What do y'all do for holloween? I have to admit I've never been a big fan of Holloween, but with two pretty young kids-they are 7 and 10, I'm disliking it more-it seems way too scary to me. Around here, we have a pumpkin festival-it was last weekend as matter of fact where everyone celebrates Fall, and that's great. But for holloween people here seem to focus on the gory, scary part, it seems to celebrate the dark side too much, if you know what I mean. It seems even less approprate this year, given all the recent events. I mean, I don't like seeing displays of bloody severed limbs, you know-"Creepy hands" and that sort of thing, given the WTC and I certainly think we've all experienced enough terror. Am I just making too big a deal about this? What do you parents plan to do? At our elementrary school, each year for holloween, they let the kids dress up but its to a theme- what you're going to be when you grow up, pioneer days etc, (no Scarry stuff) and I don't have a problem with that. We don't trick or treat-We're out in the boonies and I'm not going to drive a half hour so my kids can beg candy from strangers. Uasually, the kids dress up in their school costumes and we walk to Grandparents (through the woods after dark) and they take pictures and have cocoa, and maybe a few peices of "store bought" candy-oh, and we have a great time carving pumpkins. Thats about it for us.

-- Kelly in Ky (ksaderholm@yahoo.com), October 09, 2001

Answers

When we were kids, we had fun going trick or treating, didn't think much about the why. When my kids were small, things had changed. The presence of evil was/is much stronger now, especially at Halloween. Have you noticed most of the decorations for the younger kids-witches, ghost, ugly jack-o-laterns have smiling faces-very inviting (said the spider to the fly). Mostly older kids wear the gorey stuff. Seems something's not right in displaying stuff from the dark side. I don't think we should dwell on the evil.

The Druids started what became Halloween traditions, they were not a light and happy people. They originally carved turnips instead of pumpkins, something about keeping the evil spirits away.

Bonfires were originally bonefires. Lots of scarey stuff.

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony@countrylife.net), October 09, 2001.

I am totally against halloween. We try to use fall as a time to focus on harvest and thanksgiving themes. Almost every year we have chosen instead to get with at least one other family for a time of games, pizza, singing, and sharing testimonies. Our children have never asked to be a part of halloween. As they got old enough, we have explained what we believe and why we have nothing to do with such evil. I do get candy corn for them, since it is a favorite candy and this seems to be the only time of year we can find it.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 09, 2001.

Our small town has a fall party for the kids, there are costumes and all kinds of carnival games. Everyone contributes candy, big bags of chips, 2 liter pops and candy for prizes. There is a judging for costumes. I also do not like scary costumes, and my kids have to make up their costume themselves. We have had cowboys, hunters, princesses, a hippie (really cute), a scarecrow, a present (covered a large box with foil, and decorated with bow and construction paper cutouts, also painted her face with a big smile!!) She won and was so cute!!! I realize that many of the origins of the holiday are rooted in ancient traditions that many children have no concept of, so I allow them to participate in the fun-oriented evening. It is a great time for the community to come together, visit and connect with old and new friends. Sometimes we can turn a not so good thing into a good thing! It is generally held on the last Saturday of October which may or may not co-ordinate with the Halloween date. I know kids love to dress up!!!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 09, 2001.

Thank you, Melissa! I too am glad to let my kids participate in hallowe'en. To us, with our young kids,its dressing up and treats and as a kid it had the added spice of harmless scarey stuff like make believe witches and goblins..fairy tales come to life for a night. I wish my kids would let me dude them up a bit more scarey or cute but ben wants to be a Fireman again and Cam will probably just wear his green satin cape (old bridesmaids dress skirt remade to 2 capes) over his clothes and be Cammie To The Rescue. maybe with a mask to hide his identity..lol. I am in charge of the Nursery school hallowe'en party and have been scouring magazines for ideas for tots.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), October 09, 2001.

I agree with Cathy. We don't need to give the devil another free day. We celebrate fall and the harvest. Our church has a fall festival with lots of games, rides and free candy. It is for families and you can dress up, but prefer a biblical character(one year my 4mo old went as a baby lamb, soooo cute!!!) or definitely not evil or scary costume. I feel this year we really have a lot to be thankful for and should celebrate that part of fall more than the evil side.

-- Ivy in NW AR (balch84@cox-internet.com), October 09, 2001.

Pleae note it is a Fall Feastival, not Halloween Party.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 09, 2001.

