Before Halloween comes, let me update everyone a little about Halloween first. Also known as All Hallows, All Hallowmas, All Saints' Day, Hallowtide and November Eve. No night is more identified with witchcraft, magic, spirits, ghosts and most importantly Halloween Costumes. This is the night when the veil between realms is so thin as to be nonexistent. It is thus the perfect night for divination, magical ritual and spells, petitions to spirits, communication with the dead and not forgetting, party time for most people nowadays, especially the chance to dress up in sexy Halloween costumes. The Wild Hunt rides on Halloween and the fairy mounds open up. This is one of the few nights when the trooping of the fairy folk is visible and changelings can be rescued. (And the first time in Singapore where I witness, first hand account, party animals dressed in adult Halloween costumes and boarding th public bus I was on).

"Hallow" derives from an Old English word for "holy". Until the early sixteenth century, the words was usually applied to saints and so it is essentially an archaic word for "saint". All Hallows Eve is the vigil proceeding All Saints' Day, the Roman Catholic festival corresponding to ancient feasts of the dead. But still, imagine how freaked out I was at the tender age of 16, taking a public bus home and minding my own business when at the very last stop at Orchard Road, a whole group of vampires, fairies, ghouls and demons boarded my bus very nosily. Needless to say, I wasn't the only one that had such a shock that my jaw remained opened until all the Halloween entities got off the bus. Yes, you heard me right, jaws opened, speechless and yet awed by the many residents of the "night" who all decided to bring their Halloween party to another spot near Orchard Road.

"Hallow" however has since gained the meaning of "holy" or "sacred", as in "hallowed ground", so Halloween may also be understood as "Sacred" or "Holy Night" - which for witches and those who love them, it is. (Those who fear them, on the other hand, would say that this is a night for staying inside because witches, demons, ghosts and fairies are at the height of their powers!) The Feast Of All Hallows is thus synonymous with the Feast Of All Saints. All Hallows' Even became Hallowe'en, which eventually became Halloween when the apostrophe was lost sometime during the mid-twentieth century.

But hey, why let ghoulies and beasties stop you from having fun on Halloween? Go head and grab yourself some sexy Halloween costumes or adult Halloween costumes and enjoy this once-a-year magical night in town, where two realms are intertwined with each other. Who knows, fairy sightings might be the next craze to catch on soon? And some suggestions on the choice of Halloween costumes, since Stephanie Meyer's vampire novels are so immensely popular and vampires seem to be the hot topic, why not dress up as a vampire? And I don't mean the Bela Lugosi vampire that says "I want to suck you blood" type. My personal recommendations would be the Adult Dracula Bride costume. Seriously, dressing up as dracula's bride is definitely way more cooler than just dressing up as just a vampire, don't you think so? Or my personal favorite, in a sense that Halloween is geared towards a magical and fortune-telling age, a Fortune Teller costume. You don't really need to brush up on your fortune telling skills to dress up as one though. My guess would be that there might be quite a number of people who would dress up as vampires or vampiress and you can kick the notch further by celebrating Halloween as a fortune teller as this costume style is really unique and mysterious and who knows, you might win the 'Best Halloween Costume' prize at your local pub just because you exude an air of mystery as a fortune teller? Just remember to have a deck of tarot cards handy and at least read some books on the simpler use of tarot cards to make your Halloween experience much more enjoyable!

But before I sign off this post on Halloween, I have to let you all know of this chance to make a wish and have some good fortune for yourself. Halloween is also a time for making wishes and for rituals to obtain good fortune too. This entire ritual, from the moment you leave your home until the handkerchief filled with graveyard dust is safely hidden, must be done in complete silence. Not a peep or your wishes allegedly won't come true!

» Purchase a new cotton handkerchief before Halloween begins. Don't use it; keep it clean and reserve it for the following ritual.

» As early as possible on November 1st, as early as one minute past midnight, leave home, taking the handkerchief and go to a cemetery, entering by the main gate.

» Walk along the path to the wall opposite the main gate. At some point on this walk, pick up a little dirt, put it in a corner of the handkerchief and make a wish while knotting that corner shut.

» Retrace your steps exactly (or even walk backwards!) out the main gate.

» Go to a second cemetery and repeat steps 2, 3 and 4, knotting the pinch of dirt up in a different corner of the hanky.

» Go to a third cemetery again repeat steps 2, 3 and 4. At this point you will have gathered three pinches of dirt and formed three knots in the handkerchief.

» Go home and hide your handkerchief on a high shelf or within the rafters or somewhere where it won't be disturbed. Your wishes will allegedly come true.