Halloween Vampires…a Great ‘Scare”

Dressing up in group Halloween costume ideas…or Halloween costumes for couples..any type of weird, unique and unusal Halloween costume is great fun and gives you all the excuses in the world to be whomever you’d like.  Parties, treats and even the odd fun, but harmless trick is all part of this end of October time of year.  But it wasn’t always like that…Halloween is based on an ancient pagan ritual called Samhain…(pronounced sow (as in cow)- en.  ”mh” in the middle of a Celtic word has an ‘ow’ sound).

The Celts, of England, Ireland and Northern France lived 2,000 years ago celebrated Samhain as their new year on November 1. This time marked the end of summer and harvest period and the beginning of the winter, which is a cold and dark time in this region of the world. The Celts associated the season with death and believed that on the night before Samhain the boundary between the living and the dead was the most transitional than it was all year.

Celtic legends tell us that on this night, all the hearth fires in Ireland were extinguished, and then re-lit from the central fire of the Druids at Tlachtga, 12 miles from the royal hill of Tara.  (The Druids were the learned class and the religious priests among the Celts. Upon this sacred bonfire the Druids burned animals and crops.  The extinguishing of the hearth fires symbolized the “dark half” of the year. The re-kindling from the Druidic fire was symbolic of the returning life that was hoped for in the spring.

There is a trace of present day “trick-or-treat” to Samhain, which was the supreme night of demonic jubilation. Spirits of the dead would rise out of their graves and wander the countryside, trying to return to the homes where they had lived. Frightened villagers tried to appease these wandering spirits by offering them gifts of fruit and nuts. They began the tradition of placing plates of the finest food and bits of treats that the household had to offer on their doorsteps, as gifts, to appease the hunger of the ghostly wanderers. If not placated, villagers feared that the spirits would kill their flocks or destroy their property.

On Halloween night, masks and consumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits..so one could hide from them or appease them.