Hallowe’en
With the end of October comes the start of Halloween. Although Halloween isn’t widely celebrated in New Zealand, there are some kids (and adults) who love any excuse to dress up. Believe it or not but the top costume for this year is Michael Jackson. Searches for the costume, which generally includes tight black pants, a leather jacket and, of course, a glittering glove, have gone up more than a 1000%. Heath Ledger-inspired Joker costumes, as well as the Dark Knight, may also reappear this year. Meanwhile, diehard Twilight and True Blood fans have breathed new life into classic vampire attire.

Through research I found out some rather interesting facts about Halloween:

• When Christianity entered Europe, the 1st of November became ‘All Saints Day’ – a day dedicated to all those saints who didn’t have a special day of their own. They preformed a mass called ‘All hallows mass and the night before became known as All Hallows E’en and eventually Hallowe’en or Halloween.

• The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip.

• Trick or treating is said to originate from a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

• The witch is a central symbol of Halloween. The name comes from the Saxon wica, meaning wise one. When setting out for a Sabbath, witches rubbed a sacred ointment onto their skin. This gave them a feeling of flying, and if they had been fasting they felt even giddier. Some witches rode on horseback, but poor witches went on foot and carried a broom or a pole to aid in vaulting over streams. In England when new witches were initiated they were often blindfolded, smeared with flying ointment and placed on a broomstick. The ointment would confuse the mind, speed up the pulse and numb the feet. When they were told "You are flying over land and sea," the witch took their word for it.

Interesting how multiple religions mixed to make this one holiday aye!
Happy Halloween everyone





Movember
Along with All Saints day November 1st also brings the fist day of Movember. Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men. Men who support the cause start Movember clean shaven and then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their moustache. Donations to the event can be made by anyone and at the end of Movember men gather at various bars to showcase their Mo – or lack of Mo as the case may be.
Today, in its sixth consecutive year, Movember takes place around the world. Motivated by what was happening in Australia, a further five countries now embrace the Mo each November - New Zealand, US, Canada, UK and Ireland are all helping Movember to achieve its ultimate goal – to change the face of men’s health globally.
Lady’s you too can get in on the even with Catalina and endemicworld.com. So you two can show of your mo in support for the event, and various colours that include black, orange and white. For every $5 mo necklace sold on endemicworld Catalina will donate $10. Just visit this [link] to buy your very own necklace.
How many members of Kiwisunite are growing a mo this Movember? I will personally donate
$5 to the Movember fundraiser for every male member of Kiwisunite that enters Movember, and documents their process for the Kiwisunite gallery.
A great video for growing a mo can be found at this [link] & a list of styles can be found at this [link]
Which mo will you grow?





Club Note
A reminder to new (or old) members of KiwisUnite: Please feel free to submit any New Zealand themed deviation you have. All information on submitting can be found on the How to Join page.
DeviantMEETs – KiwisUnite is planning a DeviantMEET for Palmerston north on Sunday the 15th of November. But a certain number of members is needed before it is determined if the meet will take place. So anyone that can & would like to attend the first Palmerston North KiwisUnite Meet please Note the club that you would like to attend. Other Meets will be planed for other towns over the near future.






Upcoming events
New Theme: (details Later)
Deviant Meet (details Later)





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