Happy Halloween

I know it's late. I blame school and sickness, which seem to go hand-in-hand.

This pic shows us two characters who would fit right in with this tradition, as I'm sure has demonstrated with his works. I for one hope he likes this one, which was slightly rushed.


Australians don't celebrate Halloween as holiday or tradition, although it has some popularity here. I found out some interesting stuff in research: Halloween is a celebration that dates back to the olden-day farms of Ireland, Scotland and the rest of the British Isles, celebrating the harvest season. This is where the idea of pumpkins (and later Jack-o-Lanterns) came from. Eventually a little ceremony called 'guising' found its way into the spooky tale of Halloween, and later came what was commonly known as 'ritual begging' in which people would receive food off others as a sign of communion and partnership.

Today, the Americanised Halloween draws from these ancient practices, with the harvest represented by Jack-o-Lanterns, the dark themes of Ireland portrayed in the ghoulish themes, and guising becoming what it is known as today: Trick or Treat.

I may seem like a party pooper for not celebrating this fun little holiday, but I'm afraid we just don't adopt that sort of thing. We got the horse racing here soon though, along with my birthday. Woohoo, 4 day weekend!!


The above characters (with some festive touches) (c)