Anyone got any kewl Halloween plans for tonight? Getting drunk, passing out candy, sharpening razor blades, pumpkin carving?

Hmmm for what it's worth... we have a bunch of FutureQuest Frisbees we'll be tossing out to the kidlets this year....

Handing out toys with our name on them seemed to work pretty well last year so we're going for it again ;)

Anyone else handing out branded items or are all of you just sugar fanatics? :D

A while back I was driving to the store and saw kids waiting at a bus top... two of them were wearing T-Shirts we had given out as "treats" ;)

Going trick-or-treating with a girl from school. :blush:

Fubonis,
Better hope someone out there gives you a few rubbers instead of candy! Go get her! :dgrin:

Originally posted by phpjames
Fubonis,
Better hope someone out there gives you a few rubbers instead of candy! Go get her! :dgrin:

:D :D :D :D

I just went skateboarding and hung-out a little bit. ;)

Kyle

Question is, what have you witches, wiccans and pagans been up to? ;)

Dancing naked under the moon.....

Sorry -- I forgot the camera

New question:
If you could be anything for Halloween with no restrictions what would you be?




Obey the Devil~ Its good for you! :dgrin:

Thats NOT what I meant, but hmmmmm :)

Seriously though, I was just curious if anyone knew what this night is really about, putting aside false religions. :D

Originally posted by Cyberpunk
Seriously though, I was just curious if anyone knew what this night is really about, putting aside false religions. :D

It was started by people dressing-up to scare away evil spirits (I believe) for some reason having to do with farming, getting a good crop/harvest or something like that.

Kyle

From: http://www.holidays.net/halloween/story.htm


Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.

Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. It was "he" who commanded their work and their rest times, and who made the earth beautiful and the crops grow.

The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold."

On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin.

When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits.

The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first Halloween.

During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought with them many of their festivals and customs. One of these was the festival know as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and gardens. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed becoming 1 major fall holiday.

The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church would make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the saints. This day was called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows. Years later the Church would make November 2nd a holy day. It was called All Souls Day and was to honor the dead. It was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up as saints, angels and devils.

But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their early customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued to celebrate the festivals of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years the customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en, and then - Halloween.

The Halloween we celebrate today includes all of these influences, Pomona Day's apples, nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Samhain's black cats, magic, evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo spooky!

I just tried to find better words on the internet than use my own, and do you know, what a load of crap is written out there about samhain, half of its here http://www.google.com/search?q=all+hallows+eve+pagan+witch

Its not spooky! Its a very positive festival that was "stolen" by christianity.

Originally posted by phpjames
Fubonis,
Better hope someone out there gives you a few rubbers instead of candy! Go get her! :dgrin:

lol. Oh, I never planned to go that far, but I got a little kiss. :love:

Got up at 8am after going to bed at 4:30am. Had a quick tuna sandwich breakfast, off to lawyers, consultants, back to work, for dinner with government people and now back to work. Nothing as spooky as Halloween but i feel just as tired. :D

I got to tech for a musical!! I had lots of homework, stupid teachers, and the actors decided to go tricker treating for a half hour while we were all waiting for them...:angry:

:D

I spent the evening at an orchestra rehearsal playing Debussy and Poulenc. And out of the 100+ people in the orchestra, there wasn't even one who turned up in costume.