Our children don't trick-or-treat, or go to haunted houses, but they do dress up, and we usually have some sort of party at church(which we are careful to call a harvest festival;) The children are not allowed to wear masks, and the costumes are usually cute and not scary...I also like to have a party as my cub scout pack meeting for October. We have simple games and prizes, like cake walk(cupcakes), ring toss for halloween pencils, rings, candy, etc., eating a donut off a dangling string, etc.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), October 09, 2001.

Halloween has it's roots as a pagen holiday. As such, we do not celebrate it. Our church has a fall party around that time for the children with games and candy.

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), October 09, 2001.

There are a lot of pagan holidays that we don't celebrate and halloween is one of them.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), October 09, 2001.

Are Fall Festivals too close??? Are we just trying to change the name, but still glorifying the Halloween holiday, Is is simply a matter of consciece? Looking for mature answers to a sincere question.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 09, 2001.

Melissa, I don't know. I have had to ask myself that. I grew up in a pastor's home, was not allowed to go trick-or-treating, yet my parents gave treats to neighbor kids that knocked on the door. We cut jack-o-lanterns when I was little, but we don't do it now with our own children. The Christian school I went to had a "fall party" which was a lot like halloween parties but without all the witches and goblins and other symbols associated with halloween. One church my dad pastored had a hobo party one year, with everybody dressed up as hobos. Prized were given for the best costumes. Sometimes we (meaning my husband and our children) go to other peoples' homes or have them here "to avoid the trick-or-treaters". Are we "Christianizing" halloween? Should we have fall parties on Oct. 31? Should we choose a different day? I believe this is something best left up to individual parents to decide for their children. Always ask yourself two questions: "Can I do this to the glory of God?" and "Am I offending another Christian by doing this?" If you can answer yes to the first and no to the second, and your conscience is clear, go ahead. Hope this helps.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 09, 2001.

I was raised in a Southern Baptist home and we participated in every holiday. However, we always knew the "true" meaning of the holiday as well. Halloween is one of those border-line holidays. We were allowed to dress up and go trick-or-treating, and I let my kids do the same. It is merely a night for fun NOT a celebration of anything least of all anything related to satan. When it comes to Easter and Christmas, The Easter Bunny brings baskets and we hunt for colored eggs, We leave cookies for Santa when he comes and he brings presents and fills our stockings but we also bake the Easter Story Cookies (which is done as a family with scripture readings)to tell the true meaning of the celebration of Easter. We also read the scriptures of Christ's birth and bake a birthday cake for Jesus to celebrate His birth on Christmas. We exchange gifts in representation of the three wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus. We also talk about the hopelessness of life without Christ, had God not sent His son to die on the cross to pay the price with His precious blood for our sins. I think as stated earlier that it is up to each individual whether or not they celebrate any particular holiday and HOW they choose to celebrate it. I don't feel that I, nor my children have lost the true meanings of Easter or Christmas by us choosing to celebrate/partake of these holidays in two different manners. We definitely don't emphasize or make a BIG deal about Easter Bunnies and Santa, but rather the emphasis IS on our Savior. This is how I grew up. I was never confused. I know the TRUTH and He lives within me. My children do/will know the same.

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), October 09, 2001.

As a Neo-Pagan Druid, I would be willing to try to expain the origins of Halloween and clear up some of the popular misconceptions. However, I'm not sure if this is a Christian-only forum and I don't want to offend anyone. I imagine that my feelings toward Halloween may be similar to what some Christians feel about Christmas, that is, it upsets me that the most sacred day in my religion has been so commercialized.

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), October 09, 2001.

We just don't do halloween, we might go on a hayride with the church, who doesn't call it a halloween party though. We always had fun when I was a kid, but I don't like the idea of my kids asking people for candy! Period! They don't need the candy anyway. If I did allow my kids to do the whole thing, I'd really re-think it this year.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), October 09, 2001.

Sherri Please tell us our side if it's all right with everyone. I think we should hear all sides before you make a choice!! I grew up in church and did trick-or-treat. I belive it's all in the way you celebrate Halloween. We have pumpkins scarcrows etc and don't dwell on the scary stuff just like we did as a child. I love the fall time and decorate this way the months of October and November

-- Sandy(N.E.FL.) (REDNECKGIRL32@prodigy.net), October 09, 2001.

As I have said before we are willing to give everyone a chance to have their ideas heard. I have a feeling that many here are Christians, but all are asked to post. In your explanation please have respect for the feelings of others, and remember not to post anything you would not allow a child to read.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 09, 2001.

