Thread: Halloween -we just don't get it!

Tweet

Hello, I'm a newbie, trying to find out what Halloween is really about. But first, will you let me have a bit of fun at the expense of Halloween customs, as long as I promise to laugh at one of my birth ccountry's weird festivals too?
Halloween -we just don't get it.

I'm starting to wonder if people only ToT'd in my town in Scotland in the 80s... then again, guy fawks isn that bif up here.. we refer to it as bonfire night. Weird considering there are parts of Glasgow where they would quite happily burn a catholic *controversial but true*

Yes, kids do ToT in Australia too, but it's still considered not quite the right thing to do, just copying a custom that really isn't part of our culture.

Samhain is the harvest festival. I'm sure there are harvest festivals in Australia...what, March-Aprilish timeframe?

I think the obvious answer is for you to do a little research and/or history on Halloween. Here, I'll get you started...

Halloween - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks. It was a funny article. Yes, I guess the contradictions are there. Halloween has been around for a long, long time so if it was a holiday that was started today, maybe some of the customs wouldn't have taken hold, ie. ToTing at strangers' houses--neighborhoods were much safer decades ago in general (albeit there have always been neighborhoods you might not want to venture into at night). But for the most part today you wouldn't go somewhere you didn't feel comfortable going, and it still holds true that the vast majority of people are still good people. And you don't let little todlers go out by themselves anyway!

I suspect the person who wrote the article or those that feel this way (like the article) have never been ToTing as a kid. If you had grown up with ToTing then I think the absolute fun and anticipation of the night would make it such that you wouldn't even think to write such an article. All I can say is too bad the author never experienced it! They should come to America and go to an adult halloween costume party at the very least. Still it doesn't replace the lost experiences of being a kid ToTing.

Who is "we"? It's a North American AND world wide celebration. For those in Mexico it's Dia De Los Muertos and another whole country above the US called "Canada" celebrates it too. For those of you "over seas" who don't get it, remember this continent is a mixed melting pot of immigrants and culture melded together from all of your areas and then some and so some celebrations have evolved with dabbles of everything into what we know today.

Many cultures around the world have a "Day of the Dead" type celebration although not all on Oct. 31st. There are those who believed the veil was thinnest on Oct 31st (or Nov 1st) and thus costumes were a way to fool spirits into thinking one was part of their group. As far back as in Ancient Greece, people would leave food items somewhere to appease these spirits. Some say that was the idea of wearing different apparel: so the spirits wouldn't recognize you and follow you home.

In UK, the festival of Halloween is also known as the mischief night. As a common practice, people would lock up their cats and leave the doors off hinges. The myth that surrounds locking cats goes back to the belief that elves ride on back of cats. As part of Halloween customs, traditionally children used to carve pumpkin-men from large-sized pumpkins and placed them on windows to scare-off evil spirits.
In Ireland, there used to be a tradition of lighting bonfires. Goodies in the form of apples, fruits and nuts were distributed amongst children and the day marked pranks being played on other community members and friends. The popular Halloween line children recited on the Halloween day in Scotland is ��Sky is blue, the grass is green, may we have out Halloween?�. Goodies like sweets, dried nuts and fruits along with six-pence were normally offered to children.

I guess Thanksgiving still represents harvest celebrations and Halloween is a culminations of Celtic; European traditions and spun in the "new country" way.

So with it's roots going back to ancient times and on the European continent, I ask again; Who is "we"?

I went trick or treating when I was a child in the 80's here in the UK with my carved turnip and bin liner witch costume. Although it wasn't called trick or treating back then we called it Halloweening in Hull.

I loved it, Halloween always gives me fond childhood memories and the people who don't get it are miserable buggers as far as I'm concerned. Children grow up so fast and wonderful childhood memories are important, there's something magical about dressing up in your costume, going out with your friends and getting candy.

There's so many people who don't want to take part or give joy to children on Halloween night. I feel sorry for them missing out on the fun.

It's all for good fun in the U.S. "All hallows eve has become a night of frolic!"
Sure, there's some people who focus on Halloween as a religious holiday, but the mainstream is just for fun. Free candy from neighbors who are willing to participate. Dress up in a silly costume and have a little laugh at yourself and your friends. Get scared in a haunted house, Wander around or sit infront of a fire and tell ghost stories. MMM I have been craving an ash-baked potato

It's always interesting to see how other cultures view our customs.