I just love howstuffworks.com! Here's lots of good info on this fun and interesting holiday. How Halloween Works I celebrate the fact that we all can celebrate what has meaning for us!
Happy Halloween/Samhain!<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/reddevil.gif" width=16 height=16>

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY.

Speaking as someone who has now done my trapesing round cold streets with Javan colecting sweets, and having been up and down like a yo-yo handing sweets out all night, I wish a good harvest to all of you who are just about getting ready to set off.
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

Cool site, Ceas.

Bet you're glad it's over and done with, eh, Beverly? Now to portion the sweets so Javan isn't climbing the walls.

Have fun all you who celebrate ... we don't get any Halloweiners at our house--no little ones nearby and even when there were, they didn't want to climb the hill.

Thanks Ceashel! Interesting site. <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

We had surprisingly few young'uns out last night, considering the weather was WONDERFUL! More treats for me! <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

We had very few kids also. I'm wondering if the baby boomers' baby boomers have outgrown this "holiday."

I admit I used to hate letting my kids go out and "beg" for candy. I also hated answering the door. I disliked what Halloween stood for religiously, conjuring up the deads' spirits.

What made me finally look forward to Halloween, if you can even stretch that far, is that now we donate much of what the kids collect to the local ER and Pediatrics Ward.

When I was a kid, my mother insisted that we donate half of our collection to the local Children's Heart Hospital. When my kids were little, I wanted to continue that, as I felt bad for the kids who couldn't go out themselves.

My kids and Lance said, "NO" every year. Michael was diagnosed with a peanut allergy and chronic asthma when he was 2. We couldn't keep anything remotely containing peanut traces in the house in case of accidental ingestion, so I finally was able to put together a small donation for the hospital. My other kids donated half of their own candy (even things they liked!).

It's grown much from those days. Now we collect extra for the hospital and give our bowls of "left-over" candies also. Today, several neighbors came by with bags of candy they decided to donate rather than eat. They are 9 and 11 years old!

I would love to see my mother's "tradition" of donating candy to a hospital spread across the country. I've already made my annual run to the ER last night, but I'll now be going back over with 4 more bags of candy.

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Terrie on Nov 01, 2003 ---</FONT></center>

Ceashel
Thank you for the interesting site.The more we understand the roots of our traditions and celebrations the less ignorant we are to a very misunderstood religion,one that has been around a lot longer than the major religions of today.
Pagans have been misunderstood and persecuted for centuries.It is odd that some still relate the word "Pagan" to "evil" and acts of evil,when it was actually"Christians"
who came up with the concept of evil while the Pagan stood by the basic tennet, "an harm none do as ye will".
Pagans believe in accepting each other regardless of their religious beliefs,while
many who proclaimed to be acting in the wishes of a "Christian" faith persecuted
men,woman and children simply because their beliefs were not exactly in line with the status quo.When Arlo told the story of trying to describe the concept of The Guthrie Center Church to a curious priest he said that it was a "BYOG" church,a "bring your own God Church".That reminded me of the ways of the true Pagan,more so than many organized religions of today and yesterday.
Acceptance and understanding,basic principles of a loving God,seem to have been forgotten in many organized religions in recent history.Part of the attraction to the Guthrie Center is it's nurturing attitude of acceptance.The more we open our eyes and hearts to the basic principles of a truly loving,nurturing spirit within us all the more we are able to break free of the narrow
constrictions of organized religion.
The only thing I would change about Arlo's description "bring your own God" is to add
"and/or Goddess".
I hope all had a Happy Halloween,Insightful Samhain

Gary

Dreamer,
Gaia comes to the church with me and with others. And I've heard & read Arlo refering to the Goddess, so it's just that figure of speech thing if he only says "god" in BYOG.
Ceas

Ceas
Yes-you are right.Sorry I missed the connection in my thoughts here.
One of my recent favorite songs by Arlo is musically one of his most beautiful,but it also has lyrics that are very profound and inspiring.
"The Moon Song"...
"Among the myths I know are real
The goddess disguised as herself revealed
I sang her song out loud
She sat herself beside me in the crowd

A second chance to grasp a dance
Into the moment that she would allow
Tears along the trail of sand
Footprints in the water lead me back to who I am"