Hallowe'en

Aisling&M

Has anyone got any festivities planned for the evening.

I would also love to hear any opinions on the theories of the day or the importance of it! Apart of course from lots and lots of sweets!

6th

Again imo it all comes down to belief and intent. If there are alot of people focused on the purpose of a particular day and a particular mindset well then the energies are there ... arent they?

Aisling&M

ahha.........but do you believe that the 'veil between the living and the dead' is less restrictive on such a day or any other particular time?

I once had a dream which I believe had a distinct message in it. I was shown how the afterlife is organised in a way that made sense to my human mind. It was like a train station. Everyone who wanted to visit earth needed to buy a ticket and similarly those crossing over were organised like package holiday tourists! LOL

I suppose it's a different matter entirely if we are talking about ghosts rather than spirits who have passed on.

6th

I think the only difference between that day and any other is purely down to the amount of people who believe in the day. Take into account its based on a man made calander?

kshiel

I never really understood Halloween, I have been told the story of that it is the one night that the dead can return to earth to see loved one etc, but we are told that they can see us all the time as well, or is it just easier for them on this one particular night?

Also is All Hallows Eve, Halloween night or the night before, or is that something different.

I would love to here some rituals or festivities other than my usual one of popcorn and candy for the kids who call, which I love by the way.

6th

but the popcorn and candy are the fun ones. Personally i think other cultures do it bettter.

kshiel

Awh this has brought back so many excellent childhood memories. :rolleyes:

secrecy_ie

Halloween around where I live is just a load of kids setting off bangers, egging cars and causing general mayhem. Loved halloween as a kid though. The smell of the day (because of the fireworks) and the fogginess (because of the fireworks) gives me a really excited and warm feeling. Always loved watching all the scary films they had on telly but they don't seem to go all out for it anymore. Don't bother going to the pub cause it's just too mad and full of drunken eejits. I still always feel so excited about halloween, last year in a forum I used to frequent a lot more often, I set up special halloween thread for people to tell ghost stories etc, but no-one put anything up - people don't seem to care about halloween after the age of ten anymore but I love it, so eerie and wonderful!

ladybirdirl

Ok guys,

just to make you all jealous - I'll be in NYC for Halloween, yipee!!

I'm hoping to do a ghost tour actually, apparently there's a good one in NY

But ok back to normality. Personally I agree with that 6th said(not often that happens). It's just another day on a man made calendar. I would rather believe that any 'spirits' that want to help/guide me are there all year round!

Ladybird

Aisling&M

Dia de los muertos (not sure about the spelling) looks very interesting!

kshiel

Aisling&M wrote:

Dia de los muertos (not sure about the spelling) looks very interesting!

Is this what you are refering to?

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/history/

Another site with a little bit of halloween history, true or false couldn't tell you.

http://www.canoe.ca/Halloween/history.html

Zillah

Personally I'll be mourning Guy Fawkes.

Remember remember the fifth of november,
gun powder treason and plot.
I know of no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.

Nevyn

/me wonders why this is not in spirituality or paganism.

I celebrate Hollow'een and Samhien seperately.
Hollow'een is having a party at my house from firends and family.
WE dress up and so do the kids and play games, mkae cookie have the pumpkin craved and lit.
All the children in the niehgbourhood love calling at my house that night.

Ziycon

Heres my input to theis topic:

Halloween originated in Ireland as the pagan Celtic harvest festival, Samhain. Irish, Scots and other immigrants brought older versions of the tradition to North America in the 19th century. Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.

The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows Day" (also known as "All Saints' Day"). In Ireland, the name was All Hallows Eve (often shortened to Hallow Eve), and though seldomly used today, it is still a well accepted label. Halloween was also sometimes called All Saints' Eve. 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. In Mexico November 1st and 2nd are celebrated as the "Día de Los Muertos" (Day of the Dead). Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit. In Australia it is sometimes referred to as "mischief night", by locals.

Halloween is sometimes 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

stevenmu

6th wrote:

I think the only difference between that day and any other is purely down to the amount of people who believe in the day. Take into account its based on a man made calander?

That's certainly one possibility, but then you have to wonder why such an amount of people originally started attaching some signifigance to that day. Of course is does have signifigance in terms of the changing of the seasons, but there's a long way to go between that and the crossing over of the dead.

6th

I think people might be thinking of All Souls Day too:

All Souls' Day (formally, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum or Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed), also called Defuncts' Day in Mexico and Belgium, is the day set apart in the Roman Catholic Church for the commemoration of the faithful departed. The celebration is based on the doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from venial sins, or have not atoned for past transgressions, cannot attain the beatific vision, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the mass.

The feast falls on November 2 and follows All Saints Day. Since the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council the feast is celebrated on November 2 even in years when that date falls on a Sunday. In the traditional Latin rite, the observance is transferred to Monday, November 3 if November 2 is a Sunday, as black vestments are never permitted on Sundays.

Wiki

kshiel

VPN wrote:

though to get back to the OP, Im looking at seeing if I can organise something local for that night, a kinda take some readings and recordings of a place and nothing else type thing. there is a place in question, which kim would be aware of, thats will be worth looking at if I can get permission and the time to do it

Excellent, give me shout on it.

wayland

Hi. Can any of you guys give us some advice? We are English and have just moved to Co Wexford. Do the Irish Kids go "Trick or Treatin?" and would we be likely to piss off our neighbours if we put a pumpkin head out the front of the house?

Nevyn

You won't piss of the nieghbours

Yes irish kids to trick or treat but you are more likely to hear help the hallow'een party at your door.

Depending on where you are in wexfrod some of the more isolated areas have a party for the kids some where rather then having htem wander the 1/2 mile from house to house.

welcome to Ireland have a wonderfull Hallow'een.

wayland

Cool. Thanks for that good lady;)