Hi all,

Long-time replier, first-time topic poster. I was thinking everyone might want to do a Halloween costume contest.

For a small part of my job in the real world I'm involved in getting tons of people from different countries involved in North America's favorite pagan holiday. Lot's of countries don't have as much fun with it as Canadians and Americans do. But no matter that, I say if you be dressing up for halloween you should put a picture of yourself up in costume here.

I'll be doing it, should be a grand time. Who's with me?

-Ravlar

does this specific topic belong in competition/games? its not a game, nor is it really competitive-like. but if you said the person with the best costume wins a butterfinger or somthing, THEN it would belong in the competition/games section.

do that, and i am SO in. butterfingers RULE.

I don't like halloween :tomato:

So I'm not with you!

Heh me neither, what's next will we europeans be celebrating thanksgiving day and 4th of the july?
We have our own version of hallowen in february so wait till then :P

we have the day of the "strigoi"s :D
and some celebrate halloween here...but hence is not ours... i mean nationalists around the country don't accept it. and i'm one of them :D

what is a "strigoi" ??

a strigoi is sort of an... undead..

Halloween is cool!!! :w00t:
And for your information, the tradition is not even American. It originated in the Pre-Christian harvest rituals from Central Europe. Later on, it was converted to a Catholic holiday but it has existed for at least some 3,000 years (rough estimate- Iron Age).

The tradition was kind of ''adopted'' here (Portugal) by the younger ones, and it came to be known as Noite das Bruxas (''Witches' Night'').

According to a very old tradition of ours, children would go from door to door and ask for candy, small sums of money, etc., on November 1st to celebrate the Catholic holiday. This was called esmolinha or ''little handout''.

So we didn't really have much trouble converting one tradition to another :D

Halloween means All Hallows Eve, All Hallows being the 1st of November. The kids' trick or treat is nowadays confined to North America --even though it was brought there from Europe maybe Germany or Netherlands I'm not sure--, but aside that the holiday is the same here. Traces back to the Celtic New Year's Eve, and the Celts left that custom pretty much all across Europe even where they were later culturally erased from, like even Spain for instance.

EDIT: The post above wasn't there before, we kind of agree.

EDIT: Here in Spain there's traditionally nothing special during the Eve, but on All Hallows itself you're supposed to pay a visit to your dead relatives at the cemetery. Which traces quite back to the Celtic belief, namely that during the night between the last day of a year and the first one of the following one --the (Celtic) New Year's Eve 31st of October--, the dead were set loose and so those gullible Celts tried to appease them and locked themselves tight at home. Later when people don't believe religiously in a holiday any longer, it tends to get from solemn to funny, adults lose interest whereas kids joyfully replace their parents in the former worship. Hence Halloween, Carnival, etc.

A halloween costume contest would have been very interesting. Shame on you for not participating!

EDIT: Anyway, I suggest that we close this topic now before it turns into a flame-festival.