10/31: who wants a history lesson pulled from wikipedia.

[grimdeity]

Greetings. As you all know, today is Halloween.
Since it is, I thought it prudent to discuss some of the history and psychology behind this whimsical holiday.

Long before Halloween became the commercial, capitalistic candy and costume holiday that we know it for, it is widely believed to have roots in ancient pagan festivals such as Samhain.
Samhain was a Gaelic festival held about halfway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.
It was seen as a liminal time when the veil between here and the otherworld thinned, which I find to be a facet that has prevailed to modern Halloween.
However, speculation that I found on a reliable site [ twitter, she found it on twitter ] suggests that perhaps this idea of liminal space was a Victorian add-on rather than an actual part of Samhain. Consider both points debatable.
Of course, any time a holiday has pagan roots, it of course also has some kind of Christian backstory as well. (See: Christmas, which we can discuss in December.)
Halloween is the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (or All Saints') on November 1st and All Souls' Day on November 2nd. Hence, All Hallows' Eve.
The practice of begging for candy may originate with the English medieval custom of "souling", going from parish to parish begging for soul cakes from the rich in exchange for prayers. Presumably, no soul cakes harbored actual souls.
Dressing in costume or "guising" can be dated back to the late 1800s in Scotland.
Many cultures seem to have customs of revering the dead, with the belief their souls freely roam, around this time of year. And that perhaps they may need to be appeased before returning to their slumber.
In North America, this combo of customs that make modern Halloween appeared in the early 1900s. I believe costumes were a fair bit more gastly then than the cheap plastic and polyester we wear now.

There. That's your history lesson, sourced from the best. [ wikipedia ]

So, trick or treat?

Comments

[lingeringwill]

the irish potato famine that led to a mass immigration of the irish to other parts of the world is also responsible for the spread of the holiday and various traditions surrounding it

talk about making the best of a bad situation huh

treat btw

from me
terra
the certified treat king of october

[grimdeity]

Interesting.
Honestly, I'm surprised we don't carve potatoes instead of pumpkins, given the roots of this holiday.

Thank you.
How does one become a certified "treat king"? Did you have to take a test?

[lingeringwill]

maybe potatoes were too precious to be used as decor back then?

I got the most treats, duh. There was a competition and everything, I won, gaining infinite glory in the process

[grimdeity]

Good point. Pumpkins are far less valuable as food.

Oh, I apologize. Word of your infinite glory didn't reach me.

[lingeringwill]

pumpkins are a d tier vegetable for sure
along with green peppers, the shittier version of red peppers

its ok it was more a beginning of the month thing?

before all of the horrible stuff started happening
it would be kind of tone deaf to be like "hey guys remember how much virtual candy i got" when people are in the hospital and junk

also i got stabbed and that really put a damper on my candy coated bravado

[grimdeity]

Green peppers are such a disappointment.

... I'm glad I missed nothing enjoyable.
And that would be tone deaf, yes. Or perhaps brighten peoples' spirits?

To be fair, a stab wound would be a useful Halloween costume prop.

[lingeringwill]

"Missed"? what, were you in a pod?

You're right though, that would have added another layer to my Thomas e Dewey costume

[grimdeity]

No, merely ignoring this app as much as possible in favor of schoolwork and festively Halloween things.

Intriguing choice of costume, that.

[lingeringwill]

you may just be the smartest person I've ever met why didn't i think of that

I think you misspelled "a hilarious choice of beloved american historical blunder"

[grimdeity]

Thank you, I pride myself on being the most intelligent person around.
It's part of my pretentious charm.

Damn you, autocorrect. That is absolutely what I meant.

[lingeringwill]

you're definitely giving me a "mildly annoying girl from the library" kind of vibe so keep on doing what you're doing

can you believe no one wanted to match with me by dressing up as truman
kids these days, jeez

[grimdeity]

I am always the mildly annoying girl from the library. Always.
Much like the Spanish Inquisition, you might not expect me, and yet here I am.

Unbelievable. Does no one appreciate history anymore?

