO HALLOWEEN BLAST UPDATE! (NOTE TIME CHANGES & DEAD LINES) View attachment 1831 View attachment 1832 Here's the latest details on our Halloween Party: Where: Over at the Hi-Goodbye Coffee shop, in the Happy Talk Section. When & Times: ...Continuing, Saturday, and wind up Saturday evening, when the cows come home! Everyone in Seniors Only Club is invited to stop by and visit, when their time zone tells them to! All those who "come in costume" (Either posted picture or avatar, in costume) will be entered into the Costume Contest. The three Categories will be: Best Male Costume, Best Female Costume and Best Pet Costume. (A picture of you with your pet will qualify both) Be sure to mention your Pet's name. DEADLINE FOR COSTUME ENTRIES IS 4 PM, EST TODAY (SATURDAY) All pictures can be from your camera or from online. If you are unable to post pictures or change avatars, give a vivid description of who you are "dressed" as. If you use a costume avatar to enter, do not change it, until after the voting, folks can go back and check it out. Three voting poll threads will open (1 for each category) VOTING BEGINS AT 5 PM, EST SATURDAY, AND VOTING WILL END AT 10 PM EST, SATURDAY You may only vote for one in each thread. Hopefully, every member will be able to see & vote in the polls. Remember that all voters in the polls will remain anonymous. Your three Voting Polls will be posted in the Happy Talk Section of the forum! There will also be a NEW Mystery Halloween Picture! You may also post pictures of your favorite foods and snacks to share. Music and videos, are also welcome. Losers, will clean up, and winners will be pampered at the coffee shop, on Tuesday! So work on your "costume" pictures, and Lara has offered to help, if you need it. Changes have been made to shorten the suspense, and to free up Sunday morning. Hope you all have a chance to enter & vote. Time is running out!
The new iPad Pro should be coming out in November, not sure of the date, @Ina I. Wonder . Once it is out then you can upgrade anytime that you want to. Since yours is so new; you should get a great trade-in value.
THE COSTUME CONTEST, IS NOW CLOSED FOR NEW ENTRANTS. YOU MAY STILL SHOW OFF YOUR COSTUME, FOR THE FUN OF IT. PARTY WILL CONTINUE TIL THE COWS COME HOME, WHERE YOU LIVE. A BIG THANKS, TO ALL WHO ENTERED. GOOD LUCK TO ALL! VOTING WILL BEGIN IN THE HAPPY TALK SECTION AT 5PM TODAY. READ THE ENTRANTS SUMMARY COMING UP TO AID YOU IN YOUR SELECTIONS. THANKS.
THERE WILL BE THREE POLL THREADS IN THE HAPPY TALK SECTION. VOTING BEGINS AT 5 PM, TODAY. ONE VOTE IN EACH OF THE THREE VOTING POLL THREADS, ONE FOR EACH CATEGORY. LET ANYONE NOT AROUND KNOW ABOUT IT. VOTING WILL END TONIGHT, AT 10 PM. HAVE FUN! ENTRANT’S COSTUME SUMMARY……Before you vote! Go to Post # in Party Thread, to check out Costumes of persons who are entered in our Halloween Costume Contest, before voting: (Entrants start on page 27) BEST FEMALE: Chrissy #673/ Ina #697/ Sacheen #714/ Abby #720/ Lara #737/ Yvonne #825 / Joyce #827/ Carlota #841 BEST MALE: Terry #694/ Ken #742/ Joe #809 /Bobby #826 BEST PET: Chrissy’s Pickles #672/Ina’s Izzy #697/ Terry’s Witchy #709/ Terry’s Buster #717/ Ken’s Ella #744/ Lara’s Dillon #737/ Hexes #841 Entrants are listed in order they entered contest.
It's nearly 8:30 our time, and we've had only one trick-or-treater (none last year) and he looked to be about eighteen. My suggestion was to buy no candy and turn most of the lights out, but my wife insisted on buying a couple of bags of candy, so guess who'll be eating candy that he doesn't need. Maybe not, though. For some reason, I ordered a large bag of candy corn a week or so ago. For candy corn, I suppose it was okay, but I wasn't crazy about candy corn when I was a kid. After eating a couple of hands full of it, I decided to dump the rest on the compost heap. I don't need to take in calories from stuff that I don't even like much.
We don't usually get the trick-or-treaters either, and for the last several years, we just ignored the whole thing altogether. Neither Bobby nor I eat candy, and there was no sense buying it if no kids were coming, and we would be left with it. So, this year, Bobby left the lights out, closed the drapes, and put the barricade (patio love seat) across the porch ramp. Regardless, about 8pm, two older teenagers (18-19 ?) came crawling over the barricade , no costumes, and large bags, looking for candy. Bobby explained we didn't do halloween, they grumbled and left. About 10-11, he said that two more scruffy guys came by (he thought they looked like the same pair as before) asking for candy. Who would think that 18 year old teenagers would be out doing this ? These guys were old enough to be in the military, and they are out scrounging the neighborhood looking for candy handouts ! !