Because I find the hype of All Hallow's Eve such a novelty, I thought I'd do some research on it (aka another excuse to procrastinate).
My daily prophet, Wikapedia, said: "Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century."
The Irish...OF COURSE!! They're the culprits. Which other peoples would come up with a bizarre excuse to dress up, get drunk and act like an arse.
I don't usually like to include whole paragraphs of another website's musings but the more detailed history on Wikapedia was entertaining:
"Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them."
Based on the above, I've created a modern interpretation of TRUE Halloween festivities:
Take a bunch of your friends who think everything in the world is a conspiracy. Have them put on an "evil spirit" political mask (e.g. rubber George W Bush face; Michael Moore for the Republican friend). Build a bonfire in the back yard. Throw in frozen burgers, from Ralph's unhappy-cow-meat, to "sacrifice" to the flames. Dance around to new-age pagan music. Okay, The Cranberries will do too.
And hopefully that orange tree in your back yard, which made you so sure you'd finally arrived in California, will actually grow oranges next year.
Happy Halloween!!
