In honor of my dad's birthday, I
put out this cache. Bob, of Bobncat3604, celebrates his birthday on
October 31st
BRING YOUR OWN WRITING UTENSIL, AS I DON'T LEAVE ANY IN THE
CACHE.
Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31. It has
roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday
All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.
Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing
costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns,
ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions,
committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening
tales, and watching horror films. Exploring the origins of
Halloween, it is most typically linked to the Celtic festival of
Samhain. The name roughly means "summer's end".
The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world
and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both
harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were
honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It
is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the
wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise
oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm.
The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory
with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the
making of jack-o'-lanterns. In traditional Celtic Halloween
festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces and
placed in windows to ward off evil spirits. The carving of pumpkins
is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are
both readily available and much larger – making them easier
to carve than turnips.
The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources and
includes themes of death, evil, the occult, magic, or mythical
monsters. Traditional characters include ghosts, witches,
skeletons, vampires, werewolves, demons, bats, and black cats.
Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on
Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for
treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick
or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to
perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is
given.
