What Do You Do On Halloween?

[Winnie G]

In years past when our children were out trick or treating we use to do the hole Halloween thing, Jake O Lanterns decorations and handing out candy.

Last year we did it too because our granddaughter was visiting but in years past we opted out closing up and gone to the movies. We have started doing this once our children were grown. We will being doing it again this year.

I know families that have never done the whole candy thing but take their children to the movies instead. They grow up never going out.

Do you think us opting out now is selfish?

What about if Halloween falls on Sunday?

[Dr T]

Kids dress up, trick-or-treat, and hang out with relatives. I check the candy (and eat some) I like Halloween. My daughter was born on Oct. 31 2005 so this will be her first birthday. My birthday is the following day. I loved it as a child; dressing up, candy the night before and then the next day-presents! I wonder how my baby girl will react to having a birthday and Halloween on the same day?

Dr. T

[Blessed]

We carve Jack-O-Laterns, eat pumpkin seeds, dress up and I stay home and pass out candy and let the hubby take the kids out trick or treating in the snow. HAHAHA! Then when they get home we let them eat 3-5 pieces of candy and after they go to bed we raid their candy and eat till we get sick. :0)

[StrawberryFields]

Opting out for Halloween night eh?

I think I like the idea once your children are grown. I have always been the one to answer the door and it used to be fun when I knew the kids but now I won't know any of them because I am new in the area. Who knows, maybe I will do as I have always done and answer the door and give them treats.

When my kids were small it was so much fun. We had soup and breadsticks or pizza. Then we got them ready to go out. I would light candles, and snack on candy bars. Last year hubby and Nick but big coats on and sat in our court yard very still with the bowl of Candy right next to them. It was a kick watching it.

[Dr T]

LOL Blessed. You're right about the temp though. I'm from L.A. where we have hot and warm (mostly) but now it is freezing! This morning it was 22 degrees! My kids will be dressed up and be covered with trench coats.

[Winnie G]

In places I have lived in Canada its too cold to go out so churches and malls and apartment buildings get the run of the kids.

I remember my kids in snow suites with their costumes over the top. Once their costumes froze and the crotch split. They were home with in minutes. We went to the mall after that. Malls are the best for little kids, you can take the younger ones in their stroller or in their wagon. Its safe and very public, my son-in-law will be taking my granddaughters to the mall. They have snow already.

[Traveler]

I am not a fan of Halloween. As best as I can determine just about everything about it is pagan and contrary to Christian thought. There may be some connection with the souls lost in the flood but I cannot verify that.

I have never liked dressing up as something other than me, even as a child - I would never make it as an actor. I am seldom home for Halloween. It is not the scary stuff that bothers me, it is pretending to be something or somebody else. This may sound rather odd but I have the feeling that such things invites the influence of unclean spirits and gives me uneasy feellings. I have also had rather bad reactions to hypnotism.

The Traveler

[StrawberryFields]

Traveler,

I have a friend who is from England and she also believes as you do that it is a pagan holiday. When she moved to Ut she couldn't believe that the LDS people would take part on such a holiday. She did not allow her children to be a part of anything to do with halloween. Did you or your children ever dress up for halloween?

When I was a child I always dressed up as something 'pretty' and never felt it to be evil. When my kids were growing up, I let them dress in their costume of choice and still never felt anything evil from it. In our schools we have always had a halloween parade where the children would go around in the halls a class at a time and parents and student would get to see all of the costumes. The feelings I had looking at the children all dressed up is how cute they were. :)

[Maureen]

In places I have lived in Canada its too cold to go out so churches and malls and apartment buildings get the run of the kids. I remember my kids in snow suites with their costumes over the top. Once their costumes froze and the crotch split. They were home with in minutes. We went to the mall after that. Malls are the best for little kids, you can take the younger ones in their stroller or in their wagon. Its safe and very public, my son-in-law will be taking my granddaughters to the mall. They have snow already.

That's probably why our neighborhood gets almost no children, everyone is in the malls. It's true it can get cold, but to me Halloween is going door to door in your own neighborhood.

Now a days, kids always say "Trick or Treat", but when I was a kid we said "Halloween Apples", nobody says "Halloween Apples" any more.

M.

[Latter Days Guy]

Traveler,

I have a friend who is from England and she also believes as you do that it is a pagan holiday. When she moved to Ut she couldn't believe that the LDS people would take part on such a holiday. She did not allow her children to be a part of anything to do with halloween. Did you or your children ever dress up for halloween?

When I was a child I always dressed up as something 'pretty' and never felt it to be evil. When my kids were growing up, I let them dress in their costume of choice and still never felt anything evil from it. In our schools we have always had a halloween parade where the children would go around in the halls a class at a time and parents and student would get to see all of the costumes. The feelings I had looking at the children all dressed up is how cute they were. :)

It's only quite recently that halloween has been celebrated here in the UK. We always focused upon Guy Fawkes night of November 5th. A lot of Christians in this country are against it because of the pagan links to halloween. It's becoming very commercial here with all the dressing up etc and many people loathe the idea of people coming knocking on your door 'trick or treating'. Personally I am against the celebrating of it and will not be letting my daughter to take part.

The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows' Day"[2] (also known as "All Saints' Day"). In Ireland, the name was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to Hallow Eve), and though seldom used today, it is still a well-accepted label. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries and given a Christian interpretation.[citation needed] Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit.

Halloween is often associated with the occult. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology about witches, Irish tales of the Sídhe).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

[Dr T]

The only time I heard of "Halloween Apples" is when bobbing for them. It seems wierd to me to go trick or treating and say "Halloween Apples." It reminds me of road apples-which I don't want!

