Do you celebrate Halloween?

[Texan Mouseketeer]

My rich brother lives in a castle and has adult Halloween parties each year. They go all out. The first year the castle was done, they did the traditional Renaissance theme. Last year it was all vampire stuff so every costume was like a regular costume but bloody. That was kind of strange! We missed that one because DD was only a few months old and we weren't ready to go out yet. I wonder what this year's theme will be...

 

[lillygator]

Halloween is DD's birthday and a very BIG deal in our family - we all love Halloween!!

DD thinks the holiday was created around her....she is always saying "Halloween is for my birthday!"

 

[bajanswife]

We celebrate it in a limited kind of way in our neighborhood, but it's not a country-wide celebration. Our neighborhood does trick or treat, and it's perfectly safe to eat the candy straight out of the bag But the decorating isn't quite the same - we don't have those big, orange pumpkins to carve like you do, for one thing! And we don't have all the harvest stuff - for us it's perpetual summer! We enjoy it because it's a chance for the neighbors to get together and have a party (it always ends in BBQ at someone's house). Some of the nightclubs have adult dress up parties for Halloween as well. But I would say that trick or treating is only going on in a few neighborhoods - mostly ones where Americans or Canadians live, because we really adopted this holiday from them. As a child I only trick or treated for 2 or 3 years when we were friends with some Canadians. Apart from that, we went most of my childhood without ever celebrating Halloween until I went to college in Canada - then I really discovered what Halloween was all about! We celebrated a lot on campus.

 

[mickeyfan2]

We do and get between 70 and 100 kids. It might be the bible belt.

 

[m&m's mom]

We celebrate Halloween BIG time! Second only to Christmas.
We have a large yard full of decorations and house as well.
Our wedding was a costume Halloween party and I aimed for each of the M's to be Halloween babies but I ended up w/ a 4th of July and Labor Day babies. If I aimed for Christmas I may actually finally have my Halloween baby.
We trick-or-treat, have multiple parties, and do the trunk-or-treat activities at church.
I LOVE this time of year!

 

[skiwee1]

If Halloween is evil then I better inform my neighbor who is a catholic priest. He hands out some of the best candy in the neighborhood!

 

[mickeyfan2]

It is our second most decorated holiday. We have a Halloween tree, lights, pumpkins (carved, plastic, light up). Every year the parents come to our home to see what new we have added. We have speakers under the porch playing creepy noised, a fog machine, ghost, spider/webs, rats, blood dripping candles, and so much more. Takes us two weekends to set it up. I also dress up to hand out our treats (candy and toys). We love this holiday.

We live in the country down a 500 foot driveway and get 70-100 kids. That is 70-100 kids in 90 minutes. The last half hour is usually slow. Halloween is only for two hours by us. Parents drive from all over to see our display. Kids at school come, because the previous year their friends said we had the best display and handouts. We get many complements from Adult and teenagers. Many people tell us that we are their first stop.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Hey, don't feel bad for me, buckalew! I don't feel badly about my decision and it is just one thing my mom and I will never agree on. She really is a good mom and she isn't the type of Christian that thinks everything is evil. Halloween is just one of those things and certain television shows when I was growing up. Now my youngest brother can watch whatever he wants and he HAS been trick or treating w/my stepdad (who is an atheist btw) once or twice when he was younger. So basically I bring that up since it is pretty hyprocritical to tell me that I shouldn't let dd go t or t when my brother did and that usually ends the argument! How can she argue with that one? In many other ways she is a great mom and nana and we get along fine. I am hoping she will come around to the whole Halloween thing but that's her decision and it won't sway me. I don't plan to take dd t or t this year since she will only be 6 months. We will start next year probably.

But anyway, just wanted to mention I am a little nervous of just letting her go t o t just anywhere. There are some weirdos out there. Most of dh's relatives live in our neighborhood and while they are weird they also would never tamper w/ dd's candy so we will be going by their houses. We also will be taking her by the local community college. They do a thing in the dorms where the students dress up and have a contest to see who can make their room up the coolest and they hand out candy to the kids. We also plan to take her by the mall. We don't currently have a church but we plan to start looking soon and we would take her to any fall festivals as well. So that makes me feel like it would be safe anyway.

 

[TDC Nala]

I run down to Walt Disney World, put on a crazy costume and go drinking at PI. Is that celebrating?

