Halloween

[Gardian]

Am I the only person (apart from Mrs G!) who hates this bloody Halloween nonsense?

I'm not particularly proud of an occasion some years ago when I told some kids who turned up at the door 'trick or treating' to stick their Halloween up their backsides!

Harsh & insensitive I'll concede, but its all rowlocks isn't it?

[Judith]

No, I do too.  But I don't go as far as you - I just don't answer the door!

[Gluestick]

Well, I for one are very proud of you for doing it, Gardian!

[:D]

Halloween, is of course a Satanic right, aimed at countering All Souls/Saints Day festival, an important calendar date in the Christian faith.

As Western society has regressed into effective atheism, and thus having become lost, spiritually, lost people lacking foundation and purpose and above all hope, tend to adopt a range of alternative foundations.

These have and currently do include, turning to other belief systems, including Druidism, focus on the occult, black magic, supernatural nonsense; spiritualism, Witchcraft, Wiccanism, saooth saying, necromancy, and so on.

Perhaps the very peak of human stupidity must be Scientology. A Californian writer called L. Ron Hubbard, wrote a SciFi book in the 1930s; from this he created a concept he called "Dianetics". And, thus was born in the early 1950s, yet another new "Religion" called Scientology.....

California invents at least one new "religion each week.

[:D]

What's next I hear you ask? The new Church of Trekkies?

When "adults" jet around the globe to Trekky beanfests and dress as their favourite characters, then, really, all hope is lost for humanity.

Halloween is a Satanic event, which actually entails killing a young child and scattering their blood over a sacred Christian church altar and leaving bits of their body scattered over the churchyard, desecrating graves in the twin hopes that Satan will pop up for the gathering and/or, dead people's spirits will manifest themselves.

Lovely.

Naturally, the great marketeers, Chavda, Tesco et al have been leading the charge in flogging Gothlike rubbish, which braindead parents buy for their sad kids.

[Judith]

Hallows Eve, (now called Halloween), was an evening Christian service leading into All Saints Day, much as you will find Christmas Eve services moving into Christmas Day.  Taken over by Pagans I would agree and and now an excuse for all sorts of nasty and stupid things to happen, rather than the preparation to praise and bless the saints (and no, I am not a catholic, just a Christian).  Hence, why I disapprove of this american import.

In the north of England we used to have Mischievous Night, on 4th Nov, served much the same purpose as did Halloween to allow the kids a bit of mischief, but not like it is today.  I hate Halloween, says nothing to me.

[Chancer]

[quote user="Judith"] I hate Halloween, says nothing to me.
[/quote]

 

Moi non plus, love the Franglais!

 

Today is Toussaint and most people are using the occasion to visit the graves of their loved ones, the fête des morts is actually tomorrow, I will be going to the UK that day and the first thing I will do is go to the cemetary.

 

So I really appreciate Toussaint/Fête des morts but yesterday in town I saw a lot of young mothers déguisées together with their gamins, how long before it becomes an excuse to show too much flesh (AKA get yer t*ts out) and get blind drunk I ask? 

[Gardengirl]

I don't like halloween at all, and it was pleasant not to have anyone come to the door here in the south of England, although I did get some mini packs of chocolate drops in case the family over the road came with their little ones.

The one good thing about halloween for me is that family fireworks for 5th November no longer seem to take place locally - they have halloween parties instead. There are the big organised firework events of course, and plenty of late-night bangs etc around the area but few seem to have firework parties at home any more. As someone who knew a boy who was very badly injured by fireworks, that's something I'm happy about.

[idun]

And to add to this, a friend has just bought me a chrysanthemum[:-))] Just feels plain wrong to me these days to give one to the living!

[Gardengirl]

I nearly made a big booboo a long time ago. A French friend's mother had died just before we were due to visit them on our way north after a driving trip through France. Both our friend and her husband insisted we must still visit even though it would only be one day after the funeral.

We stopped in a nearby village to buy some flowers for Marcelle. I liked the look of a pot of lovely bronze chrysanths; while the florist was wrapping the pot she asked if we were going to a cemetery locally. Of course, I told her that they were a present for a friend whose mither had just died. Thankfully, the florist stopped me making that crass mistake.

[PaulT]

Thanks, I now know why everywhere is selling chrysanths.

As for kids knocking on the door, perhaps giving them ex-lax would prevent them visiting the following year

[Hoddy]

I'm with Judith on this. My late husband was from Yorkshire and he used to call if Mischief Night, I don't remember anything at all about it from my very rural Derbyshire childhood. We had no neighbours to try to scare.

Bonfire Night on the other hand was celebrated with glee and I remember being astonished after I moved into town to be told by my lovely RC neighbours it was anti-catholic.

To me now Hallowe'en seems a bit like Father's Day: just another device for business to extract money from people.

[Gluestick]

[quote user="Hoddy"]

To me now Hallowe'en seems a bit like Father's Day: just another device for business to extract money from people.[/quote]

And to cause criminal damage then bleat "We wos only 'aving a bit of fun, Guv.  After all it is Halloween...".

[Kong]

At Lewes they burn effergies of the Pope on Bonfire night. That seems a tad anti RC?

[Hoddy]

I know that now Kong, it's just that in the deepest, darkest, Derbyshire of my childhood we'd never heard of such a thing. We made a guy but it never crossed our minds that we were burning him because he was a catholic.

[idun]

Chrysanthemums really are for the dead in France and perhaps Italy too.

I took my kids down to the south coast one autumn school holidays and we were having lunch in Toulon and we realised not too far from a cemetary. The number of people passing looked like they were off to a football match, only all were carrying chrysanths. By the time we had finished lunch and ended up driving past the cemetary, it was very colourful and the crowds were still going in.

[Judith]

Whilst I accept the French custom of putting chrysanths onto graves, I am sorry in one way for it, as I like chrysanths and would love to have some at home if it did not give the wrong impression or insult someone. I like the flowers, love the colours, and they are so easy to keep alive, something I'm not very good at with plants!

The others flowers I would love to see more often are carnations. When I was at work, I always had a small vase of them on my desk.  Lovely scent, lasted through the week,  and cheered the place up no end!  I got quite a reputation for it!