Costumes

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 31 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Sorceress_Jade	31 Oct 2002
Yes this belongs in spirituality, bear with me. FIRST: I wanna know what everyone (who is dressed up) is dressed up as. I myself am a gypsy fortune teller, replete with cards and all. I'll have pics available in a week or so. SECOND: for those of you who think that costuming is somehow sacreligious to as a Pagan (which I myself am not anyway) then I'd also like to discuss this piece of information I came accross. Was it not that costuming came about because it was pagan new year and the tradition was to garb one's self as what they wished to become or accomplish in the future? Sort of like a new year's wish? I understand that Nov. 1st is actually the first day of the new year. However tradition was that a day began at sundown and ended at sundown. Therefore dusk on our oct. 31'st would be the beginning of the new year. Anyone have any refutation of that or further information?

purplelady	31 Oct 2002
First , I'm not wearing a costume this year. My youngest child is 5'11" , has a deep voice, and is sprouting a mustache! ! It's the first year I won't be going in like the last 15 yrs! :( . Not that I wore a costume myself when I took the kids trick or treating. I usually don't really dress up in costume BUT your idea that what you wear reflects what you aspire to be in the coming year is very interesting , and one I've Never heard before! I guess that means that last year my kid aspired to be a gorilla! As for Oct 31 st or Nov 1 st being the new year, it's possible. But the thing is that different books will place the new year at many different places. It's a wheel so perhaps in truth there isn't ever really a new year? Some books say Imbolc. Some say Eostar, or spring equinox, since the astrological calender does start here at the begininng of Aries. Some say Halloween. Other's say Yule. If I had to choose I would probubly agree with Yule. It's the winter solstice, closest to the christian , or Roman calender we use. And the Lord of Night becomes the Lord of Day as the days begin to grow longer. What better time for a new year?

meatbox666	31 Oct 2002
WOW!! I am going as a scientist. I am going to a costume party tonight. I'll just wear what I had on Today. Black slacks , sweater and labcoat. I'll line my eyes with Black liner and wear red nail polish. LOL, I have a pocket protector. Those things work and I'll have my T-I 83 calculator. I already wear geek chic plastic black frames. Now, I have a parker brothers ouija board. LOL, I am going to cut the box top up and staple it to my lab coat in the back. I am going to staple it to my rear end,lol.

Indigo	31 Oct 2002
I'm Pagan, and I dress in costume! (I'm going as a gypsy too, Sorceress Jade :) ) To me, Samhain/Halloween is all about honoring the spirit world and realizing that there is more to Life, the Universe, and Everything than what we can see with our eyes. Therefore, I think it's wonderfully appropriate to dress up as a ghost/goblin/angel/witch/clown/animal. The whole New Year's Wish thing is cool, too (which explains why I dressed as a cowgirl one year and Batwoman the next when I was little...) Of course, there's always time to do the more "spiritual" stuff, like going to Pagan gatherings, doing your "official" Samhain ritual(s), and the like. It seems to me just like Christmas is for a lot of Christian families, who manage to open presents and go to church services. Just as a Christian family's Christmas would be pretty dry and boring if there were no presents and tokens of love, our Samhain would be dry and boring if there were no nifty costumes and free candy.

Kiama	01 Nov 2002
I don't think dressing up is sacriledgeous at all.,... Samhain is just as much about getting intouch with the 'other', darker side of your nature as it is the dark side of Nature itself... And for me, dressing up as something dark or scary is about doing that... I didn't dress up properly though... I just put on some Goth clothing (Corset and all!) and went as myself. I figure I'm the scariest thing out there most of the time anyway. ;) Kiama

Liliana	01 Nov 2002
I went as a Unicorn to the Masquerade Ball I went too, but I didnt dress up on Halloween, the kids were a Pana and a Bat :THP

ChrisTheObscure	01 Nov 2002
I intended to go buy a devil's mask, dress up in a suit and go as Norm Coleman, our local Republican US Senate candidate (no offence to any GOPs out there ;) ). But, I've been sick the past few days, so I instead went as "couch potato in flannel pants and t shirt", brewed up some coffee, and sat at home reading a good book. C.

ihcoyc	01 Nov 2002
I always put on a fairly big production for the local kids. This year was no exception. I decorate the garage with candles. Then I dress up, usually as Skeletor or the Grim Reaper --- I found this great velvet academic hood in my neighbour's trash after she moved --- and sit outside waiting for the trick or treaters. I also rig up a sound system and fill the neighbourhood with Bach organ music. I was disappointed in the number of trick or treaters we actually got this time around, though. It was kind of wet and cold out tonight, and we didn't get the usual number.

kayne	01 Nov 2002
This is me in my GreenMan Mask (and showing off my tattoo :D) I made the mask to wear for my Beltane celebrations (Southern Hemisphere) and I am having a Halloween party tonight so it is doubling as a Halloween costume too... Reguarding the idea that a costume reflects what you want to become in the future... I understood that people dress up for Halloween as ghosts and dead things in honour of the dead, or something like that?

Indigo	02 Nov 2002
Awesome mask and tat, Kayne! Happy Beltane! (Feels weird to say that right now -- here, it was the first actually cold day... cold for South Carolina, that is.)

Melvis	02 Nov 2002
Although I didn't dress up this year, my best costume ever was when I took a white t-shirt, put a bar code symbol on the back and the word "Costume" on the front, and went as a Generic Costume. I had a plain white face mask and I wore white pants and white sneakers. It was a big hit, and boy, was it cheap! :D Peace, Melvis :TSTRE P.S. I love the tattoo, Kayne! The Green Man mask goes so well with it!

Sorceress_Jade	15 Nov 2002
ok, so i said I'd post an image of my costume... here t'is. My Gypsy/fortune teller/belly dancer... thing, lol

Sorceress_Jade	15 Nov 2002
Another one, a bit better view

Sorceress_Jade	15 Nov 2002
And lastly. You should have seen me, dancing around the office all day. Much fun. :D

The Costumes thread was originally posted on 31 Oct 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.