Halloween, Samhain and the Feast of the Dead

With Oct 31st just a day away I wondered if anyone had anything planned to mark the even? I've been carving my pumpkin this morning and I'm proud to say he's looking mighty scary this year! My pagan leanings prompt me to have a few Samhain traditions and rituals up my sleeve and I've heard Sureshot mention he's got his costume sorted out, so we know he's going trick-or-treating! Anyone else have any plans?

I'm working but thats not stopped me carving out a pumpkin and sorted out my work with lots of orange and black decorations! (a bit 'american' I know, but most people don't know/like the original festivities behind Samhain so its good to play nice).

Glad to see someone calling the festival by its rightful name too, Hare - all Kudos for that sir! I'm a born'n'bred Pagan lad and this is by far my most important time of the year (shortly followed by Midsummer's). I've got some time set aside to go and commune with my mum who passed a few years back late in the eve - nothing special but I'm at work so it'll have to be a private little affair.

Really hope we get some trick or treat'ers this year though

(Happy New Year, Hare )

Me? I'm not pagan, but I'll do the following things:

1) Get my costume ready. It's a biker leather jacket, with trousers, gloves, and some black shoes. To top it off, I'll be wearing a pumpkin mask and I'll be hiding behind our hedge to scare little children when they come to ring my door.
2) I'm carving my pumpkin later today. I'm going with the traditional look of a spikey mouth, nasal slits and angry eyes. I'll be put on our bird table after the idea of having it on a pike was rejected.
3) I don't think I'll be trick or treating, I'm too old now! But I my head down the road at some point since my friend is having a party. Doubt many people will come though so I may trade it in for more scaring time!
4) Oh yeah, and a pumpkin themed dinner!

Lunarwolf wrote:

(Happy New Year, Hare )

Thank you Sir! ♉ And Happy New Year to you too! )O(

I've got some friends coming over for the weekend and I'll probably have them running about the house banging doors like loons brandishing smudge-sticks. After that it's a nice meal with a place set for my dad (dec'd) before a scary movie! Then at midnight I dust off the tarot deck.

And for anyone into old traditions for the dead; don't forget to leave some nice tasty treats outside your door and a candle in the window (unless you're going out - safety first kids!).

No Halloween or anything like that in Slovakia. Pumpkins are made just occasionaly, you can see only a handful of them throughougt the city. And children here don't trick or treat and never did. ( I guess it is because Russians ( Soviet union at that time ) stopped interfering only 20 years ago ...yeah I'm a kid of velvet revoultion!!! ). We have a holiday on 1st weekend in November that could be roughly translated as 'Holidays of all saints' when families join together and go to cemeteries to remember the loved ones who passed away. Sadly I can't attend this year because of the school So only planned thing is to get drunk tomorrow with friends, as I would do after cemetery visit on dinner at uncles house where everyone usually meets

Yup I'm off to a Halloween party tomorrow night and in true Star Wars junkie fashion I have a full costume of a fella we all know and love.....



I will post up pics!!!

I'm off out to a club with some mates, left the costume till last minute though so I'm going as some crappy "blooded Surgeon"

Dugo wrote:

We have a holiday on 1st weekend in November that could be roughly translated as 'Holidays of all saints' when families join together and go to cemeteries to remember the loved ones who passed away.

Yeah, that would be All Saints Day (nothing to do with that dreadful girl band thankfully). Don't quote me but it's widely thought that it's introduction by the Christians so close to the much older pagan Samhain is similar to what they did with Christmas and the ancient pagan Yuletide.

Ah! I had a wonderful turnout! I must have scared over 50 children and adults! Totally worth the wait hiding behind the hedge in a ditch for an hour! I also did the ragdoll scare (where you pretend to be a scarecrow/guy fawkes/etc on your porch and when you get close, you scare them!). Yep, so much fun!
Sad thing is, I don't think the old tradition of trick or treat exists any more, it's just treat and if they don't give you anything, oh well... Police were patrolling the streets to make sure no funny business went on and with parents, children could hardly do anything. Even children I'd have deemed "bad boys" were surprisingly ok with not recieving anything after we ran out of sweets. Halloween has become more about the treats than the scares and so I did my fair part in re-inviting those "Goosebump"-esque tales.

Bravo, sir!

I personally don't mind teeny-tiny trick'or'treaters turning up to give 'em treats, I think they're kinda cute

That being said I agree entirely that the holiday is being taken over, commercialised and made into yet another "retail holiday" - so good on 'ya for putting some 'bumps' back into the night