To think Halloween is harmless?

[lavenderbongo]

So I am planning a halloween party for the kids and their parents. I intend to do all the usual games, wrap the mummy, apple bobbing, eating donuts off string. Just the normal kiddy stuff in an attempt to avoid annoying the nieghbours by doing trick or treating.
I was chatting to a colleague at work as she commented on my painted black nails and told her I was going to dress up as a witch and have a party for the kids. At this point she looked very cross and demanded "Do you know the origin on Bonfires?" I said isnt it to do with Guy Fawkes. Well no apprently it is from burning bones of little children and devil worship. Halloween is apparently a terrible festival that encourages devil worship and she would have never let her daughters dress up as little devils. (my youngest looks very cute in her little horns!)
So suitably chastised I looked up all this on the web. Bonfires were called bonefire but it was cattle bones not kids! Surely its about time we just thought of halloween as a time for a bit of fun and an opportunity to dress up? I think she is making a lot of fuss about nothing and buying into an old tradition based on superstition and beliefs that are no longer relevant. What do you think?

Guy Fawkes was not 'invented', he was a real person (tho' called Guido) and is nothing to do with Hallowe'en...

If we didn't do Halloween we would miss going to our friend's awesome street party that she throws every year and I wouldn't have spent this evening covering juice boxes in masking tape for the potluck -- wait, that might actually be a good thing!

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(link is picture of juice boxes in costume)

Wow Hairy Spiders - that is awesome! Going to steal that idea now :)

That's sounds really fun hasta. And I agree about the just-wearing-a-mask thing - FFS make some effort!

I'd love to make some nice traditions in our house

Those juice boxes are brilliant! Wow [hgrin]

steal away, I stole it from pinterest!

i like this page it's a really interesting explanation of the whole thing.

People only think Hallowe'en is dangerous if they're overzealous followers of Christianity, IME. Which is ironic, given that All Hallows is a Catholic rebranding of Samhain.

Accusations of devil-worship and suchlike are flung about quite frequently by very hardline religious types if you're doing anything for Hallowe'en, it's happened to me before. They never know what to say when I tell them you have to be Christian to believe in the Devil

I think we're only using the common form of the word occult, which most people wouldn't, IME, associate with the major religions. Maybe your experience is different.

Also, does it really matter what the origins are (a mixed bag, it seems) as it appears many people on this thread take exception to what Hallowe'en represents now?

By the way, most Christians don't celebrate or even agree with the significance of many Catholic festivals, so that argument doesn't necessarily hold water.

Anyway, not wanting to get into a fight about it. FWIW, I don't like it, I don't celebrate it, but I certainly don't take exception to other people wanting to mark the occasion however they want to.

I am so jealous of people in neighbourhoods where everyone knows each other and does fun stuff for the children. Our close is virtually child free. Maybe I'll try and fix an arrangement next year with the few other families that live here!

"She's already stated her reasons for not celebrating Hallowe'en, and also said she wouldn't push those reasons down anyone's throat, so why are people determined to pick her apart?"

If someone came on and gave a totally wrong explanation of what Christmas was about would you think it was wrong of Christians to correct them?

My parents are devout Christians and they don't celebrate Hallowe'en because their church leader told them that there is some kind of evil subculture of Satan-worshippers who "celebrate" it by abusing children. I have given up arguing with them, it's pointless.

Halloween is fun and harmless, for pagans it is also a celebration for samhain, I'm unsure about christians and other religions/cultures. But I do know for an absolute fact that pagans do not worship a devil, a devil or evil entity doesn't even exist to pagans. It is only christians that believe in a devil (as far as I'm aware) and it saddens me to think that some people are still fairly ignorant to the pagan faith, and believe pagans to be evil. Surely in the 21st century we have moved along from this and can accept paganism to be a faith that celebrates the wheel of the year and nature etc.

I'm Christian and I don't believe that it's fun and harmless.

GossipWitch It's ridiculous isn't it?

hiddenhome Fancy enlightening us?

halloween can certainly be fun. i've held halloween parties for children. dressing up, giving buffet food creepy names, playing some slightly different games... under the care and control of sensible adults it can be a lot of fun.

but as a Christian, i've been denounced from the pulpit for doing it! and, i am aware that Christians, Muslims and Sikhs should not be paying attention to the occult.

some Christians make a big fuss of All Saints and All Souls as an alternative.

the American are said to do it as a family. We have the young who sometimes behave badly by being aggressive. I like dressing up

My beliefs are an odd mixture, in that I want to bring my children up primarily to understand the Christian faith, respect other religions and choices, and for them to make their own choices themselves. So, while they were very little we went to church regularly and avoided Halloween parties (it put some friends' noses out of joint, but I wanted my kids to be clear about what we believe) by having our own 'light festival' party and later 'scary story party' (as there's nothing wrong with helping DCs deal with their fears) and made lanterns, and that kind of thing. We moved around a bit and joined in with whatever the church was doing.

Then we actually rented a vicarage for a bit and the villagers all seemed up for trick or treating, including church families and some of DCs friends. The church in next village was having a big firework event with gospel choir and food stalls, so we decorated inside the vicarage front porch with cobwebs and black cats, spiders and bats and left of box of goody bags outside, and went out to the event. (It was great). We did get a couple of comments about the 'state' of the vicarage, but mostly compliments and a request to be in next year to give out the bags because some teenagers had nabbed most of them. As I cleaned it all away that night, and most people who object to Halloween were (I imagine) hidden under a table with their lights off, gates and doors locked & barred, they had no idea what I'd done!

Now I'm all for DCs dealing with their fears, so am considering offering my teenagers a scary movie dress up night in exchange for them NOT going trick or treating. I suppose I'd better hurry up, or they will day 'it's all already arranged mother'!

• say, not day

" 'She's already stated her reasons for not celebrating Hallowe'en, and also said she wouldn't push those reasons down anyone's throat, so why are people determined to pick her apart?' "

'If someone came on and gave a totally wrong explanation of what Christmas was about would you think it was wrong of Christians to correct them?'

Santa Claus.

Well quite!

Hasta that's what Halloween was like for me too. I carved a turnip lantern to show my Beaver Scouts this week and the smell took me right back!

Most people treat Hallowe'en as a bit of harmless fun, as I do. We even went trick or treating with the vicar's wife and children one year.

I am a Christian and go to church, but I just don't take Hallowe'en seriously. I think those that dislike it simply take it too seriously and should chill out a little.

Halloween is indeed a Pagan festival. Pagans do not believe in the existence of the Devil. A lot of Christians get Paganism and Satanism confused. I suspect this is because they want to.
Your colleague is clearly one of these, and you should ignore her.

Samhain, which is the tradition Halloween was taken from, is the night that the souls of your ancestors return to this world for one night. You are supposed to leave out offerings of food and drink for them and celebrate the togetherness of the whole family on the night that autumn turns to winter.

It's actually a very positive thing about honouring your family in all of its generations.

"Pagans do not believe in the existence of the Devil. A lot of Christians get Paganism and Satanism confused. I suspect this is because they want to."

Technically Satanists don't either. But otherwise I suspect you are right.