Happy Halloween!!

Yes, happy Halloween to all!!! I usually just let this day pass unnoticed and uncelebrated as I can not find a real reason to celebrate this day. However, this year is different. A couple of days before Halloween, our workstations were already decorated for this occasion. Even at the office, children of some employees are trick-or-treating, you can also see children wearing various costumes even in the mall. Well, while I still cannot see a real reason for celebration for this day, I also can not see anything wrong with it aside from the fact that this originated from a pagan feast.

If you’re wondering what the term Halloween means, I did a bit of research for you. According to Wikipedia, it is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even" and "eve" are abbreviations of "evening," but "Halloween" gets its "n" from "even") as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day," which is of course now also known as the All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions.

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.

So this is where this celebration originated… Again, happy Halloween to all!