It's #Halloween time in Athens! "No Druid god was more powerful, nor more feared, than Lord Samhain". As in the case with the majority of Christian holidays which couldn't eradicate the pagan ones, so instead merged them into their own religion, the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain merged with the Christian holy All Saints' or All Hallows' Day (actually the eve before) - and this is how we got #Halloween! The Celtic #fall celebration actually marked the beginning of #winter. I remember the times of my childhood when on the All Saints' day we used to visit the graves of the deceased family members, it was really winter. It was cold and we wore coats, scarves and gloves and ate #chestnuts on our way warming our noses on the visible smoke going up from hot chestnuts paper bags. Today, I suppose because of the #globalwarming and #climatechange, winter seems far away from #Halloween. This is the case also in #Athens where #fall visibly arrived bringing rain (or precisely drizzle) alongside greyish daylight sky and somewhat grey-pinkish evening sky, but temperature wise, it still reminds of a late #summer. This is why #Halloween time seems somewhat unauthentic. It is hard to fight against #climatechange, though... Or was it the Samhain's wrath against the human race so careless about their own environment that he occupied almost every house in #Athens? Boooooo... he IS scary...
It might be that's why #Halloween "took aspects of darkness, black color, evil spirits, and people rising from the dead and roaming the earth on this night"... Who knows what happens here during the night...?
Can we save ourselves? It is believed that to "light the way to their homes for the good spirits", the ancient Celts "carved faces into vegetables such as turnips and squash". Now you know why #pumpkins for #Halloween. So, quickly, while there's still time, take the knife, unleash your #creativity and #carve your own #pumpkin! For inspiration, you may want to see how #Athenians did it...
Or didn't #carve their #pumpkins because they didn't manage their time wisely and Samhain, dead people and spiders came too early, creeping in slowly...
I know that there are those among you who don't believe that there's Samhain and that dead people and evil spirits roam around. Those of you who will say that it's just a capitalist fabrication of an ancient festival staged for making more money. Well, first of all - you spoil all the #fun! Second, you go against all the effort which has been put in costume making. In #Athens, even #dogs dress up for #Halloween. Better safe than sorry...
And third, you wipe the smiles off children's faces when #trickortreating! How rude!
I know you feel bad about it now, but we'll give you a chance to make it up. Prepare some treats yourself for the little ones or treat them with this one...
Scary, scary blog... Trick or treat!
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