Questions RE: Halloween?

Question

Coming from Australia, we don't celebrate halloween, but I have some questions for everyone that does.
Why do you celebrate it each year - How did it start?
Do you have a public holiday on halloween?
Is it considered rude if you don't give out candy when the children knock at the door?
Did you dress up as a child for halloween, and if so what was the best costume you ever had?

Answer 1

*Sigh*

It almsot makes me ashamed to be an American with all these misinformed peoples.

Halloween IS an actual holiday, whether people like it or not. We celebrate it each year just as we do christmas and thanksgiving or any other holiday.

The festival of Halloween as we celebrate it today is an interesting juxtaposition of a Christian and a pagan festival.

Searching for the history & origin of this festival takes us back to the 5th. century B.C. in Celtic Ireland. In those days, the year ended with the end of summer which officially used to end on 31st.October. This day was called Samhain.

The Celts had a strong belief in the afterlife and they believed that the spirits of those who died in the preceding year came back on this day to possess the living bodies for the next year. This was the only hope of the spirits for afterlife. But obviously those who were living did not want to be possessed. So to repel the evil spirits the common custom was to extinguish all the fire in the house and then dress up in a horrible manner and parade in the streets. If anybody was believed to be possessed then as a warning to the spirits that person was burnt alive. A better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires is that this was done not to ward off the evil spirits but to rekindle it from the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the middle of Ireland.

The Romans adopted this Pagan festival but in the 1st. century A.D. the custom of burning live human beings was replaced by the custom of burning effigies.

The custom of Halloween came over to America in 1840 with the Irish who had immigrated there to escape the potato famine. The favorite prank in New England at that time was tripping over the outhouse and unhinging the poultry gate.

The custom of trick or treat is thought to have originated from a ninth century European custom called souling. On 2nd Nov..."All Saints Day" the early Christians went from door to door begging for 'soul cakes' (square pieces of bread made with currents). The more cakes a person gave the more prayers were said for the soul of those dead in that house. It was believed that the souls did not receive entry into heaven till prayers even by strangers were uttered on behalf of the dead.

The custom of Jack-o-lantern probably comes from Irish folklores. Jack was notorious as a drunkard and trickster. He once tricked Satan to climb a tree and then carved out an image of cross on the trunk so that Satan was trapped on the tree. Only after Satan made a promise that he'll never tempt Jack again he was allowed to climb down. After death Jack was denied entry into heaven for his evil ways and the door of Hell was also closed to him for tricking Satan. Satan gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. To make it light longer it was placed inside a hollowed out turnip to make it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as Jack-o-lanterns but in America they found pumpkins to be far more plentiful than turnips, so the turnips were replaced by pumpkins.

Hence contrary to the popular belief Halloween did not grow out of evil practices. Today Halloween is celebrated in a jovial mood. Children dress up in different costumes and go from door to door calling out trick or treat. They are given candies and sweets. There is nothing evil about this day.

The reason for it not being a "public day," is because not all people celebrate it. It is a Christian / Pagan / Catholic holiday. Not everyone in america 'belongs' to one of those religions.

It isn't considered rude if someone doesn't participate. As I said before, not everyone is a part of the above named religions.

I'm Pagan, so the holiday means alot to me. So yes, I did dress up as a child. I wouldn't know what my best costume ever was, but I remember when I was about 6, my grandmum dressed me up as "Belle" from "Beauty and The Beast." That was most definately the most memorable one. I felt like a princess. =)

Answer 2

Halloween's origins go back to early farming/subsistence days, as a harvest celebration. As the year was drawing to an end (ie "dying") it was thought that the dead could access the living at this time as well. Celebrations of ancestry, like Mexico's "Day of the Dead" would often include offering food, sweets, or candies to appease the dead visitors.

Other traditions, like jack-o-lanterns, are traced to other folklore. The Irish would carve turnips and insert a candle due to a folklore story about Jack and the Devil. When Irish immigrants came to the US, the tradition came with them, although pumpkins proved easier (and larger) to carve than turnips.

Early in the 1900's, Halloween was often called Devils Night and children played pranks rather than go begging door to door. Many communities tried to ban Devils Night, or change the event away from pranks and vandalism into something more pleasant. Costumes and door-to-door trick or treating came to the forefront then, with the costumed participants basically filling in physical form for the wayward visiting spirits of old, and the residents appeasing them with candy.

Halloween is celebrated each year, although in different ways. Some communities have set up special nights for trick-or-treating that don't interfere with school nights and homework. Some have approved trick-or-treating zones, like in shopping malls, to prevent poisoned candy scares. But mostly, kids just go door-to-door like they always have. There is no public holiday on Halloween.

It is rude not to have something to give if children come to your door, and you run the risk of getting your hosue egged or toilet papered as a result. However, tradition also allows that if the porch light is off, that person is not giving out candy or is not at home. One sure sign that someone is giving is Halloween decorations in the front yard or windows.

I did dress up as a child, but don't recall the "best" costume. Halloween has also become an adult holiday, when grownups can dress as anything they wish without repercussions, and go to bars or Halloween parties. Oftentimes, the Halloween costume gives an outlet to an adult to act contrary to their normal behavior, so you have a quiet secretary dressing up as a sexy Halloween witch, or mailboys become Pirates. Halloween has long since lost its pagan meaning, no matter how many religious conservatives claim it to be the Devil's birthday or a celebration of things satanic. Most people, adults and children, see Halloween as a time of fun and frolic, as a way of blowing off steam, or expressing something about your inner world that you can't in a day-to-day setting.

Answer 3

Don't know how it started, it is done every year on Oct 31 but not a public holiday. If people don't want to give out candy they don't turn the light on or don't answer the doors that night.

I am wearing my favorite costume on my new Y!A avatar (Batman). Tough on the outside, but wait until you get my costume off. LOL I do have a warm heart inside though. LOL

Answer 4

Halloween originall started in MExico as "The day of the Dead" eventually, it became Halloween in the uS. It is not a public holiday (everything is open for business that day)
It is rude not to give out candy is someone knocks. I foyu do not want to give out candy, turn off the proch light. If you have the porch light on, then trick or treaters will come..

Answer 5

I'm still a teenager *wink , ha

I Forgot why we celebrate it sorry

Halloween isn't really a holiday even thought it is , School still goes on , people still go to work.

a few years ago I Dressed up as Freddie Krugar , I misspelled that i think ..We had a fog machine , it was pretty fun .oh the joy the joy , Scary movies , and a hot cup of coffee..mm

Answer 6

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Answer 7

i like to be tricked by somw lady of course as usual