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Source: (consider it) Thread: Who's doing what for Hallowe'en?
ChastMastr
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# 716

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And Dia de los Muertos, and spooky things during the month of October in general, of course!

Haven't yet put up decorations or the ofrenda, but we will!!

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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity

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Nicolemr
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# 28

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Nothing much here, having my brother over for company and waiting for Trick-or-Treaters to come by. Decorations are up though.

My daughter is having a party the Saturday before which I am allowed to drop in to for awhile.

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On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!

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Lyda*Rose

Ship's broken porthole
# 4544

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I plan to attend my town's Dia de Los Muertos celebration at a lovely downtown park. Last year I went to the one on Olvera Street in Los Angeles, but I have to tighten my belt this year. I've heard our local one has become a really nice event and I'm looking forward to it. I have a skeleton tee-shirt all ready to don for the occasion.

[ 12. October 2014, 04:00: Message edited by: Lyda*Rose ]

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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano

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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
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Last year I got my face painted by a very talented schoolmate, who now lives in LA [Frown]

I wanna do something....

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

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jedijudy

Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333

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I'm going with two friends to our favorite beach to watch the sunset. [Cool]

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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.

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leo
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Nothing - it's pagan!
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L'organist
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# 17338

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Taking a rehearsal - Hallowe'en falls on a Friday so there will be choir as usual.

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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
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quote:
Originally posted by leo:
Nothing - it's pagan!

You say that like it was a bad thing.
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Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

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We are getting dressed up for puppy class - to get the dogs used to weird outfits!

[Smile]

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Garden. Room. Walk

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comet

Snowball in Hell
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We usually "spook out" the house- glowing eyes in the bushes and that sort of thing- then hand out candy, then tour downtown in costume shaking down everyone for thier goods, then drop the sugared up freaks at home and go dancing or to whatever party is on offer.

I'm thinking the bar wench costume this year.

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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions

"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin

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Brenda Clough
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We are going to see Benedict Cumberbatch in FRANKENSTEIN, filmed from the National Theatre production.
Last year I wore my Jedi outfit, which was sewn by me to a fantabulous level of accuracy. (There are large websites devoted to this exercise if you want to do the same.) I swept up to the front door when the doorbell rang. Outside was a tiny little boy dressed as a Storm Trooper. I should have said, "You're a little small for a storm trooper, aren't you?" But instead I said, "The Force is strong in this one." There was an awed silence and then finally, from behind the little boy, his father said, "If I had a costume like that I would wear it every day."

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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page

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Uncle Pete

Loyaute me lie
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How can All Hallows Eve be pagan? In any event it's nowadays for partying, and I will be ignoring it as usual.

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Even more so than I was before

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Pomona
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A (very chilled out) housewarming party.

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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]

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The5thMary
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I'm going to a Gay Gamers of Atlanta Halloween party. There's going to be board/card games galore and a costume contest. I'm too tired/sick to really go in for a lot of costume stuff but I did see a funny minimalist costume idea on the interweb: Take a t-shirt and with a permanent marking pen write, "Yay! Ceiling!" on it in big letters. Then when people ask you what you're supposed to be, you say, "A ceiling fan, of course!" and everyone groans and throws things at you. I might even get some pom poms to complete the outfit. Cheap but effective and then I don't have to feel out of place when every Gay man in the place is dressed in some outrageously fab costume! [Big Grin]

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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.

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The5thMary
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Comet: I misread your comment about dressing as a bar wench. I thought you had written: Bear wench! And I was thinking to myself, "Boy, those people in Alaska are really weird! Why would a female bear be considered a wench?

Yikes. I need to get a new pair of glasses tout suite.

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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.

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comet

Snowball in Hell
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The sows around here are shameless.

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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions

"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin

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Heavenly Anarchist
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I have no plans for myself, barring the supply of sweets. But I will spend a huge amount of time turning my nine year old into a zombie Doctor Who [Big Grin]
I might convince my eldest to be painted up too, he made a fabulous zombie last time.

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OddJob
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Not sure if this is this just a middle/northern England thing, but I thought Haloween suddenly went in the mid-1980s from being an often Church-centric community event to being despised as a pagan festival, which churches suddenly became ashamed of ever having been involved in.

At first, opposition to Haloween was met with the same ridicule as anyone suggesting that anti-Irish jokes were no longer acceptable. Then, within about two years, it seemed that no Christian or church in any denomination wanted anything to do with Haloween.

