Dress up! It’s Hallowe’en

SpongeBob with Patrick.

Scary.

Last weekend – well, last week – was Hallowe’en. Many would assume that this is an American holiday, but in fact it’s Irish. It has roots in the Celtic festival Samhain, which celebrates the end of the brighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker half. That’s why it’s often called Celtic New Year. You shouldn’t eat any blackberries after Hallowe’en. Pooka, a ghost that often appears in the shape of a horse which carries its horseman quickly through the forest, spits on the blackberries during that night. Of course, this myth has a true essence: Blackberries that froze can hurt your stomach. And around Hallowe’en it’s often cold enough to freeze.

Today, Hallowe’en is spelled Halloween and it is mostly celebrated in the US, Ireland, Scotland and Canada. A very common Halloween customs nowadays are “Trick or Treat”, Halloween costumes and costume parties, bonfires and ghost stories.

Me and a cat.

Waldo!

 

The Irish take their holiday very serious, what I found out during the last weeks. The stores were full of crazy costumes, pumpkins in every shape and size, skeletons and spin webs. Even one week before the actual Halloween night, there were a lot of Halloween parties. I attended three of them and they were full of funny encounters. I met the Joker, danced with the devil, was attacked by a pirate, a monkey and a vampire; I met SpongeBob and his friend Patrick, a zombie; and I even found Waldo! I turned myself into a witch, a cat and a Bavarian girl. On the actual Halloween night, there was supposed to be a parade and fireworks. But we couldn’t find anything. So we were the parade! A parade that consisted of a devil, a vampire, a cat, a Bavarian girl, a guy that just came out of the shower and a leprechaun.

The parade.

For more pictures of crazy costumes, check out my Halloween Photo Album