Halloween & Christmas

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   stayingalivemomaposted 12 years ago

   It's that time of year again where what I like to call the "Big Three" is coming: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!
   Halloween is a Paganistic holiday that involves dressing in masks & costumes to appease evil spirits.
   Thanksgiving is about celebrating the harvest & Christmas is supposed to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
   
   Do you or do you let your children participate in these holidays? If so, do you celebrate their true meanings or just the commercialization of these holidays?

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      jfay2011posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yes, it's hard to believe that they are just around the corner.  yikes!  Well, actually I am almost done my christmas shopping.  i just have to finish up my kids and I'm done.  Oh and my ex and my new boyfriend.  I forgot that. 
      I'm not sure what my kids are going to be for halloween yet.  I will have fun dressing up too.  I've got a bunch of pretty face masks, so will be picking out one to wear.  I haven't decided what I'm doing for Thanksgiving yet.  I might either be visiting my ex's parents for the day and spending tme with my children or also spending some time with my boyfriend too.  maybe I will get lucky and get to do both.  it's a great time of the year.  I also always like to donate books to librarys or goodwill.  maybe I will also give blood again soon.  I have to wait until Nov. 2nd as I have already donated.  It's a great feeling to know I am helping save peoples lives.

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      1. 84

         stayingalivemomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         you're almost finished? I haven't even started. My sister starts her Christmas shopping in July! Me, I'm very last minute..usually the week before or the week of Christmas is when I shop!

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            jfay2011posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I used to start shopping in January.  And then didn't know when to quit.  They used to overdose on presents.  Now I'm on a budget and set my limit.

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   2. 93

      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I've never heard that Halloween was to appease evil spirits.  It has long been a time of celebration and superstition, though; ancient celts would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off wandering ghosts of their dead and pumpkin carving came out of carving turnips to remember our dead in purgatory.
      
      Christmas had nothing to do with Christ until the Christian religion co-opted it from pagans that were celebrating the winter solstice.  That action was little more than an effort to make the forced "conversion" of the pagans a little more palatable.
      
      So...do you celebrate their true, ancient, meanings, take what it has become in modern times or subscribe to pure commercialization? 
      
      To answer your question for myself, I love Thanksgiving as a time for family to get together.  My extended family of some 30 members always tries to come together for the period.
      
      Halloween is a fun time for kids and party goers - it doesn't celebrate anything at all to me.
      
      Christmas is a time of giving and love, with huge excitement and fun for kids.  It has nothing to do with Christ and commercialization is very limited in our household.  Any expensive gifts are those that have been wanted or needed for a long time.

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      1. 84

         stayingalivemomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I got this info from a website called halloweenhistory.org. I may have paraphrased it incorrectly.
         Here is the original text "The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. These are additional attributes of the history of Halloween. Masks and consumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them"
         Sorry if I made anyone feel uncomfortable due to my ignorance!

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   3. 78

      Greekgeekposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I celebrate the true meaning of Hallowe'en / Samhain, which is to remember the dead and observe the old Celtic New Year which fell on that day. In modern times, that means pausing to remember and honor those who have passed away in the last year, or anyone you wish to remember.
      
      I also enjoy the secular holiday. Handing out free candy to little kids dressed up and expressing their creativity and imagination is such a joy. It's one of the few times lots of neighbors stop by, and it's fun to play along!
      
      They aren't the same holiday, but both are precious to me for different reasons.
      
      Yep, pagan signing in. Evil spirits? Well, my favorite teacher (one of those I honor each year) was a hard grader, but I don't think I'd call her that!  And my Nana didn't have an evil molecule in her.

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      1. 84

         stayingalivemomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         (Please see my earlier comment where I quoted from a website) I think any day that you honor those who have passed is okay by me!

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2. 0

   Emile Rposted 12 years ago

   We celebrate the true meaning. Halloween is meant for fun. Thanksgiving is meant for family. Christmas is meant to share with all. Those are the meanings I see.

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   1. 84

      stayingalivemomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      For me Christmas & Thanksgiving were my excuses to get fat...oh, okay Halloween too....I always "share" my kids' candy with them!

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   relacheposted 12 years ago

   Speaking as someone who is a Pagan, I suggest you might feel better about Halloween if you didn't follow the mistaken beliefs that have been perpetuated about the holiday and instead took the time to actually learn how secular Halloween and Samhain are different.

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   1. 84

      stayingalivemomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Relache---no disrespect intended at all! My intention was to compare the true meanings of these holidays from ancient times to now. I am a person that is accepting and loves people of all races, faiths and religions. I apologize if I offended you; maybe I should have worded it differently! Take care!