I'm right there with Sandy and Greenthumbelina. We do celebrate the holidays - and we do research to try and uncover the true origins of each holiday. Knowledge is power. Sherri, I for one would love to hear some info from you! Please post!

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), October 09, 2001.

Coming from a Christian principled family, but not religious, I love Halloween. Besides...it's my birthday. I've always enjoyed it much more than New Year's Eve, and place it as "that sort" of special day. To me, it's a day for people of all ages to dress up, like they did as children. A day to use imagination, and enjoy treats. Most costumes I've seen are nowhere near evil. My favourite has to be a couple I was in college with, who each dressed up as a crayon. Complimentary colours, of course.

-- Rheba (rhebabeall@hotmail.com), October 10, 2001.

Thank you for this opportunity. I have been studying Celtic history and folklore as a hobby for several years. Halloween derives it's origin from the Celtic holiday called Samhain (pronounced sow-in). Samhain traslates as "summer's end". There were three harvest festivals in the Celtic religion, Samhain was the last and the most important. By this time all the crops had been gathered in and stored away. The ancient Celts didn't have the advantage of hay-bailers, silage systems, or bagged feed, so they didn't have a way to maintain all of their livestock through the long winters. The best animals would be kept for breeding stock and the rest would be butchered and the meat dried or salted for use during the winter. There weren't any grocery stores, so whatever they stored away was all they had to live on through the winter. Samhain was a time to be thankful for a good harvest and to pray that the tribe would make it through the winter.

Fire was very important to the Celts, the hearth was considered the heart and the luck of the household. Having your hearthfire go out was considered very unlucky (as anyone who has woke up in a cold house because the woodstove went out overnight can attest). During Samhain a large bonfire was lit in each village, and each villager would take a torch and carry some of the bonfire home to add to their hearth fire. This helped to strengthen the ties of friendship between the villagers and to assure that everyone had good luck for the winter. The bones of the butchered animals would be burned in the bonfire and the ashes spread over the fields to return to the earth what had been taken from it (and as a form of fertilizer).

Samhain also was the Celtic New Year. It was a special night that wasn't part of either the old year or the new year. Because of this, it was believed that the boundaries between this world and the afterlife were very thin on this night. The spirits of deceased relatives were encouraged to visit their families; candles were placed in the windows to guide them home and a special place was set for them at the dinner table. Not all of the spirits walking that night were happy ones though. Some spirits, due to the circumstances of their life or their death, did not like humans anymore. It was the custom to leave some food outside the house for these unhappy spirits so that they wouldn't come inside the house. Fortunetelling was common on this night to see what the new year would bring. Our modern custom of bobbing for apples is actually an old fortunetelling game.

It also was customary to go door to door collecting food to give to those in the village who may not have enough to get through the winter. It was considered somewhat dangerous to walk outside at night because you might meet one of the unhappy spirits, so the people going door to door would dress in costumes in order to confuse the ghosts.

In pre-Christian times these celebrations would have been conducted by the Druid of each tribe. The Druids were pre-Christian priests, but the were much more than just religious figures. They also were the lawyers, geneologists, astronomers, physicians, historians, etc. They studied in colleges for at least 21 years, and would have been the equivalent of a PhD today. Most of the "bad press" regarding the Druids comes from the writings of Julius Ceasar. It's important to remember that Ceasar was writing to Rome in order to get more money for his conquest of Britain, so it was in his best interests to make the "enemy" seem as evil as possible. There is no archaeological evidence for the large-scale human sacrifice that Caesar described. Criminals could be executed for certain crimes, but the USA executes criminals to this day and it's not considered "human sacrifice".

Most of the Halloween customs we celebrate today were brought to the USA by Irish immigrants. The Church tried to discourage the celebration by emphasizing the "evil spirits" aspects of the holiday. This had the unfortunate side-effect of increasing the amount of mischief and destruction that took place on that night, because it was easy to blame the vandalism as the acts of the evil spirits. Halloween is actually a corruption of "All Hallows Eve", which is the name of the holiday the Church used to replace Samhain. The "Fall Harvest Festivals" that many churches hold today as opposition to "Pagan Halloween" are actually closer to the true spirit of the Pagan holiday than they may realize. :-)

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), October 10, 2001.

Thank you sooo much, Sherri!! I have read a little about Samhain but do not know enough to give the facts to people who may be hearing them for the first time. Your account is knowledgeable and well written. I hope it helps to clear up some misrepresentations of the Pagan holiday. Sincerely,

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), October 10, 2001.