[StrawberryFields]

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Traveler,

I have a friend who is from England and she also believes as you do that it is a pagan holiday. When she moved to Ut she couldn't believe that the LDS people would take part on such a holiday. She did not allow her children to be a part of anything to do with halloween. Did you or your children ever dress up for halloween?

When I was a child I always dressed up as something 'pretty' and never felt it to be evil. When my kids were growing up, I let them dress in their costume of choice and still never felt anything evil from it. In our schools we have always had a halloween parade where the children would go around in the halls a class at a time and parents and student would get to see all of the costumes. The feelings I had looking at the children all dressed up is how cute they were. :)

It's only quite recently that halloween has been celebrated here in the UK. We always focused upon Guy Fawkes night of November 5th. A lot of Christians in this country are against it because of the pagan links to halloween. It's becoming very commercial here with all the dressing up etc and many people loathe the idea of people coming knocking on your door 'trick or treating'. Personally I am against the celebrating of it and will not be letting my daughter to take part.

The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows' Day"[2] (also known as "All Saints' Day"). In Ireland, the name was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to Hallow Eve), and though seldom used today, it is still a well-accepted label. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries and given a Christian interpretation.[citation needed] Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit.

Halloween is often associated with the occult. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology about witches, Irish tales of the Sídhe).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Thanks for explaining this. :)

I totally respect those who chose not to celebrate Halloween. I think much of this has to do where you are raised. They even have Primary Halloween Parties here.

[Guest Soul_Searcher]

"The year dies and is not yet reborn. In the space between is no time, Briga's time, when she opens the gateways to the land beyond life and the trackways from there to here lie clear. This night, of all nights, those who are gone may return without harm or censure, to meet again those who remain within life. Greet them, hear them,and, when the fire is relit, allow them to return whence they came."

Manda Scott, Dreaming the Hound.

I've been asked a few times over the past few weeks as to my thoughts on Halloween. Being one of the few non-christians on the board some people wonder what this day/night means to me. I read this passage a few days ago and thought it summed it up quite well.

Samhain, the name of the feast long before the origin of the all hallows eve was one of the most holy days of the year. It signaled the death of the old year and the beginning of the new. It was a night to honor the dead and to make your peace or say your good byes, or just possibly enjoy the company of one who was lost.

In truth the holiday does have a "pagan" origin, though the day now only holds meaning to those who who really understand it. Costumes and treats and most everything associated with the occasion today have nothing to do with celebrating the true origins of the day.

As for the day being evil, if a belief in spirits that have a connection to the living and who have a vested interest in events of the past present and future is evil, then i must wonder about any person who ever says they've had a communication from a lost loved one, or who thinks they are watched over by a deceased person of significance.

[boyando]

How many are doing the trunk or treat thing? Maybe thats just a Utah thing.

[Dr T]

No, they do that in other places too.

[Guest MrsS]

How many are doing the trunk or treat thing? Maybe thats just a Utah thing.

Nope, it isn't just a Utah thing - My family does it in Washington State (three different stakes), in Georgia, and in Oregon.

Our stake here in Arizona is doing it on Halloween night. Last year we had a Halloween Carnival - Trunk and Treat in half of the parking lot, and the Carnival inside the cultural hall. It really was a lot of fun for everyone. They had chili, hot dogs, chips and juices for dinner, outside - then the Trick & Treats.

[StrawberryFields]

When they do this trunk or treat thing they should send flyers to everyone in the neighborhood or post it at the stop signs ....The past couple of years my kids are older they could have done this and I wouldn't even know.

I have had tons of candy left too.

[john doe]

You know, SF, I'm not averse to you sharing your left over candy with me.

And Halloween IS my birhtday, so..........

[StrawberryFields]

You know, SF, I'm not averse to you sharing your left over candy with me.

And Halloween IS my birhtday, so..........

AWWW John Doe come on over...I would certainly share my candy with you Birthday or not.

[Dr T]

Some for everyone:

[insertwittynamehere]

This year its a YSA party/dance on friday night.... live clue on saturday night.. YSA FHE get together festivity on monday night.. and then trick or treating with the little ones in the family on tuesday night.. all the while the boyfriend and I are dressed up as Lois Lane and Superman.

--insert

[Guest Monica]

We dont celebrate holloween because of the pagan roots of the holiday and what it really means. However, we do take advantage of the fact that hundreds of people will come to our door. So we prepare nice gift bags filled with candy and give out scripture portions as lead by the Lord.

For more info on Holloween please visit: http://www.halloweenishere.com/history.html

[Laureltree]

We get dressed, go trick or treating (you noticed I said we, and yes I carry a bag)

We come home after an hour then we pass out candy for another several hours ( thats why we buy 4-5 big bags so mom has some left, incase the stingy parents wont share rolf ) Then we have a snack, cocoa and we are off to bed.......

[pushka]

We're having a party on Tuesday...for the younger kids around here...just a few, and my son and daughter and friends are gonna take them out Trick or Treating afterwards.

I love holding parties, and Halloween is one of my favourites. I love to bake potatoes and make Chilli for the adults, lots of party food for the kids.

The costumes are fantastic too...but I don't think I'll be dressing up, just the younger folk.

[StrawberryFields]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I totally respect the choice of those who chose not to celebrate Halloween for what ever reason, including the belief of it's pagan roots.That being said, how can members of the church be so divided as to seeing Halloween as evil or not? It is clear the the leaders of the church don't see the way many of us celebrate Halloween as wrong because the programs of the church sponsor parties for Halloween and have people dress up.