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4. 87

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   In my house, and even before that, in my parents house, Halloween was the time to dig into granny's wardrobe to find something to disguise yourself with, then we went Guising - which now I come to think of it, was probably short for 'disguising'.
   There as none of this 'Halloween costumes' back in the 60s. Expect maybe at the Halloween Party at the local village hall, when your mam always knew what to dress you up as.
   I went as a UFO one year, if I remember correctly, wearing a cardboard box wrapped in tin foil.
   We had to do a 'party piece' at each house we went to - sing a song or recite a poem, something like that.
   There was no religious connotation that I remember. It was just simply Halloween!
   
   Christmas was psuedo-religious I suppose. All this about the baby Jesus being born in a manger, but to us kids it was about the tree, and the presents and the cards and just having a good time.
   The baby Jesus stuff added a magical quality to what was a magical time.
   
   I think religionists get their knickers in a twist over nothing.

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   1. 84

      stayingalivemomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I agree! December 25th is not even Jesus' actual birthday. I read somewhere that it was a date picked out by the Catholic Church. Not sure if that's true or not.

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         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, it was chosen to coincide with the pagan celebration of the winter solstice.  It actually had nothing to do with Christs birth until the church declared it so.

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   AEvansposted 12 years ago

   Yes, trick or treat is for fun. Thanksgiving is for family and Christmas is the celebration of Christ. The little ones at Halloween think it is all about Candy and I will not spoil it for them.

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   1. 84

      stayingalivemomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Before I got sick, I would dress up with my kids and go tric-or-treating with them. I would get candy too and add it to their bags!

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         jfay2011posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Things about halloween seem a little different nowadays.  When i was growing up, everyone searched their homes or like you say, their grandparents stuff and got creative and made their own costumes.  I did.  I think  I was a bum one year, another year a bunny, or an old woman or a gypsy.  My kids have grown up and usually we have ended up buying their costumes.  When my kids were little, I used to make some of their costumes.  I made a cape one year for my son, and my other son, I made him a clown costume one year that came out really cute.  I made several little dress costumes for my girls.  One year I made this cute little skirt that was shaped like a bunch of handmade ties sewn together out of pretty floral fabrics.  And I made a fabric crown for one of them.  But nowadays, they just purchase an outfit to wear.  The girls have gotten one of those pretty dresses, and my son was Shrek or Spiderman usually.  Another son was Batman.  Now my oldest son, ends up finding a pretend weapon and putting on the face paint and creates his own thing.  It's a fun holiday anyway, regardless of what they have on.  The candy is always fun.  And my kids especially my oldest has had a whole pillow case full of it.  He still has candy from last year.  Must be sentimental about it or something.  Ha ha

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6. 77

   brimancandyposted 12 years ago

   We celebrate all three, but Halloween has become my favorite. I get to dress up and act like a total idiot for one day out of the year. (Though some of my friends would say....isn't that 365 days a year?) Halloween also brings out cool parties, and, events that the other holidays can't match.
   
   Thanksgiving is more of a family thing, but, we don't indulge in the large meals anymore. My immediate family is small, and, none of my siblings have children, so we are all just a bunch of old farts sitting down for dinner. And, since my father passed away, Thanks Giving and Christmas aren't really that big of a deal.
   
   But, I'm in my 40's with no kids, so I sepnd a lot of my holidays with friends. Like 4th of July, Labor Day, and Halloween.

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7. 76

   MissEposted 12 years ago

   We celebrate them all.  I think if you trick or treat and have some good family fun it's a little different than pleasing evil spirits.  I don't let my kids dress like the devil or a hooker for example though.  Thanksgiving is about being thankful and pigging out.  Check and check.  Christmas is the bomb.  I'm Christian so we're all about it.  Do I think presents are bad?  No.  We talk about Christ and we have the tree with the presents etc....I think it's OK as long as you don't go overboard on any of it.  I could go into the theology about Christ birth and why they chose to celebrate it during winter....but I don't wanna.  It's all just good clean fun if you make it that way.

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   somedress2011posted 12 years ago

   yes, the Christmas is coming .i can see many supermarkets are making promotion now, and many gifts on sale,nice and beautiful ,i notice there is a new toy on sale now, very popular ,calles air swimmers,do you know .i saw many website sell it .my friends recommend one web to me :www.airswimmersbuy.com. cheap and bo shipping costs.you can have a try if you are interested in it .i recommend it to you now .
   interesting ,give me something intersting about your celebration.thank you

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