I hate halloween

wee_ginga_yin · Oct 14, 2018

Now here is the thing Halloween is supposedly a special holiday for children and they
are allowed to dress up as witches, demons, zombies, killer clowns for this one night
of the year. The rest of the year their parents protect them from these very things by
not allowing them to play violent video games , or watch scary movies on TV.
The care and concern that is observed the rest of the year is let slip and the things
that we try to protect children from on Halloween is actively encouraged.
Seems a bit hypocritical. What's a kid to think?

I have sung this song once before and the majority opinion was that I was being a spoil sport.
Apparently Halloween is a much loved holiday in America especially for children, and it seems
to have been exported all over the world... perhaps it is cynical to believe that it is just another
marketing ploy to get people to cram and fill their lives full of more rubbish, for even now the
supermarkets are awash with all sorts of junk associated with Halloween.

wee_ginga_yin · Oct 14, 2018

Bill1 said:
I recommend looking up the Robert Burns website. He was a famous Scottish poet. He wrote a poem called "Halloween" which is on the site in 1785 (233 years ago), about how Halloween and the celebrations in 1785 in Scotland. The poem and the explanation provide an excellent lesson in the background of Halloween for all of the people whose ancestors left the shores of the UK since 1785, and who took some of their traditions and celebrations with them to other continents and countries.
If you are a bit jaded for your children or grandchildren, go through the poem and the explanations to teach them what Halloween is actually about, and how their ancestors lived in the northern parts of the UK in 1785. 233 years later, some things have not changed and some things have changed.
Halloween has not ever had much momentum in Australia, many Australians think it was invented in the USA. But the truth is that it was actually invented by their own ancestors in Britain and Europe more than 233 years ago. Maybe the current commercialised version has been created by the lolly sellers (candy sellers for those in North America), but the underlying event is part of the rich cultural heritage of most people who have British and European heritage.
For those looking for an ancient traditional Halloween tunes to play on their uke, look up a Scottish tune called Tam Lin, and find some stories about the Fairy Queen of Elphame.

Coming from Scotland I know all about the traditions. I used to go chapping doors
and asking "Ur ye hawdin Halleen" (are you holding halloween) and if they were
you were invited in tae dook fur apples but before any of that you had to perform
a song or recite a poem. The host had to be entertained and if you were lucky you
might get a toffee apple on a stick. There was no sense of entitlement... no demands
that if you don't give us something you house is going to get pelted with eggs.
Modern Halloween has no resemblence to what I knew it as a kid. I fear that what has
happened is the commercialisation of a culture.

I hate halloween

wee_ginga_yin

Well-known member

wee_ginga_yin

Well-known member

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