For a number of years we've run a competing All Saints' Day Party for the youngsters.

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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

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quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
I have no plans for myself, barring the supply of sweets. But I will spend a huge amount of time turning my nine year old into a zombie Doctor Who [Big Grin]
I might convince my eldest to be painted up too, he made a fabulous zombie last time.

Sick!! [Yipee] [Yipee] [Yipee]

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

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I don't have a costume Idea yet, but a local German restaurant is having an Octoberfest type thing. I might go in costume.

Of course, the Castro is a ten minute streetcar ride away...

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

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ChastMastr
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quote:
Originally posted by OddJob:
Not sure if this is this just a middle/northern England thing, but I thought Haloween suddenly went in the mid-1980s from being an often Church-centric community event to being despised as a pagan festival, which churches suddenly became ashamed of ever having been involved in.

At first, opposition to Haloween was met with the same ridicule as anyone suggesting that anti-Irish jokes were no longer acceptable. Then, within about two years, it seemed that no Christian or church in any denomination wanted anything to do with Haloween.

For a number of years we've run a competing All Saints' Day Party for the youngsters.

No, it happened here in the US too, though not in most mainstream churches as far as I can tell--just the more fundamentalist ones. But that perhaps should be its own Purgatory thread, since this is meant for fun and plans and things rather than debating it... (please?)

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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity

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JoannaP
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I have bought some treats, so just have to wait and find out if the kids round here go Trick-or-Treating or not. Perhaps we ought to get the outside light functioning by then, to be a bit more welcoming.

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"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

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Piglet
Islander
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I must confess to being a bit "bah, humbug" about Hallowe'en. It was never a particularly big thing when I was growing up (Guy Fawkes' Night was bigger, and Hallowe'en tended to be subsumed into it), so I don't really have the history.

We usually buy in a box or two of mini-chocolate bars for the kids who come round (there are always a few, and some of the costumes are really rather good), but if we can find an excuse to be out, we will.

D. and sundry other local organists used to do a Hallowe'en concert in the Cathedral, which started with him playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor in complete darkness, and a programme of spooky music and readings of ghostly poetry or stories, but the only other players who were any good have moved away, so he's kind of given up on it.

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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

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St. Gwladys
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When I was a child, we used to have bobbing apples or apples on strings, but that's about all. A big celebration for All Hallows Eve was not even considered - It seems to have been imported from America. My church used to run an alternative Halloween party - a Hallelujah party, celebrating light, not darkness.
I know it seems rather "bah, humbug", but we will not be answering the front door on Halloween - though it was tempting to get some of the chilli Gummibears from House of Chilli!

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"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)

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Chorister

Completely Frocked
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My granddaughter will be dressing up, as her father's place of work holds a Halloween party for all the children of employees.

I won't be doing anything except buy in sweets that I really like (in case there aren't enough Trick-or-Treaters and I have to eat them all myself - oh noes!)

My birthday falls very near to Halloween, so I used to have the perfect excuse for a themed party when I was younger.

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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.

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Kitten
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# 1179

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As usual, I'll be putting up the poster produced by the local police advertising that I do not give to trick or treaters.
I may look out some ghost stories to read.

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Maius intra qua extra

Never accept a ride from a stranger, unless they are in a big blue box

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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

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quote:
Originally posted by ChastMastr:
And Dia de los Muertos, and spooky things during the month of October in general, of course!

Haven't yet put up decorations or the ofrenda, but we will!!

Ooo, you make an oftenda? They have a public one in Bolinas, I think. Maybe I will head up there!

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

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(After checking) ...aaand yes, they do!
New plan-- see if I can gate- crash my little cousins' party in Sonoma, then drive west in the morning to celebrate Dio de los Santos.

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

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BessLane
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I've got myself pretty much talked into entering a local costume contest. I've always wanted to dress as Princess Leia from Empire...yes the bronze bikini. I'm still in good enough shape to wear that in public, and I'm confident and brave enough now to do it....Plus I could win a hundred bucks so [Yipee]

(and last year I was Tom Cruise from Risky Business in the white button down, white socks and tighty-whiteys so I go this....)

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It's all on me and I won't tell it.
formerly BessHiggs

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ChastMastr
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# 716

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quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
quote:
Originally posted by ChastMastr:
And Dia de los Muertos, and spooky things during the month of October in general, of course!

Haven't yet put up decorations or the ofrenda, but we will!!

