Halloween is Comming!

I am always slightly dismayed by how early Christmas decorations go up in stores.  It often seems like Santa finds himself sitting by skeletons before Halloween is even over and that bothers me.  Yet, the earlier Halloween decorations are up the happier I am.  The first signs of Halloween can be seen in my corner of the world and I am delighted.  I received my first Halloween catalogue yesterday.  Spirit Halloween is already setting up and Cracker Barrel has its Halloween display up. Old Time Pottery Barn has its front filled with pumpkins and ghosts and The Hallmark Stores are putting up their Halloween Trees.  Halloween is popping up everywhere and I have begun counting the days.  Here is a little peek at some of the Halloween fun I've found so far.

The Origin of The Halloween Costume

For those of us who passionately love Halloween, the season's preparations have already begun.  Part of every child and adult's preparation is deciding on a costume.  This is perhaps the most beloved part of any Halloween celebration.  Dressing up as a sexy maid or a horrible zombie is the Hallmark of our modern Holiday celebration. But as Halloween creeps up on us, I always think it is fun to think back to where this tradition came from. It is good to know why we dress up on Halloween. Halloween's history is most commonly traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. During Samhain, the Celts believed that the divider between this world and the next became thin. This thinning allowed both malevolent and benevolent spirits to cross over to our world. This naturally caused a good deal of fear and anxiety for the ancient Celts. While family ghosts were welcomed, bad spirits had to be scared off. Celts used bonfires to drive evil spirits off. They also used apotropaic devices to scare off bad spirits.

Apotropaic literally means to ward off evil but apotopaic devices are often devices that are so terrifying that they scare away evil. My favorite examples of apotropaic devices are the gargoyles and terrible monsters that line the outside and insides of medieval cathedrals in Europe. The most holy places in the medieval world were lined with horrifying demons and monsters that are often depicted devouring people and animals. These horrors were so terrible that medieval people thought that even evil spirits would be frightened off.

Costumes were used as both apotropaic devices and disguises to confuse the spirits. In Scotland, young men pretended to be dead by blackening their faces. These costumes evolved over the years and were eventually used in the late medieval practice of souling when poor people would go door to door asking for food. This practice eventually evolved into costumed trick or treating. So as you plan your costume this year remember that it should not only be interesting, but it should scare off evil spirits as well!

My Top Picks for This Year's Halloween Costume!

September is here and I can almost hear Halloween knocking on the door. Spirit Halloween opened its doors.  Halloween decorations are everywhere and all the early birds are beginning their Halloween plans.  I am one of those Halloween early birds and I am already plotting and planning for my Halloween costume.  Here are a few of my top choices.  What do you think?

 

 

Costumes Shown can be found at the pyramid collection, costumes.com, new egg costumes, and The Lost Boutique on Etsy.

It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Halloween

When I was a kid, my mother never let me decorate for Halloween until it was 2 weeks before Halloween.  She would see Halloween decorations out at the end of September and roll her eyes like the stores had lost their mind for putting Halloween decoration out for sale so early.  Times have changed.   Everywhere I go I see the signs of my favorite holiday.  Old Time Pottery Barn has aisles of Halloween decorations and Cracker Barrel glows with a ghoulish light.  Ghosts haunt the dollar store and all the small corners of stores are beginning to whisper of phantoms and hauntings.  It is already beginning to look like Halloween.  Here are a few samples of the Halloween toys I've seen out so far.