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[Hymn #50] ~Dissonance~
Oct. 29th, 2009 11:29 pm[Tear is summarizing what she has discovered via the library about this peculiar Earth holiday. It is likely that she researched Christmas while she was at it. I wiki'd all this.]
"All Hallows' Eve", more popularly known as "Halloween", is a holiday observed predominantly in the Western world on the planet called Earth. It was derived from the Old Irish festival at summer's end, "Samhain", which celebrated the close to the lighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker half.
The ancient Celts believed that on this day, the border between the "Otherworld" and the world of the living became incredibly thin, allowing both passive and violent spirits to travel back and forth between them. The wearing of costumes was said to disguise humans in an attempt to trick the evil spirits into leaving them unharmed. Family spirits were also honored by lighting candles.
The holiday is becoming increasingly secular and commercialized, even though it is believed to have religious origins. It is widely celebrated on October thirty-first, where children dress up in costumes and go from door-to-door uttering the words "Trick or Treat". Children are then either given candy, other food items, or currency, or they can be shooed away in which case they will perform a harmless prank on the home owners. Halloween traditions include burning bonfires, bobbing for apples, haunted houses, costume parties, divination, the telling of... ghost stories, and the aforementioned trick-or-treating. Popular foods include candied apples, candy corn, and a wide variety of manufactured sweets and chocolates.
Symbols such as the jack-o-lantern (a pumpkin or other vegetable with a face carved into it), witches, vampires, werewolves, black cats, scarecrows, and ghosts are common.
...the spirits of the departed is one matter, but...
... ...Ghosts?
I-It's a good thing the island isn't haunted...! There are no ghosts here, so there's no need for me to worry! Right. No ghosts. None. Absolutely not!
...W-well! That's the gist of it. There have been a large number of children hurrying about in costume recently. Perhaps I should try cooking something again, otherwise I have a feeling I'll run out of food to offer them. And besides, that the "island" left us with those bags, no matter how harmless the sweets appear, it still makes me the slightest bit suspicious.
((OOC: I advise you not to spook her. Just warning you.))
"All Hallows' Eve", more popularly known as "Halloween", is a holiday observed predominantly in the Western world on the planet called Earth. It was derived from the Old Irish festival at summer's end, "Samhain", which celebrated the close to the lighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker half.
The ancient Celts believed that on this day, the border between the "Otherworld" and the world of the living became incredibly thin, allowing both passive and violent spirits to travel back and forth between them. The wearing of costumes was said to disguise humans in an attempt to trick the evil spirits into leaving them unharmed. Family spirits were also honored by lighting candles.
The holiday is becoming increasingly secular and commercialized, even though it is believed to have religious origins. It is widely celebrated on October thirty-first, where children dress up in costumes and go from door-to-door uttering the words "Trick or Treat". Children are then either given candy, other food items, or currency, or they can be shooed away in which case they will perform a harmless prank on the home owners. Halloween traditions include burning bonfires, bobbing for apples, haunted houses, costume parties, divination, the telling of... ghost stories, and the aforementioned trick-or-treating. Popular foods include candied apples, candy corn, and a wide variety of manufactured sweets and chocolates.
Symbols such as the jack-o-lantern (a pumpkin or other vegetable with a face carved into it), witches, vampires, werewolves, black cats, scarecrows, and ghosts are common.
... ...Ghosts?
I-It's a good thing the island isn't haunted...! There are no ghosts here, so there's no need for me to worry! Right. No ghosts. None. Absolutely not!
...W-well! That's the gist of it. There have been a large number of children hurrying about in costume recently. Perhaps I should try cooking something again, otherwise I have a feeling I'll run out of food to offer them. And besides, that the "island" left us with those bags, no matter how harmless the sweets appear, it still makes me the slightest bit suspicious.
((OOC: I advise you not to spook her. Just warning you.))