Ooo, you make an oftenda? They have a public one in Bolinas, I think. Maybe I will head up there!
Yes! [Smile] I realized that I wanted to celebrate it more seriously than just the fun spooky stuff (nice though that is). I have pics of last year's on my Facebook page. I've only done it once so far.

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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity

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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
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Probably staying home, dawning a hockey mask and a wig before I hand out candy....

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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quote:
Originally posted by BessLane:
I've got myself pretty much talked into entering a local costume contest. I've always wanted to dress as Princess Leia from Empire...yes the bronze bikini.

Can you post a photo in the Ship's gallery?

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

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LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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quote:
BessLane: (and last year I was Tom Cruise from Risky Business in the white button down, white socks and tighty-whiteys so I go this....)
I had to look this up.

Ah.

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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)

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SvitlanaV2
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The British shops are full of Halloween gear, but the event still strikes me as very North American. Fortunately, if you don't have kids it's easy to ignore Halloween here!

I wonder if it's popular with Muslim children? There are a lot of Muslims living in the vicinity.

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Ad Orientem
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quote:
Originally posted by ChastMastr:
And Dia de los Muertos, and spooky things during the month of October in general, of course!

Haven't yet put up decorations or the ofrenda, but we will!!

No. It's one of those horrible American things.
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Felafool
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# 270

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Bah Humbug! Horrible import from USA, and it is encouraging coersion with menacing. Also encourages small and not so small children to roam the dark streets (in UK) and call at strangers' houses.

I will either go out to the cinema or not answer the door that night. Though one year I may just snap and answer the door with a blood stained axe and invite the little darlings into my cellar!

(Note to those with a sense of humour bypass - just kidding)
...trick or treat. [Projectile]

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I don't care if the glass is half full or half empty - I ordered a cheeseburger.

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Sandemaniac
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# 12829

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...except that it went to the USA from Europe, and has now come back again. I'm not sure guising ever died out in Scotland, in fact, though I'm sure someone will correct me.

I've been meaning for years to scare a few village kids witless... never got round to it yet. Apart from anything else, the Knotweed objects to my suggestion of putting a red bulb in the outside light for some reason. [Confused] [Razz]

AG

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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869

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LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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In parts of the Netherlands, children already do some kind of trick or treating on November 11, St. Martin's Day. There is some commercial pressure to take on Halloween, but I'm glad that it doesn't seem to get much traction.

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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)

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North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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Pretty sure there's always been guising here - I did it as a child, my parents did it, at least one of my grandparents did it....

The big difference now is that children seem to wear costumes bought specially, rather than putting a costume together. And pumpkins have replaced neepie lanterns.

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ChastMastr
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# 716

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quote:
Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
...except that it went to the USA from Europe, and has now come back again.

Thank you.

It's neither horrible nor American. Some of the style might be rooted in the Americas, but All Saints' and All Souls' Days have been in the Christian Church for many centuries before Europe even made contact with the Americas at all. (Leaving Leif Ericson out of it, I mean.) And not to mention Samhain or other festivals commemorating the departed in every single culture.

One might as well say that harvest festivals are a bad copy of the US Thanksgiving.

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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity

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Ariel
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# 58

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It has changed character since it went from Ireland across the Atlantic and then arrived in England. It's quite a recent import here, I'd say it wasn't widely known before the 1980s.

The "trick or treat" thing was never a feature of the Irish version as far as I know - that may have changed now of course - and in some areas in England it has been so misused that the police have had to be called to stop youths stuffing fireworks through letterboxes and vandalizing cars. It's also lost the element of fortune-telling and the older, less sophisticated fun of apple games and so on. You can't give children apples and nuts any more: they expect chocolate.

Anyway, come the day I shall be encouraging people to dress up for charity. For my own marking of the day I shall probably try to find a brack (like fruit tea bread). Even that isn't what it used to be, thanks to Health and Safety the various things that used to be baked into it like the ring or the sixpence (if your slice contained either of these you'd have luck for the rest of the year) are no more.

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SvitlanaV2
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# 16967

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We all know that it has its roots in old European practices. But cultures change.

These days, there's nothing noticeably religious about the way it's promoted. It's celebration of morbidity, but made enjoyable for children. I wouldn't mind so much if we used it as a way of getting children to think about death, but of course death remains a taboo, regardless of how enthusiastic we are about Halloween.

