Halloween ... acknowlege or not

[Trouble]

Exactly the same as Miffy.

We are an inclusive provision and we celebrate some festivals if they are directly relevant to the children... others we mark or note through books, chats, arts and crafts etc if they are not particularly relevant

me too i love halloween

[mrs robbie williams]

my ds7 is mad about halloween so for the last couple of years we have had a halloween party after school the children come in fancy dress and we do games like dress the mummy and apple bobbing, lots of sweets and halloween decorations, will be doing the same this year, mindees are at school with him and im going to do it on the day i dont have baby mindee xx

[nipper]

my manager at a nursery i worked at refused to let us celebrate it because it was pagen soon changed her tune when i gave her a list of other pagen traditions we celebrate! lol

Brilliant, don't you just love it when that happens...good on you Tara Louise

[stardust]

Brilliant, don't you just love it when that happens...good on you Tara Louise

It annoys me how they do things like that oh cant do that because of such and such. Like with the whole all pagen's are witches- no they are not stop stereotyping! (i'm not religious at all just went on a brilliant course on the worlds cultures and beliefs and their festivals and religious events- one of the best courses i have attended!)

she used to say you can celebrate it if you can tell me the meaning and her face dropped when i reeled of loads of information! i never go in with a argument unless i know my stuff so i looked up before i went in don't you love google ha ha.
Though i do love complaining- will complain about anything. the state of my caravan on a haven holiday in loud voice to the manager with a lobby full on on lookers it doesn't bother me but maybe that's because i'm straight talking and sometimes blunt but i have rights and i expect them to be up held lol x

[Mamma4Ya]

The problem with such events is that parents do not understand the true meaning of them and listen to myth. They hear the name Holloween and imaging devil worshippers and witches.

Halloween or Samhain as it is called umongst the Pagan community is celebrated as the 'Feast of the Dead' where they remember their ansestors so nothing spooky in it as I am sure other religions remember their loved ones too.

Also November 1st is for some is the New Year and time for new beginnings so celebrate on 31 October. The myths about devil worshipping were started by the Christian Church to put fear into its followers, trouble is mud sticks I suppose.

As a former Christian (going to church twice on a sunday) and now a proud PAGAN. It makes me mad that there are still so many people that are ignorant to our tradition and who only listen to what they have been told from the Church.

Paganism was around long, long before Christianity. We do not worship the devil, we do not believe in a devil, yes it is another concept that the Church made up to put fear into others.

I do not see Paganism as a religion but a way of life. I respect the earth and do my best to protect it E.g I recycle, use eco friendly products etc. I do not go around in a pointy hat

The Church took our holidays and changed the names to make them fit in with their beliefs because they wanted to make it easier to convert the Pagan community to Christianity.

Yes some Pagans cast spells using candles, herbs and resin, cake and ale, to me this is no different than to someone praying. Many religions also use these too. The Catholic Church use candles, wine, bread, resins in their insence burners too. The Christian Church uses candles, bread, and oils when praying. These items are used as a form of focus helping you focus on your intent.

So what I do not understand why people find this sort of thing acceptable to religions such as Catholics and Christians yet Pagans are called Witches for their beliefs. I find it very offensive.

If a pagan performs a ritual and asks for healing or help finding a job and their prayers are answered others call it Witch Craft, if a Catholic or Christian ask for healing and healing comes about, they call it a Miracle. I think other religions would be quite peeved if we started accusing them of being Witches.

In years gone by these so called witches were the village 'Wise Women' they would use herbs to heal, how many church goers go to a herbalist for natural remedies? Yet they are only doing what the 'Wise Woman' would do.

I respect all religions although I do not understand them, mainly as I have not studied them. I believe that children should be introduced to all religions in school in order that they can make up their own mind as to whether religion is something they wish to believe in or not.

For most children times such as Holloween are just for fun and dressing up and lots and lots of sweets Children like to make cupcakes and decorate with orange icing, making bats and pumpkins, face masks, siders out of pipe cleaners etc, its just fun.

[stardust]

I don't acknowledge Halloween for my own personal reasons - I don't find it appropriate and so we don't do anything to do with it. I focus on November 5th which is just afterwards (obviously you know that! lol) if a parent wants to recognise Halloween they can do so at home.

I try to explain to children why we recognise certain events throughout the year, and Halloween is not one I want to explain to my own son or to other young children - my views may change if I cared for over 8's who already know about Halloween, but my son is 4, mindee's are 1 and 3 so I don't wish to explain it.

Do you know the true meaning behind halloween?? its not about celebrating the supernatural - witches, devil and the dead think most people believe it is. the industry captivated it and used it as a way of making more money.

This is the true origin of All Hallow's eve (halloween)

In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church made 1st November a church holiday to honour all the saints. Although it was a joyous holiday it was also the eve of All Souls Day, so in Medieval times it became customary to pray for the dead on this date.