Yes, thanks so much, Sharri, I feel better about Holloween and kids now. My father-in-law is scandanvian and he likes to have a big bon- fire in the fall-he said it was something his family always did, I wonder if its a similar custom-not Celtic, of course, but the same sort of Harvest fire-I imagine Scandinvia was much like Britain in Harvesting, overwintering animals that sort of thing. I would like to learn about this a little more-do you have any good sources?

Thanks again to everyone who posted here-its given me a lot to think about.-K.

-- Kelly in Ky, (ksaderholm@yahoo.com), October 10, 2001.

As Christians we know that Jesus couldn't possibly have been born on December 25th yet we celebrate Christmas then. I do not remember the significants of the conifir (tree) but it is pagan. Easter was a fertility rite party/orgy and the main game was rolling eggs. As Protestants we didn't move far enough away from the Roman Catholic church who has beliefs years back in the Sun God Sol, hence the word Sunday and the celebration of church on Sunday. Saturday is the Sabath, period. I know that there are many more of these, took humanities back in the 70's. Now that is a class that would put the fear of god into all those who want school prayer! :) Which prayer? The Hari-Krishna chants we were taught? Oddly though some parents wouldn't sign the papers to let their children take this class, for me it made me hungry for truth, to study the bible, to not take the word of the local baptist/methodist etc. convention on doctrin. To be mindful of the doctrin of man. Call Halloween a Fall Harvest whatever you wish, its still a pagan holiday. We celebrate the day, just are mindful of what the day really is. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.

Our church has a Fall Harvest Festivial.Games and boths indoors and the kids get prizes and candy to take home.Cost is one prewrapped bag of candy per family at the door. Also this year do to my overwhelming since of helplessness, my best friend and I are throwing a hay-rack ride for the kids and a small harvest party before Halloween. I guess it is our way of dealing with crises. Throw a party.

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), October 15, 2001.

I come from a very religious family, and even though my parents knew what Halloween was all about and such they still let my brother and I celebrate by going out and trick-or-treating (my brother and I even went to a christian school). Now that I am older, I still celebrate Halloween with my friends and now also with my cousin who was born. The church I used to go to has hay rides now and it was designed so that children of the church would not go out and rick-or-treat. Oddly enough, they always have a bonfire afterwards.

-- Rachel (bannon49@hotmail.com), December 23, 2001.

I think that Hollowen is my favorite holiday. I like all that scary stuff. But you just have to remember that it isn't real. I think that it is a time for kids to have fun and get a lot of candy.

-- Angela Duran (ewok95111@yahoo.com), August 28, 2002.

I think all this anti holloween stuff is silly. also we are actually giving the devil more publicity by letting our kids know its a devil day... if we just ignore it take them from door to door in there costumes to get candy and don't even give him any knowledge then we are not giving him any publicity. i use to trick or treat every year when i was a child i bet a lot of you did to and i'm no satanist, love the LORD with all my heart. didn't even think of the devil when i was trick or treating just wondered where my next hershey bar was gonna come from. thanks, charlene dapprich

-- Charlene Dapprich (ldapprich@hotmail.com), October 05, 2002.

i think that halloween is wicked iluv going tttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiccccckkkkkkkkk or ttttttrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaatttttiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg its the best luv holly

-- holly kirkpatrick (holly@north tyneside.co.uk), October 08, 2002.

I think that todays society and Church shoulkd get a grip on life and stop making every thing a good and evil situation. Holloween is for the kids to dress up in any type of character they want and have fun getting candy, carving pumpkins, decorating there yards and just doing kid things. people need to go back to the way it was when we were children and not bring the church finatics into every fesival they deem not worthy.

-- F C (fac525@aol.com), October 13, 2002.

I can't believe I came across your website! I just returned home from getting my daughter her "cute" holloween costume. She just asked me last week about the history of holloween, as she is getting many mixed messages from friends at church and other Christian friends. So thanks to all who posted information to print and refer to.

Coming from a large, evangelical church, I heard most of what has already been posted about the Druids, All Hallows Eve. We even have another day called Reformation Day that collides with Holloween.

I believe as Christians, we can get very legalistic regarding a silly date. My children will go trick or treating with friends, get candy, have fun and that will be it. I try not to make much of it. Who doesn't like dressing up? I couldn't refuse my daughter or son the fun of pretending in costume for one day.

We put our energy and focus on the holidays that really make a difference to us, like Christmas and Easter. Holloween is not a holiday to us -- only a silly, lighthearted, fun day.

-- Theresa O'John (ojohn293@aol.com), October 21, 2002.