QOTW: What is October 31st to you?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
QOTW: What is October 31st to you?
27
Sun, 10-22-2006 - 2:31pm

October 31st may be one of the most controversial days on the calendar.  Different cultures and religions view it very differently, even calling it by different names.  Some revere it; some abhore it.  Tell us what this day it to you:  what do you call it?  what does it mean to you?  how will you celebrate it?


 




iVillage Member
Registered: 08-09-2005
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 8:47am

We celebrated it as kids, but as Southern Baptist grew (and are still growing) more fundamentalist, my mom's guilt (ya, catholics aren't the only ones) led us to fall fests and the like.


My mom generally organized them and we had great fun! We still dressed up (but nothing scary) and we bobbed for apples and had awesome relay races!! One year she even threatened that we'd have to swallow goldfish!! lol....but that never happened. The youth group even joined in with the kids. It was just a great time to be a kid!! Some of my fondest memories....


Having worked in a SBC right before Halloween, I see the great lengths they go through (here) to dogmatize it and 'draw the line'. It reminds me of a dictatorship! Gross....


Yes, Halloween's origin's are pagan, which Christians oppose, but they have no problem with Xmas (which comes fro winter

~MissApril
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-06-2003
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 8:50am

Halloween is one of my girls favorite holidays. They dress up in creative costumes that we make and attend parties and go trick or treating. To bring in our Irish heritage we will make a Parshell to bring good luck in this new year. Honoring customs is important to us and adds some fun to the holidays.

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/Parshell.html

~*~Star~*~

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 9:51am

Great link Star... thanks for sharing that!


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 10:28am

It's just plain Halloween to me. I don't put much thought into the significance of it.


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 11:23am



Hope everyone has a great Summer!

Photobucket
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2001
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 11:40am
I call it Halloween, and I will use the time to quietly reflect on my deceased family members... I might light a candle or something too...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket 
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-24-2004
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 12:00pm

Halloween is just another day for me.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2005
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 2:21pm

I celebrate it tow ways ... as Halloween. I usually end up dressing up for work, nothing too extravagant, just something fun but simple, pass out candy to the daycare next door, if I'm lucky I can take my nieces and nephews out trick or treating. I watch Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin, but usually end up missing all the haunted hay rides and corn mazes. If I had more time, I'd have fun and go to all of them and find a fun party. I think it's just a fun thing.

And I also celebrate it as Samhain. I remember all the people that have been lost in the previous year and ponder my ancestors and I get ready for the cold season ... which is already started here in Pa.

Click to visit Pagan Paths! ** "I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a
necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through
the wrong end of a telescope ..." ~ Dr. Seuss
Click to visit Pagan Paths Homepage!
Click to visit Pagan Paths!
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-19-2003
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 3:04pm

For me, 31 October is Halloween. It's not a religious day for me, just a fun holiday where I get to dress up in fun costumes and spend time with family and friends. I'm going to a friend's party that night after work.

I know some religions celebrate it as a serious religious day, but that a lot of people think it's evil. I don't think it's evil, but it's not a feast day or anything like that to me.


Image hosting by Photobucket
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-16-2004
Mon, 10-23-2006 - 7:01pm

October 31st I recognize as Halloween although I really don't celebrate it. I do buy a small bag of candy just in case anyone comes to the door, but I don't decorate. I do put up "Fall/Harvest" decorations.

Photobucket