Another name for All Saints Day is 'All Hallows' (hallow is an archaic English word for 'saint'). The festival began on All Hallows Eve, the last night of October.

It is basically a universal date to remember all our passed loved ones.
I will happily light a lantern as a tribute to my grandfather.

By the way babysigntalk i did not mean offence if you believed i was calling pagan witches because i wasn't i put not all pagans are i say this as a dear friend is pagan and she says she is a white witch, she 'casts' spells but only ever good she did one for baby p when he died to protect his soul from the pain he suffered in his short life. She also does it regularly for the soldiers fighting for us. This is why i said not ALL because i know one who calls herself a white witch x

[Mamma4Ya]

Do you know the true meaning behind halloween?? its not about celebrating the supernatural - witches, devil and the dead think most people believe it is. the industry captivated it and used it as a way of making more money.

This is the true origin of All Hallow's eve (halloween)

In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church made 1st November a church holiday to honour all the saints. Although it was a joyous holiday it was also the eve of All Souls Day, so in Medieval times it became customary to pray for the dead on this date.

Another name for All Saints Day is 'All Hallows' (hallow is an archaic English word for 'saint'). The festival began on All Hallows Eve, the last night of October.

It is basically a universal date to remember all our passed loved ones.
I will happily light a lantern as a tribute to my grandfather.

By the way babysigntalk i did not mean offence if you believed i was calling pagan witches because i wasn't i put not all pagans are i say this as a dear friend is pagan and she says she is a white witch, she 'casts' spells but only ever good she did one for baby p when he died to protect his soul from the pain he suffered in his short life. She also does it regularly for the soldiers fighting for us. This is why i said not ALL because i know one who calls herself a white witch x

Not at all, I was just pointing out the meaning of Halloween or Samhain as I call it and the fact that the church say its wrong to celebrate it yet they copied our holidays So many people still think its all about ghosts and goollies

[Nature'sKids!]

my manager at a nursery i worked at refused to let us celebrate it because it was pagen soon changed her tune when i gave her a list of other pagen traditions we celebrate! lol

Exactly! So many Christian festivals are on pagan festivals too and use a lot of pagan symbols!
There are zoo many festivals to celebrate and learn about. Chinese new year for example - would you ask permission?

[jumping j]

We'll be celebarting it, we've already started making a paper mache cauldron using a sapce hopper, we'll be doing pasta skeletons, bats, we planted pumpkind in the spring so we'll be picking them and drawing faces on them, it's my birthday around then too so the house will be decorated for a halloween themed party!!!
I've told parents and it's in my plans so I don't intend to send permission forms home!!! If they had a problem with it they would have told me by now!!! I hope!!!!

[wendywu]

Any excuse to dress up and do super crafts and im there.

My lot come back in the evening to my house to trick and treat they all look so sweet all ressed up.

[loocyloo]

i won't be working halloween this year, but we'll do a few crafty things the week before, just like i'm doing diwalli things next week, and bonfire night stuff the week after!

in previous years, we've had halloween parties with all the minded children & parents.

[Twinkles]

We don't celebrate halloween. But there are many other festivals that we do celebrate.

Just a thought. If you know a child comes from a Christian family would you not warn parents you celebrate it and give them a chance to make alternative arrangements ?

After all you wouldn't feed a Muslim child pork would you ?

I think we have to teach the children in our care about lots of festivals and ways of life whilst being sensitive to their family's beliefs and culture.

[Winnie]

I have no problem with any religion, I celebrate and acknowledge many festivals. I feel my setting is inclusive and respectful of people’s beliefs and different faiths including Pagans & Jehovah Witnesses. However I do not celebrate or acknowledge Halloween because of what it has become, it fly’s in the face of everything I believe All Saints Day is about. I find the idea of glorifying witches and demons repugnant. I have pumpkins in the house and do carve them, usually with stars or something beautiful to celebrate harvest. Parents are told that my setting does not acknowledge Halloween when they start here but if a child arrived in a costume then I wouldn’t turn them away as that would be disrespectful but I would tell the parent in the strongest terms that I considered it discourteous to ignore my request.

[Nature'sKids!]

At the end of the day, to most kids it's not much more than dressing up, crafts incorporating pumpkins, bats, etc and sweets.
As with any festival I will explain the origins (pagan, keltic, etc) and how it has changed over time and different societies have adopted it in different ways.

[Bitsy Beans]

Last year we focused more on Halloween as the kids understood it better but this year I am intending on introducing Samhain to them
Fancy having a go at making a besom although no wheat to make it with so was going to go foraging for suitable thinnish branches.

Personally I feel Halloween or Samhain deserves as much recognition at the other "mainstream" religious festivals. I wonder if the NCMA can include more pagan festivals in their bi monthly calander at the back of Who Minds? Hmmmm might be worth an email I think