Harvest instead of Halloween?

[Louisianafive]

How many of you do not "celebrate" Halloween - opting for Harvest Festivals or Parties?

We do not allow our children to wear "scary" costumes and we prefer Harvest Festivals at church or in the neighborhood.

Am I the only one who is not ashamed to admit this?

 

[imthatgirl]

not us we love halloween, but im also not a christian so i have no relgious ties to the holiday.

 

[princessmom29]

I don't like the scary costumes just because they don't appeal to me and i don't like DD getting scared by them, but I have no problem with halloween itself. It was not in its original form a satanic, scary, or occult holiday. I know a lot of ppl object on religious grounds, but I am christian and have done the research into its origins. I choose to look on it as a vehicle used to convert the Druids to christianity that has sice been incorporated into the christian calendar as the eve of all saints day, all hallows eve. I see it as a great way to do just what the druids intended it for, celebrate the harvest and the blessings it brings.

 

[CJ's Mommy]

No, you are not the only one.

I hate all things spooky/scary for Halloween. My DSalmost4 is absolutely terrified of the blow up spooky things on display in Sam's Club. We have to run through the store to avoid them or he has a meltdown.

We dress up in costumes all year long, and if he would like to dress up in something on Halloween I will allow it as long as it is not spooky (which he wouldn't like anyway).

I LOVE the fall and HATE how fall stuff gets overrun with Halloween stuff. It's silly. Also, I would NEVER allow my children to eat candy/snacks from strangers any other day of the year, so I will certainly not allow it on that day either.

 

[imthatgirl]

I don't like the scary costumes just because they don't appeal to me and i don't like DD getting scard by them, but I have no problem with halloween. I know a lot of ppl object on religious grounds, but I am christian and have done the research into its origins. I choose to look on it as a vehicle used to convert the Druids to christianity that has sice been incorporated into the christian calendar as the eve of all saints day, all hallows eve and see it as a great way to do just what the druids intended it for, celebrate the harvest and the blessings it brings.

by druids, do you mean pagans?

 

[princessmom29]

by druids, do you mean pagans?

PAGANS???? That is an afully antiquated and narrowminded word to use, but if by pagan you mean non-christian then yes the druids were not a christian people to begin with, but neither were the Jews, or Muslims, or Buddists, but I wouldn't call them pagans. The Druids were a people who believed in a higher power that made itself known through the wonders of nture. They celebrated what we call halloween to thank that higher power for the gifts of the harvest, and to honor it. I call that worship not paganism. Just because they didn't use the word god does not me that is not who they were worshipping.

 

[ScrapperBelle]

We do celebrate Halloween, but it's not anything crazy. We just take the kids trick or treating (we live in a rural area, so it's only about 20 houses and relatives), and then we come home and have a big bonfire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. My kids have never wanted to dress up in anything really gross or disturbing, so I haven't had to deal with that.

I also like harvest festivals and fairs, but I think they're something entirely different than Halloween. I like Halloween because it can be enjoyed by everyone. It's kinda like Thanksgiving and the 4th...something we can all enjoy regardless of what religion you are.

I will say that I do not like going to a party store and instead of finding cute, festive decorations everything involves severed heads, various instruments of torture, and enough fake blood to sink a ship.

That's ok for grown ups if they want to do it, but I do believe it's just a bit much for little ones.

 

[imthatgirl]

PAGANS???? That is an afully antiquated and narrowminded word to use, but if by pagan you mean non-christian then yes the druids were not a christian people to begin with, but neither were the Jews, or Muslims, or Buddists, but I wouldn't call them pagans. The Druids were a people who believed in a higher power that made itself known through the wonders of nture. They celebrated what we call halloween to thank that higher power for the gifts of the harvest, and to honor it. I call that worship not paganism. Just because they didn't use the word god does not me that is not who they were worshipping.

i am pagan, thats my religion, i didnt know you considered it an insult. maybe i should be insulted by that?
the pagans have been celebrating Samhain since the beginning of time. im sure if i look it up i could give you a date, but im not pulling out my books right now, lol.
the druids celebrated a bit differently than the pagans, they were more concerned with making contact with spirits. not quite how us pagans choose to celebrate. nor i think what the christians were looking to use for their halloween.

im quite curious though....why is it you call the term pagan antiquated and narrow minded? its a religion, just like yours.

