When Did Halloween Get So Disfigured?

The Globe and Mail ^ | October 29, 2002 | Roy MacGregor

[Loyalist]

And so our neighbours prepare to celebrate the high holy day of modern occultism, the hallowed evening they stole from the Church`s commemoration of all holy saints and souls.

Happy Samhain to all who gather round the altar of the exploding toilet to offer their gifts of filth to the deities of the modern world.

[AppyPappy]

My daughter is a cowgirl this year. Happy SamIAm to you too.

[Corin Stormhands]

We have a bumblebee and a hobbit...

[FeliciaCat]

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallowee.htm

[sparkydragon]

Believe me, most Wiccans are as insulted by the commercialism as you.

[Delbert]

My 2 year old daughter is going to be a Duck....not too scary ....but she will be an ill tempered duck.

[briant]

The half-corpse that sits in a guest chair, its rotting flesh "so real it looks like it was freshly dug" for $89.99 (U.S., of course). The Vomit Barrel that spews out "great quantities of green vomit" on cue, for $3,999.99 (U.S.) The Living Walls, featuring a head and hands trying to push through the dining-room wall, sure to "freak the living daylights out of your Halloween visitors." $2,999.99 (U.S.)

Can I see pictures so I can be properly offended?

[Between the Lines]

There are silver ghost garlands to string around the trees, leaving one wondering how soon it will be before there are Halloween-tree lots and devils rather than angels to top them off.

We have a large hollow tree (still alive)in front of our home near the street that I have carved a face into and put floodlights inside.... looks great.

[Britton J Wingfield]

We have a large hollow tree (still alive)in front of our home near the street that I have carved a face into and put floodlights inside.... looks great.

Cool!

[AppyPappy]

Why would Wiccans be offended? Halloween was practiced long before Wicca came along.

[Alex Murphy]

And so our neighbours prepare to celebrate the high holy day of modern occultism, the hallowed evening they stole from the Church`s commemoration of all holy saints and souls.

Indeed.

At my house, I'm still looking for suitable flag - preferrably one that has a host of impressive looking (read: fierce) angels - to hang outside on Nov. 1 in silent protest of the previous evening's activities, to celebrate All Saints Day.

[babble-on]

I don't mind the occult association of the day, but when did it get so unbelievably gruesome and scary. When I was a kid in the 70's it was not about bloody corpses, it was about bubble gum and Snickers. My kids are really scared of some of the things that grown-ups in our neighborhood have arranged.

[sparkydragon]

Depending on who you ask Wicca is either and offshoot of Neopaganism or thousands of years older than Christianity. Wiccans claim roots in ancient Celtic practices. However, they have not garnered much attention until the past few decades. Unless you were on the forefront of the more recent publicized movement, it would be very difficult to say whether it is a new development in the style of the ancient practices, or if it has been kept very quite for fear of persecution for centuries. None of the Christian churches have been particularly pleasant to those of other faiths in the past.

Wiccans are insulted that the commercialism is deemed to be of their design. Publicity is not part of their belief system. I won't say that some don't proselytize, but they aren't supposed to. Foggers, candy, and skeletons figure as little in their ceremonies as they do in Christian ceremonies.

[sparkydragon]

. . . kept very quite for fear . . .

That was supposed to be quiet, not quite. Apologies for my shameful proofreading.

[TXBubba]

Baby Sunflower and Buzz Lightyear at our house this year. Buzz refuses to say "his lines" though. Trick or Treat and Thank You are rehearsed to perfection! The flower just drools.

[TXBubba]

Baby Sunflower and Buzz Lightyear at our house this year. Buzz refuses to say "his lines" though. Trick or Treat and Thank You are rehearsed to perfection! The flower just drools.

[Virginia-American]

the hallowed evening they stole from the Church`s commemoration of all holy saints and souls.

Backwards. Halloween is actually the ancient Celtic Feast of the Dead. The Church holy day is *much* more recent.

In fact, Halloween is a "cross-quarter" day, the halfway point between the equinox and solstice. (the others being groundhog day, May day and Lammas (aug 1).

[Grig]

I think Halloween is a blast. I'm usually out in front of the house sitting in a chair in my headless guy outfit, doing my best to look like I'm just some cloths stuffed with things. The better I can scare some kids when I get up, the better a Halloween it is to me.

There's no questions that some people are going way overboard with the decorations, but it swings both ways and you have a bunch of others who see it as a pagan orgy and want it stamped out. One thing not mentioned is that kids are trick or treating farther into their teens than before.

If you want to see something REALLY scary, read the lyrics to this song.... http://www3.quantumlynx.com/barontech/list/sayit.swf

[dead]

blah blah blah $10-billion this year…blah blah blah $4.97…blah blah blah $19.97…blah blah blah $59.97… blah blah blah$79.97…blah blah blah $89.99…blah blah blah $3,999.99…blah blah blah $2,999.99…blah blah blah $7,999.99… blah blah blah $11,999.99…blah blah blah $3,499.99.

Oooooooohhhhh kiddies! Isn’t capitalism scary?!?!

[Red Jones]

that's a pretty funny url you gave us

Halloween was great when I was a kid, it was harmless fun, like what you said - dressing up for the kids to scare them. Everything was kid-focused on that evening. But I don't like the way some people go crazy with it, having adult parties and such.