Halloween-themed illustrations - - Minna no Photo Gallery

These are illustrations I created as an extension of my hobby using 3DCG (Blender, etc.).

I plan to register them in the "Minna no Photo Gallery," so please feel free to use them if you like.

Halloween is on October 31st.

It's a little early, but...

Halloween: Ancient Memories Glowing in the Dark Night

As autumn deepens and the chill sets in, we approach "Halloween," a festival that is somewhat mysterious.

While costumes and trick-or-treating are iconic events today, tracing their origins reveals that they are deeply connected to the lives and beliefs of ancient people.

The history of Halloween dates back over 2,000 years to the Celtic festival of "Samhain."

For the Celts, October 31st was the end of the year, marking the end of summer and the beginning of the cold winter.

They believed that on this night, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, and the spirits of the dead returned to this world.
It is said that among these spirits, some were mischievous, while others came to visit their families as ancestral spirits.
People lit bonfires and wore animal skins as costumes to ward off evil spirits or appease the spirits.

This is considered one of the roots of modern-day costumes.

Later, as Christianity spread, these ancient customs became intertwined with Christian holidays.

November 1st became "All Saints' Day," a day to commemorate all saints, and the night before, October 31st, came to be called "All Hallows' Eve."

"Hallow" means "holy," and this evolved into the name "Halloween."

Modern Halloween developed uniquely on the American continent along with immigrants.
Customs brought by immigrants from Ireland and Scotland in particular took root, with "Trick or Treat" being a prime example.
This custom of saying "Give me a treat or I'll play a trick on you!" is also said to originate from a medieval European tradition where poor people would go from house to house begging for food or money in exchange for offering prayers for the dead.

Also, the "Jack-o'-lantern," a symbol of Halloween, is indispensable when talking about local customs.

Originally, in Europe, lanterns were made by hollowing out turnips or potatoes, but in America, pumpkins, which were larger and easier to carve, came to be used, resulting in the form we see today.
Carving a scary face into a pumpkin is meant to serve as a charm to ward off evil spirits.

Today, Halloween has evolved in its own unique way in various parts of the world.

In the United States and Canada, the traditional style of children dressing up in costumes and visiting neighborhood homes is the mainstream.
On the other hand, in Japan, there is an aspect where it has become established as a kind of cosplay event, with young people enjoying their own creative costumes in city centers like Shibuya.

However, in whatever form it takes, the fact remains that this festival provides an opportunity to embrace the 'extraordinary' and share ancient themes of 'darkness' and 'death' by transforming them into humor and playfulness.

From ancient Celtic bonfires to modern neon-lit street parades, Halloween is a festival filled with a mysterious charm, where respect for the dead and joy for the living are intertwined.

On this night, perhaps we too find both memories of the distant past and the joy of living in this world within the light of the pumpkins glowing in the dark night.

The search keywords are [TomMsn251009] or [TomMsn].

Some of these are sold on 'Adobe Stock' and 'PIXTA' under the name 'Tom.Msn&Gafuu', but unfortunately, they are rarely purchased...
If you are interested, please take a look.

Adobe Stock: Tom.Msn&Gafuu

PIXTA: Tom.Msn&Gafuu