 

[princessmom29]

i am pagan, thats my religion, i didnt know you considered it an insult. maybe i should be insulted by that?
the pagans have been celebrating Samhain since the beginning of time. im sure if i look it up i could give you a date, but im not pulling out my books right now, lol.
the druids celebrated a bit differently than the pagans, they were more concerned with making contact with spirits. not quite how us pagans choose to celebrate.

im quite curious though....why is it you call the term pagan antiquated and narrow minded? its a religion, just like yours.

I am sorry, I dn't take that meaning of Pagan as a religion. I took it as pagan as in the romans viewed the druids as pagan. they used it to mean godless and barbaric and many still use it that way today. i truly thought that this is what you were implying, that the Druids were godless barbarians. Sorry, my mistake I did not intend to insult Paganism as a religion. So few people realize that it is so I just assumed the the meaning you intended to convey. I really am sorry for making the wrong assumption. I realize that the christian version as conveyed in all saints day is not at all the same, but I guess the point I was trying to make is that a lot of christians who protest so strongly about halloween don't realize that All Saints was an attempt by the christian church to smooth the transition fro Druids into christianity by incorporating their celebrations into the christian rituial.

 

[disykat]

I don't like Halloween, but it's not for religious reasons. My church doesn't have issues with Halloween, but sees it as being historically tied to "all hallow's eve" and "all saints day."

I just don't like it. I don't like the colors orange and black. I have a bat phobia. I'm not crazy about scary things. I hate dressing up in costumes. I don't like candy corn.

Now harvest, I like. Apple cider, pumpkins, crisp fall days, etc. It all seems sort of romantic.

 

[RMulieri]

I love halloween and fall..and have no problem trick or treating or letting my daughter dress up..But hey, different strokes for different folks.

 

[imthatgirl]

I am sorry, I dn't take that meaning of Pagan as a religion. I took it as pagan as in the romans viewed the druids as pagan. they used it to mean godless and barbaric and many still use it that way today. i truly thought that this is what you were implying, that the Druids were godless barbarians. Sorry, my mistake I did not intend to insult Paganism as a religion. So few people realize that it is so I just assumed the the meaning you intended to convey. I really am sorry for making the wrong assumption. I realize that the christian version as conveyed in all saints day is not at all the same, but I guess the point I was trying to make is that a lot of christians who protest so strongly about halloween don't realize that All Saints was an attempt by the christian church to smooth the transition fro Druids into christianity by incorporating their celebrations into the christian rituial.

i have always looked at it as a transition from paganism. like i said the druids were interested in communicating with spirits, thats what their halloween was about. we celebrated and honored the dead, not ghosts, but rather our loved ones who passed. the part where we dress up and go house to house has really no basis in ancient celtic paganism. that started as far as i have been able to trace it back, in the 1800s in england when children dressed up and went door to door asking for donations.

and your right the christians like to portray paganism as an evil and dangerous religion. some how in the christian mind we have become satanist. its actually laughable. we do not honor satan. we do not sacrifice goats, lol. in fact the wiccan rede states "do what thou wilst, but harm none". and as far as gods, we do not worship a single god, thats by no means means we do not honor gods and goddesses.

godless and barbaric, its funny what people will believe, i wish they would open a book once in awhile.

 

[Goofy'slady]

for posting this thread. I was thinking of posting something like this the other day but sometimes these sort of topics can turn a bit frightening and words can be taken the wrong way and someone always ends up offended.

We don't celebrate Halloween and it's for religious reasons. My husband however is from Holland where they have a holiday something like Halloween but not exactly the same and he likes to do certain things like pass out candy to the kids who come "Trick or Treating" at our door and last year we even allowed our youngest to dress up. She was a princess or as princessy as you get while wearing that awful pink throw up dress my MIL sent from Holland intending on me putting it on her and going out of the house. OMG! This thing is so ugly it should only be worn during Halloween. We put on fairy wings and a crown to complete the look and she helped daddy hand out candy to the kids.