To be honest, I can't understand why a post-Christian, secular, rational culture is so fascinated by dead bodies and witches, but perhaps that's just me!

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ChastMastr
Shipmate
# 716

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quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
We all know that it has its roots in old European practices. But cultures change.


Then the solution is to bring it back in full vigour rather than throw it away.

quote:
These days, there's nothing noticeably religious about the way it's promoted.
Again, we can work on that. I certainly do.

quote:
It's celebration of morbidity, but made enjoyable for children. I wouldn't mind so much if we used it as a way of getting children to think about death, but of course death remains a taboo, regardless of how enthusiastic we are about Halloween.
So... use it that way. [Confused] That's what people do in Mexico with their celebrations. One specifically puts favorite foods of the beloved departed on the ofrenda, and many families have picnics at the cemetery where their family members are buried.

quote:

To be honest, I can't understand why a post-Christian, secular, rational culture is so fascinated by dead bodies and witches, but perhaps that's just me!

Because our fascinations know things our post-Christian secular "rational" culture would like to ignore? If anything all of this is a reason to me to emphasize these things even more.

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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity

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SvitlanaV2
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As I said, Halloween exists outside of organised religion now, so I'm not convinced that the churches could convincingly set the cultural agenda for Halloween at this stage. They could of course offer alternative events for their own young people, which I think some of them do.
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Ariel
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# 58

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quote:
Originally posted by ChastMastr:
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
We all know that it has its roots in old European practices. But cultures change.


Then the solution is to bring it back in full vigour rather than throw it away.
Mmm... it's the end of the Celtic year, the one night when the gates of Hell/the Underworld are opened, and spirits are let out of the Underworld for one night, to revisit the places and people they knew when they were alive. Anything could happen. This is why you shouldn't step over the threshold after dark: you may get caught up in it.

On a cold, dark autumn night with the wind howling around the eaves of your standalone cottage, rattling the door and windows, and sending gusts down the chimney, this kind of thing can seem very real.

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Baptist Trainfan
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Especially if you don't have electricity, only oil lamps and candles.
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RuthW

liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13

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quote:
Originally posted by Ad Orientem:
It's one of those horrible American things.

How many Halloweens have you spent in the US?
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803

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quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
Pretty sure there's always been guising here - I did it as a child ...

So did we, but only to the houses of people we knew, and our only expectation was some sweeties or maybe monkey-nuts. We'd have been horrified if anyone had offered us money.

When we lived in Northern Ireland the kids (who did expect money) would start coming round in mid-October, and while some of them dressed up and recited the poem about the goose getting fat, I remember one wee chap who wasn't in costume, and just stood on the doorstep and said "Hallowe'en".

I know it sounds mean, but I said, "no it isn't - it's not until next week" and shut the door.

[Devil]

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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

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quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
We all know that it has its roots in old European practices. But cultures change.

These days, there's nothing noticeably religious about the way it's promoted. It's celebration of morbidity, but made enjoyable for children. I wouldn't mind so much if we used it as a way of getting children to think about death, but of course death remains a taboo, regardless of how enthusiastic we are about Halloween.

To be honest, I can't understand why a post-Christian, secular, rational culture is so fascinated by dead bodies and witches, but perhaps that's just me!

I didn't get it until I started getting involved in local Dia De Los Muertos activities-- it's basically a day to say "fuck you, Death, you don't scare me." From a child's eye view, it's a time to drag out all those things that normally scare you and to make them a game-- something that can't hurt you.

The way it has evolved in America is that it's not just about pranking and scaring folk, it is about taking the kid around the neighborhood and introducing them to the neighbors-- a great way to teach then where all the safe houses are, and to concurrently teach the adults which kids go with which parent (so you know who to threaten to call when they are on your lawn.) It's also the kind of grand scale arrangement to "touch base" with the neighbors that you find in Las Posadas. (Which is a Central American thing, but I would be my last bag of candy corn it works back to being a continental Spanish thing at some point.)

(I don't expect everyone to do what I am doing on Halloween, or indeed celebrate it at all, but tell you what-- I would never dream of sailing onto (say) a Boxing Day thread for the sole purpose of saying "that's stupid British nonsense and I would never participate in it." Because I would fully expect y'all Brits to say, "why are you joining in, then?" in response.
And I would feel extra stupid if half 0f the positive respondents on said thread were not British.)

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

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LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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quote:
Piglet: We'd have been horrified if anyone had offered us money.
They offer money at Halloween?

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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)

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