 

[cats7494]

Yes, we "celebrate" Halloween. My dd gets dressed up and we do go Trick or Treating.
I work in a United Methodist church and we have a preschool here as well - they have Halloween parties and dress up. (it is really adorable to see all the little ones!)

However -my Dh's brother and wife will not let their kids participate in Halloween - it goes against their church practices. They belong to a Nazarene church.

 

[rhanditresmom]

Yes, we do. I love Halloween...I think it is a great time to dress up and be a kid. My kids love it, too. I never got to Trick or Treat when I was a kid (we lived in Asia), so I really like to do it up! I always have tons of candy...the kids know which house to go to!!! It is fun!

 

[Micca]

I'm just not into it except the bite size candy bars I think it's a fun time and I understand why people choose to participate.

 

[tiff211]

We celebrate it and my mom HATES the fact that we do. She always invites the girls to her church for a celebration there. Please explain what is do different if the kids dress up and go around the neighborhood or if they do the same and go to a church for candy.

The funny thing to me is that all year we teach our children not to beg and accept candy from strangers but on Halloween we TAKE them to beg for candy from stangers.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

It is the most important holiday of my religion. Yes, I celebrate it. And honestly, I'm a little disturbed by how many people find it to be evil. The intolerance of some religions just befuddles me and I'm glad mine teaches love and tolerance.

I celebrate a secular Christmas with my friends and family. I love the spirit of giving and peace on earth that comes at that time of year. I guess I just don't get why a particularly devout Christian could not celebrate a secular Halloween.

And I certainly can't imagine being offended by it.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Halloween is a very important Wiccan Holiday and is best known in the World of paganism by the Celtic name of Samhain. It is also the most misunderstood. In Wicca - All Hallows Eve is not about ghoulish costumes, green-faced witches, devils, or Freddy Krueger masks … it is a religious nature themed holiday.

The origins of many Halloween traditions that we use today come from the ancient pagan beliefs and traditions. Carving a Jack-o-Lantern for instance was done to be “scary”…. intending to frighten off negative spirit energy. Halloween costumes originated from pagan folk too. The ancients dressed in a costume to reflect the goals they had for the next year. One might dress as a Princess for wealth, or perhaps as a Fairy Queen to represent a spiritual journey.

But what does it mean to celebrate Samhain as a follower of Wicca?

Samhain is the Celtic New Year and marks the time of the "dark half" of the year (winter). This is the end of Harvest time and the end to summer. In ancient times when everyone followed the ways of paganism - it was also a time to honor the memories of our dead ancestors.

Not the devils birthday.
Not a celebration of evil.
Not really intended as a time to dress up as a serial slasher.

Halloween actually has some very un-evil origins.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

As for banning it, it was done in Puyallup WA and it made national news.

That was acually a group of hypersensitive Wiccans if I recall correctly. The same sort of whiners who want the nice statue of Samantha from Bewitched removed from Salem, MA.

Proof positive that every religion has it's extremist wackos.

 

[ReneeA]

I love Halloween! It's my DH's birthday, and he grew up not a big fan since he never got a party on his birthday since all of the kids were trick or treating.

Halloween was a BIG DEAL at my house. My mom went crazy decorating the house, all but my father dressed up, and we always went trick or treating...probably until we were too old to (according to some on the DIS).

We get a ton of trick or treaters. I don't mind the older kids since I was one of them for years

ReneeA

 

[birdiesunshine]

It is the most important holiday of my religion. Yes, I celebrate it. And honestly, I'm a little disturbed by how many people find it to be evil. The intolerance of some religions just befuddles me and I'm glad mine teaches love and tolerance.

I celebrate a secular Christmas with my friends and family. I love the spirit of giving and peace on earth that comes at that time of year. I guess I just don't get why a particularly devout Christian could not celebrate a secular Halloween.

And I certainly can't imagine being offended by it.

Wow! You seem very passionate about this topic. What is your religion if I may ask?

 

[Stacey2grls]

Halloween is an extremely important day for my family. Growing up my mom made it such a huge deal for us, ahhh the happy memmories! So, now that I'm a mom I try to do the same. Halloween is my favorite holiday, all fun, no stress!

 

[Kahana-ri]

Love, Love, Love Halloween! We decorate the house, carve the pumpkins, and take a trip to Salem, just to get in the spirit. The month of Halloween is the best. The decorations, Fall-ish feel, and all of the candy in large bags!