Halloween Practices

[Psalm45_9]

I often heard that Halloween tricks, like toilet papering someone’s tree, began with the reformation. The Lutherans would play tricks on the Catholics who were observing All Hallow’s Eve.

 

[mlchance]

The Rigbys:

Of course, a lot of truly bad stuff does take place on Halloween…so I can certainly respect those families who don’t celebrate it at all.

Lots of horrible stuff happens every day. Take yesterday, for instance. What’s next? Stop “celebrating” Mondays?

I’ve never understood why someone else messing things up means I’m somehow required to give up something good.

Maybe that, just like toilet-papering houses, is also the fault of Protestants.



– Mark L. Chance.

 

[Paul_W]

The scariest costume I can imagine is John Kerry dressed for his Presidential inauguration!

 

[Theodora]

Just my imagination, lots of you probably think is corny:

I think Halloween started out as an innocent thing. I can just see that at the time of the early settlers, when fall would come with all its mysterious feel of things departing, trees shedding leaves and becoming bare, wind howling and chasing the leaves all over, light making way for earlier evenings, etc. - no television - some thought to bring some exitement in their lives and what better way then go to your neighbor or friends, knock on their door, and pretend you’re going to jump them, unless of course, they’re willing to hand over a piece of that delicious pie that was just baked.

Next time, the ones who were tricked reciprocated by knocking on their neigbor’s or friend’s door appearing as a mysterious figure. Door opened: what is that? what kind of dark, creepy person is that in front of my door? all dressed up in black, with a high hat, looks just like an undertaker. Now give me a piece of your pie and I won’t take any of your family with me.

Before you know it, this scenario gets repeated and it speads. People like it - television or not - even to the extend that it crosses the Atlantic Ocean, all the way to foreign lands.

It is a shame that the fun way of celebrating Halloween now has become occasions filled with real danger.

Afterthought: Anything conceived with the slightest element of darkness about it, eventually will evolve into real darkness. The Devil makes sure of that. We see the results every Halloween of stories and newspaper reports of poisoning, parties gone sour, killings, accidents etc.

To the ones that like to celebrate Halloween, may you have a safe one and lots of fun!

Theodora

 

[Mperea75]

+JMJ

I used to go all our for halloween until my conversion and then I really understood how it came about. I really do not go out for it anymore except to a friends and then we usually watch something not related to the subject or we will go to adoration for a few hours go home and to bed. That has been what has happened in the past few years and looks like it will happen again this year.

 

[BLB_Oregon]

The Rigbys:

There’s an interesting article on this subject at:

americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1099.asp

The author points out that death and evil are important realities, essential to a full understanding of our faith. She thinks it’s fine for children to wear scary or gruesome costumes for one night out of the year, as long as they don’t glorify evil. If you followed her guidelines, costumes like these would be appropriate:

• a skeleton
• St. Thomas More with his head under his arm
• St. Lucy with her eyes on a plate
• an ugly, green, warty witch (a stereotype that’s sure to arouse the ire of the “Wiccan Anti-Defamation League”! )
• a horrible vampire who’s afraid of crucifixes and holy water

Of course, a lot of truly bad stuff does take place on Halloween…so I can certainly respect those families who don’t celebrate it at all. The author compares it to Mardi Gras, and we all know how that can get out of hand. But I think it’s possible to celebrate both holidays in a devout and meaningful way, without sanitizing them so much that we lose the fun and excitement altogether. Otherwise, our children might look to satisfy their curiosity about the “dark side” somewhere else (like in the goth culture, or worse).

Personally, I’m looking forward to setting up a “haunted house” where the kids stick their hands in bowls of peeled grapes, spaghetti, and cottage cheese!

Our kids are still at the age when they want to dress up as what they want to be when they grow up, but I am in your camp.

Halloween can provide a way to touch the realities of death, the evil, and the gruesome without identifying with it or wallowing in it all year. Likewise Mardi Gras… a day or so of the whole year is a fair amount of time to be exuberant, spontaneous, outrageous, and just a little bit uncivilized. (I am not talking about a good loud party,** not** getting drunk and flashing people for dime-store jewelry!)

 

[carol_marie]

I lived by the No Scary Costumes rule which worked out just fine when my son was little & didn’t mind that I dressed him like a clown or a cowboy but now that he’s 12 he wants to be something cool or scary. We said no devils (since they are real) but vampires are ok since they are not. When he wanted to dress as a ghost we cut holes in his sheet & said he could be the Holy Ghost. (Sorry, that’s not blasphmy I hope!) On the morning of October 31 my kids wake up loving Jesus & on November 1st they love Him still so what harm was done? To each his own though.

 

[KCT]

ThyKingdomCome:

These are interesting perspectives. I’ve always disliked Halloween - not for religious reasons, but because it annoys me. I’ve always hated feeling like I had to exclaim at all the costumes kids were wearing, or pretend I had to be scared by the little goblins etc.

Ha-ha!! My kids know I’m CHEAP and hate spending money on something they’ll only wear once. When they were small, I created costumes out of sweatsuits- a black one painted like Batman, a green one decorated like a ninja turtle. At least they could wear them through the winter. So, money is my main gripe about Halloween- the cost of costumes and candy! —KCT

 

[Nicole]

My answer is a combination. We do dress up for All Saints day. I don’t require them to use that costume for Halloween, but for the past two years, both of my sons have, on their own, decided to wear the Saint costumes out trick or treating. One year my son was St. Patrick and everyone thought he was the Pope because it was dark and they just noticed his funny hat and mitre. Last year, he was St. Jerome and no one, except one person, knew who he was. My younger son was St. Francis, which was much more recognizable.

Nicole

 

[Lilyofthevalley]

Christmas was originally a Pagan holidary, correct? Should we no longer observe Christmas? Halloween no longer means what it means. NOW it simply means children dress up and get free candy. WHAT is the big dilema with this?