Trick or Treat?

halloweenqueen_2

The pumpkin has evolved from the irish carving jack o lanterns from root vegetables, I guess pumpkins were easier and there were more of them!
The trick and treat evolved because the dead were believed to visit the earth the night before all hallows and gifts were left for them, is nothing was left by someone, this person was believed to be plagued by bad luck all year.
I think its slightly sad that we can't let the kids enjoy the night, kids are selfish by nature but i don't believe they deserve ex lax - why just halloween why not give it at xmas when we encourage kids to guzzle eveything in site, besides its more expensive than sweets and I thought this was a moneysaving site.;)

Curry_Queen

Thank you for writing that so eloquently Lillibet :T

I'm Pagan myself and have tried several times to write a short piece to explain the origins of Halloween since the subject came up, but none of it sounded right, at least not without risking offending anyone, especially Christians, so I just deleted it

What you wrote is lovely, and spot on! ... and I don't think will offend anyone

Zziggi

Halloween? Grrrrr.. i *hate* it. Manky kids who you have never seen before loitering on your doorsteep looking menacing. I am a real party-pooper. To the really annoying teenagers who are after money and are doing it only to scrounge money they usually get a 'f*** off and if you damage my property i'll be taking action'. To the younger ones that come alone i ask them why have they come to knock on a stranger's door without their mum/dad? and tell them i don't 'do' halloween and maybe it's not a good idea to knock on strangers doors in the dark. To the little diddy kids (often under a year old) who can't even stand up yet who mummy brings round, i ask the mother if they realise that they are actually condoning begging and harassment and pagan practices* and is this the model you really want to set for your kids? Most just look dumb at me...

*i've no problem with people being a pagan - it's those that are not pagans but are joining in a pagan celebration who are not pagans (i'm thinking of church going people here) that annoy me.

God i'm an old misery guts......

Curry_Queen

Zziggi wrote:

*i've no problem with people being a pagan - it's those that are not pagans but are joining in a pagan celebration who are not pagans (i'm thinking of church going people here) that annoy me.

Without meaning to be offensive, I think that's a little unfair on people who just like to join in the spirit of the occasion, regardles of any religious roots of a celebration. If you want to go down that road then you would have to criticise any non-Pagan's who celebrate Easter or Christmas too, as these are fundamentally Pagan celebrations that the Christians also adopted for their own uses

Zziggi

Curry_Queen wrote:

Without meaning to be offensive, I think that's a little unfair on people who just like to join in the spirit of the occasion, regardles of any religious roots of a celebration. If you want to go down that road then you would have to criticise any non-Pagan's who celebrate Easter or Christmas too, as these are fundamentally Pagan celebrations that the Christians also adopted for their own uses

I see your point curry_queen. I'm not a christian and i do know of the easter/xmas & pagan links. I suppose yes i would criticise, christians who chose to celebrate easter on the set day (i know it's moveable) and xmas on 25th december. For me personally, pagan festivals are fine - for pagans, christian celebrations are fine for christians (as long as they aren't linked to pagan festivals under the guise of chrisitanity) and muslims festivals fine for muslims etc etc, i just personally find it a bit insulting & hypercritical for church going christians to let their kids take part in halloween celebrations.

As for ''joining in the spirit of the occasion'' that's fine for things not connected to religion. Can you imagine a Jehovah's witness for example joining in xmas jsut because it's what most other people are doing so they can go along with the spirit of the occasion?

I'm not meaning to offend anyone (i hope i aren't), just expressing my views.

Tim_L

I always think that the best answer to the "trick or treat?" question is to hesitate, scratch your head for a moment, and then say "oh, trick I think". And then throw a bucket of water at them.

You can often use the confusion that follows to take their sweets.

Smiley_Mum

On Halloween, I ignore the door. I have a little party in the house for my kids and decorate the house a bit for them and make some cakes and biscuits, crisps that they can have (multiple allergies so can't eat sweets etc). I have a recipe for pumpkin pie which I'm wanting to try out this year. I got some Halloween biscuit cutters from a houseware store in town so the kids can make some biscuits with them too.

We never bothered with Halloween when we were little, lived in the middle of nowhere so it was easier. I've never liked wandering around in the dark and being cold. I've not changed either, rather stay in and have fun with the kids and be cosy than freezing my buns off wandering around the streets.

Curry_Queen

We never went out trick or treating for Halloween as kids either, although we made the "turnip" lanterns that me and Apprentice Tycoon mentioned on another thread. What we did do though, but on Nov 4th rather than Halloween, was something called Mischief Night, which I guess was very similar to trick or treat, only there were no treats :rotfl:

The things we got up to ... shocking!!!! :eek:

Pink.

My children love Halloween.

We don't do Guy Fawkes over here, so we celebrate Halloween instead.

The children and their friends come to our house to dress up, then they go Halloween rhyming with their pumpkin lanterns. I have never been keen on the idea of them 'begging' at neighbours doors, so they do Halloween rhyming with a difference.........They made up a rhyme that I can't remember right now, and have a hat filled with sweets that they offer to those who do open the door. Then they all come back here for apple dunking type games and hot-dogs. We used to have fireworks as well, but unfortunately they have been banned again in Northern Ireland.

I have a feeling that this year my older two will have outgrown the Halloween rhyming and besides this year we are spending Halloween in Edinburgh (hopefully with a ghost walk), but I can't wait to begin this family tradition again when my youngest (5) is old enough.

Pink

Shawz

kscour wrote:

I always give them an apple - don't have many callers for some reason!!! Although the very local ones that I know I have a few sweets for.

When this first started in our area (quite a few years ago!) one of the boys in our school who was about 15 had never heard of it and was quite shocked when this little boy knocked on the door of his house - all his family was out and he had no idea what the little boy was on about.
15yr old - so whats this all about then?
7 yr old - well you either give me a treat or I do a trick on you
15yr old - what like a magic trick?
7yr old - no like a nasty trick like knocking your bins over
15 yr old - you better not dare my mum will kill you and I'll make you clean the mess up
7 yr old - well no I wouldn't honest but I have to ask because people always give you a treat then
15 yr old - well that seems ok what sort of treat
7 yr old - well it doesn't matter, nothing big or anything, most people just give us something to eat
15 yr old - ok then and gives him something
So on the bus next day the 15 yr old is still really puzzled about this trick or treating but most of all really really annoyed that the little boy wasn't very grateful for his treat.
So we asked what he'd given the little boy "oh to be fair it wasn't much cos mum hadn't done the weekly shop as usual that day so we didn't have much in but I did manage to find him something to eat so you'ld think he'ld have appreciated it. And after all an oxo cube always comes in handy" :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

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