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A HALLOWEEN MESSAGE

 

We hope that this Halloween brings each of you Happy haunting.  This Halloween coincides with a full moon which should make for a nice crisp night to be outside with family or even maybe a few close friends.  The last time we had a full moon on Halloween was 2001 and all you swimmers had not even been born.

Let's take a moment away from the pool and take a look at October 31, which started out being know as "All Hallow's Eve" or what you have come to know as Halloween.  

This very special day began centuries ago at what was know at the time as the Celtic festival.  It was a time that coincided with the end of their harvest season along with the end of summer and goodbye to the long warm sunny day and the preparation for the dark cold days that lay ahead.  It was believed to be a good time to communicate with the deadened divine (having supernatural or magical insight) future.
Now that we have an understanding of this day, let's look at some of the traditions of the holiday starting with, Why do we dress up in costumes?  Sure it's a night where you can be who e ver you want to be, but it began long ago with the superstitions of people who would dress up and go outdoors trying to fool the spirits into thinking that they were one of them.  Apparently they could not fool everyone as Casper became know as the "friendly ghost."👻  

Another tradition that has been passed down through the generations is the one that involved the apple, yes you're correct "BOBBING FOR APPLES",  but when did it start, and why?  During the Celtic times another tribe was know as the Romans and as with all tribes traditions were different.  After the Romans conquered the Celts they had different views on how to celebrate this holiday.  The one thin g that remained the same was the date and it was a festival to celebrate the end of harvest time.  When the Romans invaded Britain they brought with them the apple tree which to the Romans represents the "Goddess of Plenty".  The Romans believed that the first person to catch an apple, would be the first to marry in the new year.  As a young swimmer this may be a good time to be second and not first!  Or Not!


Do you know when the carving of pumpkins started, or even why?  Imagine living centuries ago and on "All Hallow EVE" you would find yourself carving out turnips or potatoes as a way to frighten off the spirits of the time.  When the Irish came to America they found that pumpkins were abundant and would be a great substitute for the turnip and potato and because of it's shape they found the pumpkin easier to carve out.  You may wonder why we carve a face into the pumpkin and place a candle in it, again it was a way for people from a long time ago to ward off all the evil spirits of the time.

One last tradition that we cannot overlook is the candy. 
Everyone has their own favorite candy of the season which always involves the time honored tradition of trading candy with brothers, sisters and friends.  Some of my favorites from my trick or treating days were; good and plenty, candy necklaces, Pez, bottle caps, pop rocks, lemon heads  and milk duds.  This time of year brings out all those red and blue maps but let's take a step back and do a map that tells us the favorite candy from each state.




Which state would you have to trick or treat in to find your favorite candy?  Leave a comment with your favorite candy and the state and I"ll tally it up.    Enjoy the night and scare off those spirits.





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