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Halloween Fun: Do you have any Halloween traditions?
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robjmckinney
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robjmckinney
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Last activity on 05/10/2024 at 12:54
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Just another sad Americanism we imported, much prefer our traditions such as Bomb Fire night, entertaining for all!
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robjmckinney
mariam2
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Last activity on 26/09/2024 at 19:00
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@robjmckinney Halloween is not an American import - it is an ancient Irish Celtic pagan holiday originally called Samhain which describes a period when it was believed that dead spirits could walk amongst the living.. The name Halloween became the name because, as was their custom, the Catholic Church took over the festival and renamed it All Hallows Eve ie the day before a celebration of all the saints. It was a way to try and stop the beliefs and practises of dressing up as vampires etc.
For us as children, we dressed up in all sorts of scary costumes, we played ritual games including those forecasting things like marriage, travel good and bad luck etc. One favourite was the traditional dish somewhat like a shepherds pie in which a ring and different amounts of money would be hidden. Traditional cake for the festival was Barm Brack, a fruit filled bread, in which again a ring was to be found. We went from door to door to door asking for apples or nuts though in fact we really hoped they would give us money or sweets. In some local traditions there was custom of playing tricks of people as well.
Irish immigrants to the US introduced the festival there. One notable change was that whereas it was traditional to carve out the centre of a turnip, cut out a face like structure and put in a candle. These could be seen in most windows. Since turnips were hard to find the pumpkin began to replace it. The expression 'trick or treat' also replaced the traditional 'apple or nuts' request - this Americanisation of certain aspects unfortunately became widespread where Halloween is practised. But the Americanisation of some aspects of Halloween does not take away from the fact that this is a pagan, Celtic holiday practised over 2000 years ago in Ireland!
robjmckinney
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@mariam2 The commercialised American version is totally different from the original Scottish celebration.
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robjmckinney
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@robjmckinney We have shared Celtic origins but the actual Samhain/ Halloween did originate in the county - Meath - in which I reside at present. Enjoy the holiday and ignore the Americanised aspects !
lesmal
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I was raised in Zimbabwe as a toddler, and lived in South Africa before coming to Belfast. We never celebrated Halloween as such, but did watch and play with fireworks when much younger. Now living in Belfast I see the costumes and pumpkins and ghosts in the gardens, but don't celebrate the occasion.
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Les
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Courtney_J
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Courtney_J
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Hello everyone,
How are you today?
As we’ve entered the spooky season of Halloween, I thought I would launch a fun new discussion!
Did you celebrate Halloween growing up or were you more into Bonfire Night?
Do you have any Halloween traditions?
Do you have a favourite Halloween costume you’ve worn or a favourite sweet?
Let’s share and discuss here!
Take care,
Courtney