Halloween
Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now known as Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints’, All Saints’, and All Souls’, were called Hallowmas.
Part of the history of Halloween is Halloween costumes. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays goes back to the Middle Ages, and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of “souling,” when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of “puling [whimpering, whining], like a beggar at Hallowmas.”
Trick-or-treating on the prairie. Although some popular histories of Halloween have characterized trick-or-treating as an adult invention to rechannel Halloween activities away from vandalism, nothing in the historical record supports this theory. To the contrary, adults, as reported in newspapers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, typically saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. Likewise, as portrayed on radio shows, children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around. Sometimes even the children protested: for Halloween 1948, members of the Madison Square Boys Club in New York City carried a parade banner that read “American Boys Don’t Beg.”
A jack-o’-lantern (sometimes also spelled Jack O’Lantern) is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday Halloween. Typically the top is cut off, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved onto the outside surface, and the lid replaced. During the night, a candle is placed inside to illuminate the effect. The term is not particularly common outside North America, although the practice of carving lanterns for Halloween is.
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Things About Halloween
Halloween is without question a thrilling time of the year. Not only for youngsters but also for parents also. After all, who doesn’t love getting dressed up as their favorite ghoul, goblin, super hero, or bad guy, and setting off trick-or-treating or to a Halloween social gathering. Halloween is an event observed world wide and in almost every country as there are seasonal and religious associations that are popular. It has existed for almost 500 years.
There is some conjecture on the beginning of Halloween(not the name) but the occasion. A number of historians link it to the Roman feast of Pomona, who was the goddess of fruits and seeds. Others believe it began as Parentalia, the “festival of the dead”. It is however, more frequently associated with the Celtic festival known as Samhain, a Gaelic event that celebrates the end of summer.
Of course the name “Halloween” is more commonly connected with the Scottish version of “All-Hallows-Eve”, or, the night preceding All-Hallows-Day or All Saints day. It originated in 1556, and through the ages All-Hallows-Eve grew to become Halloween. Halloween is October 31st, and is commemorated world wide, though not every cultures observe on this date. Some nations celebrate on the second Tuesday in December.
Halloween has a lot of symbolism and imagery which has evolved through the years and lots of societies and movements have contributed to it. Most particularly are the Jack-o’-lantern, Dracula, ghosts, death, evil, and dark scary themes. Black and orange are Halloween’s official colors. Halloween has spawned a whole industry of costume manufacturers and each year the latest trend of popular movies and characters contributes to offerings. There’s also a number of activities that have become traditions of Halloween. Trick-or-treating has become the most preferred. Kids from coast to coast dress up and go house to house in their neighborhoods collecting candy and treats. There are Halloween functions, prank playing, games which include bobbing for apples, and attending haunted houses & graveyards.
Popular foods at Halloween are candy or caramel apples, candy corn, popcorn, apple cider, and baked pumpkin seeds. Many other cultures have traditional foods they prepare such as Ireland’s barmbrack that is a fruit bread.
Halloween represents the season of the harvest and the conclusion of summer. Fall or Autumn in the northern hemisphere is when the weather turns cool and cultures harvest their crops in preparation of winter. Many people claim it is their favorite season citing cooler weather, back to school, the beginning of the American Football season, and several other reasons. All in all it is a great time and remains an important part of the calendar year.
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The History Of Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a super-hero dating back to the 1940′s when she made her debut in All Star Comics volume #8. Since then Wonder Woman has appeared pretty much exclusively in DC Comics. The character is based on, and considered a princess of the Amazon women whom through her journeys comes to spend most of her time on Earth with the humans. Her home is an island called Themyscira(up to now Paradise Island) named after the Ancient greek home of the mythological Amazon women.
The character is a heroine and has a lot of super-human talents that appear to change in accordance with the writer or situation Wonder Woman finds herself in. Most notably she has super human strength, speed, intellectual and mental abilities. On top of that she has demonstrated the skills to speak with animals, perform telepathy, blow wind gusts at outstanding speeds, and occasionally fly.
Wonder Woman possesses indestructible bracelets(which in many story lines cannot be removed), additionally, the Lasso of Truth, which if lassoed by, captives are magically made to tell the truth. The Lasso is likewise stated to be unbreakable and can also be lengthened at an infinite length. Wonder Woman also has a tiara that contains super characteristics, and she can easily throw the tiara with a boomerang-like effect.
Collectively with Batman and Superman, Wonder Woman accounts for DC Comic’s so called “Trinity” which is generally saying they are the most powerful and significant figures in the DC Comic Universe.
Aside from being heroic & superhuman, Wonder Woman is likewise exceptionally beautiful. The intent supporting these traits had been her creators attempt to imply that women can easily posses all of these traits simultaneously, thus to help liberate the women of that time from being chained in or pigeon-holed by males of their time.
Through the years, Wonder Woman has retained a significant level of popularity considering that she is a female in an otherwise man infested world, from both the arena of comic figures and the customers who buy them. As a result she has been a bit of a trailblazer in the business that has since added characters such as Super Girl, Wonder Girl, Cat Woman, and Marvels long list of female characters such as Jean Grey/Phoenix, Storm, Rogue, Mystique, etc.
In recent months there was a TV show pilot on NBC that has been cancelled though it may resurface on an alternate network in the near future. There are also rumors that the motion picture idea has been thrown around which would seem to match the recent increase of super hero movies lately.
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GI Joe Costumes Will Be Popular This Halloween
Look no further than GI Joe costumes for one of the most popular themes this Halloween. Kids with active imaginations will love dressing up as these modern day warriors with the coolest weapons and outfits.
Let your oldest kid act out the role of first sergeant, Duke, who’s always looking out for his team members. The young ones in the family can choose who among the characters they’d want to mimic – be it the ninja who can expertly engage in hand-to-hand combat, or the brave annihilator of Cobra commander.
Ninjas Attack
Yound kids can’t resist the idea of dressing up in an all black jumpsuit with hooded mask and becoming a little ninja warrior. If you can’t find a jumpsuit that looks quite right at home, you can easily find a high quality ninja costume online.
A second option is going with the all white look. The ninja Storm Shadow has an all white outfit, complete with white shoes, sword and throwing stars.
Reading something about GI Joe characters will let you in on the characters’ alliances and mysterious background. For instance, one of the ninjas in GI Joe’s squad, Snake Eyes, heavily protects his eyes to hide the serious scars he sustained in the past.
Females in GI Joe
Have a daughter who wants to join the costumed fun? Let her be the black bodysuit-clad female member of the GI Joe team, Scarlett, and hand her a crossbow. Just be sure she does not inflict any serious harm on her ninja brothers using it.
GI Joe Accessories
It’s easy to add little finishing touches to your child’s GI Joe costume with realistic helmets, swords, and high quality gloves. The next level would be to go with one of the deluxe muscle armor kits available with most of the costumes.
Don’t forget to save the memories. Preserve the moment and shoot away with your digital camera so they can enjoy looking at their ninja warrior photos which may also be shared with friends and family.
About the author: David Lawson shares his thoughts on Snake Eyes Costumes and other Halloween topics at Shop Compare Costumes. Visit his Halloween costume price comparison site for more about discount Halloween costumes.