Our oldest just gets a kick out of seeing the other kids dressed up looking so cute. My husband even gives out a prize to the kid he thinks is the best dressed for the night.

I like to celebrate other things about the Autumn season so that's what we focus on.

T.

 

[princessmom29]

i have always looked at it as a transition from paganism. like i said the druids were interested in communicating with spirits, thats what their halloween was about. we celebrated and honored the dead, not ghosts, but rather our loved ones who passed. the part where we dress up and go house to house has really no basis in ancient celtic paganism. that started as far as i have been able to trace it back, in the 1800s in england when children dressed up and went door to door asking for donations.

and your right the christians like to portray paganism as an evil and dangerous religion. some how in the christian mind we have become satanist. its actually laughable. we do not honor satan. we do not sacrifice goats, lol. in fact the wiccan rede states "do what thou wilst, but harm none". and as far as gods, we do not worship a single god, thats by no means means we do not honor gods and goddesses.

godless and barbaric, its funny what people will believe, i wish they would open a book once in awhile.

I am glad you are not offended (I hope) I really was just trying in my own little way to popen ppl's eyes a little. I am one christian who does not see paganism as satianist. What I have read about druid shamian (sp?) is very similr to what you are saying. It implied that that is where pumpkin carving originated and that they did sometimes dress in costumes representing the spirits they were tring to contact. I need to read more about the actual practice of paganism. Is it the same as wicca, then?

 

[SLK1]

I love the fall and Halloween. It's never been about religion or evil or satanic worship...it's simply a day to get dressed up and get candy! I never understood the over-analyzation of it and I even was judged once by a neighbor because I hung little pumpkins from my tree out front!!! Being from Florida, we don't usher in fall with cooler weather and changing leaves, so we can use all the decorations we can get! Our family doesn't go with the skeletons/witches/ghouls motif, but we do love our hay, cornstalks, pumpkins, and lots of orange!

 

[okeydokey]

We celebrate Halloween with a pumpkin carving party, costumes and trick or treating. It's one of my families favorite holidays.

 

[jnzimm]

No, you are not the only one.

I hate all things spooky/scary for Halloween. My DSalmost4 is absolutely terrified of the blow up spooky things on display in Sam's Club. We have to run through the store to avoid them or he has a meltdown.

We dress up in costumes all year long, and if he would like to dress up in something on Halloween I will allow it as long as it is not spooky (which he wouldn't like anyway).

I LOVE the fall and HATE how fall stuff gets overrun with Halloween stuff. It's silly. Also, I would NEVER allow my children to eat candy/snacks from strangers any other day of the year, so I will certainly not allow it on that day either.

Fall is beautifull, but halloween also has its place in fall, I happen to live in an area that I have NO problem with letting my child trick or treat. She has been taught not to accept anything form strangers or talk to them. That is why I go with her on halloween and she understands that this is the only night of the year this happens. I can't believe we as a society have come to the point of trusting no one. Not even folks in our own neighborhood. Sad isn't it. I hate snowflakes.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Although I think Halloween is a silly holiday, I love the fantasy aspect of it, the colors, the images, the creepiness, the pumpkins, etc. Disney loves all of the imagry as well.

I think all the egg throwing and evil tricks are horrible and should be dissassociated with Halloween.

 

[imthatgirl]

I am glad you are not offended (I hope) I really was just trying in my own little way to popen ppl's eyes a little. I am one christian who does not see paganism as satianist. What I have read about druid shamian (sp?) is very similr to what you are saying. It implied that that is where pumpkin carving originated and that they did sometimes dress in costumes representing the spirits they were tring to contact. I need to read more about the actual practice of paganism. Is it the same as wicca, then?

im not offended. its quite hard to offend me actually. i am fully aware of the misconceptions with my religion.
paganism is to wicca as catholicism is to christianity.

 

[livndisney]

We don't celebrate Halloween for quite a few reasons. Some religious and some not. We don't agree with the Blood and Gore that seems to go hand and hand with Halloween. Also it has become fashionable for other religions to glorify the day.