Halloween 2008 at ICC Hawaii
Monday 03 November 2008 at 10:15 am Intercultural Communication College Hawaii's annual Halloween party was held on Friday October 31st. Halloween is recognized internationally as a holiday of costumes, pumpkins, witches, ghosts, haunted houses and trick-or-treating; and is traditionally celebrated on October 31st.Halloween started out as a religious festival of the Celtic people. When "Celts" are mentioned, one often thinks first of the Irish, but England, Scotland, Wales, France, and Germany are all Celtic in origin. This festival celebrated Samhain, the end of the harvest season. The Celts believed that there is a material world that we live in, and a supernatural world occupied by strange creatures, gods, elves, and the spirits of the dead. Twice a year (end of February and end of October), the borders between these worlds become thin, and you can pass between the worlds.
The Celts thought that, on the night of October 31, supernatural creatures would pass through the veil between worlds and would walk our world.
Some people feared that ghosts and magical creatures might cause trouble. So the people dressed up in costumes. Some believed that the costumes would frighten away the creatures. Others believed that the magical creatures would be fooled into thinking that the costumed people were also magical – and leave them alone.
The Celts also left out donations of food and fruit on their doorsteps. Some hoped that this would attract good spirits. Others thought that it would satisfy bad spirits and make them go away.
Over time, the two traditions of costumes and food turned into the tradition of children dressing up in costume to ask for candy. Pretending to be magical creatures, they threaten to play a trick on you, unless you give them an offering - "Trick or Treat!"
Check out the fabulous creatures at ICC in the Halloween 2008 section of our online photo gallery!