[lingeringwill]

yeah. im glad you get it

history is so much better than tv and comic books

where are my historical conventions
where is the 1800s french history cosplay

[parodeity]

ok i am 100% sure you just yanked shit off twitter and wikipedia
reliable site my ass

i mean
they actually are pretty reliable but youre trying to pretentious up what cant be pretentioused

also treat

[grimdeity]

Wow.
I'm shocked you would think so lowly of me, Dave, that I would do such a thing.
I only get my facts from the most pretentious of pretentious sources.

Thank you.

[parodeity]

if youre going to try to make twitter sound fancy you should do it right
like
add some gratuitous french or latin in there

yeah no fucking way am i picking trick with you

[grimdeity]

Et sanctorum librorum, twittér et wikipédia.
Est-ce mieux?

A wise decision, brother.

[parodeity]

yes there you go thats pretentious

now i have to know
what the fuck would you have done had i been stupid enough to pick trick

[grimdeity]

I'm glad I was able to satisfy in my pretention.

That's a question best left unanswered, I imagine.
I would have at least turned your app purple.

[ and dumped fake blood in his bed or something equally rude ]

[parodeity]

stop trying to force your clearly less superior color on those of us with amazing aesthetic tastes

[grimdeity]

Don't even pretend, purple is far superior to a mere primary color.

[parodeity]

why are you trying to sell yourself these lies rose
if we polled the world
red would totally kick purples pasty lavender ass

[grimdeity]

If we were going merely by popular vote, blue would win. And that would be disgusting. (Sorry, John.)
Purple is far more pleasing to the eye than the angry, "I like fast cars vroom vroom I have a small penis" red.
It's the color of royalty, of the mysterious and unknown, of magic and mayhem.

[parodeity]

ok one i thought we agreed not to talk about dick size
specifically not my dick size
because i cannot actually defend it to you without going to weird fucking places we need to stay the hell away from
and also
no
i dont think red is an angry color
why do you think red is an angry color rose
thats colorism

[grimdeity]

Interesting that you take that sentence to specifically mean your own dick size, Dave.
Also: gross.
It's not colorism, it's basic color theory.
Red = anger, purple = majesty.
Do you want me to cite my sources?

[parodeity]

you meant it that way also
no i do not want your fake sources

[windeity]

does that mean we're going to go through this again in a few months rose?

and trick, i guess. why not?

[grimdeity]

Define "this", John.

Interesting choice.

[ john's userpic is now a cat. she'll also probably leave a shit ton of glow in the dark spiders in his bed tomorrow and maybe a severed finger in a jar on his bed side. ]

[windeity]

a history lesson of the longwinded kind :P
nice trick, but pretty tame. i think i look good for a cat.

[Later there will be regret but whatever.]

[grimdeity]

Oh, don't worry, I'll do one for Thanksgiving as well.
What can I say, I'm a tame gal.
I've seen better cats.

[ tbf her thanksgiving tldr might just be a link to that one wednesday addams scene ]

[windeity]

i will be very disappointed otherwise.
is this because real cats are too cute to compete, or is my fashion sense still that bad?

[notyourutopian]

Rose?

[Wait when did Rose start seeing Retrospec again...]

...Trick

[grimdeity]

That is my name, yes.

All right, it's your life in your hands.

[ enjoy the purple/black color scheme for 15 mins. ]

[notyourutopian]

No, I know that, I just-

[Eleanor suddenly felt bad for not actually trying to talk to Rose since graduation. It was weird, talking to people not on the network anymore!]

Never mind. How was your summer?

[Yes. Small talk. And then her phone changes.]

Huh.
That's not so bad.
Kind of goth halloweeny.

[livingdeadgirl]

the mexican tradition of dia de los muertos has its roots in aztec culture dating back 3000 years
it was originally observed during the summer
but the spanish moved it to coincide with all souls day to christianize it

also trick!!

[grimdeity]

Thank you, I didn't want to include it since I know the two holidays didn't originally coincide, even if they have evolved similar elements.
And also I had no idea how long-standing it was. Now I'm just impressed.

Such a bold move.

[ congrats there will be cat ears on ami's userpic and whiskers. and nothing harsher because only dave and john deserve suffering. ]

[livingdeadgirl]

it's a pretty fantastic holiday
actually it kind of reminds me of something minako told me when ryoji died
that he would want to be remembered with laughter more than tears
i think that's how i'd want to be remembered too
and day of the dead is such a great example of that mindset

[dawww, she's adorbable.]

haha meow :33