... in response to Re: so you're suggesting, posted by JohnL on Nov 2, 2002JohnL ,
I think that there's a few things about this 'holiday' that you don't quite understand ...there's a few things that you're right about , and a few things that you're wrong about .
It sounds like you heard about this ' strange American holiday ' , read a little bit about it's history , and drew some conclusions from that .
While you're correct about some of Halloween's history , there are a few other things that have happened over the years that have completely changed it's meaning . Yes , the Celts are generally credited with starting this whole thing , from what little I've read on it .
But America is a country that was settled by many different peoples , from many different countries . When these people settled here , they brought many new customs , traditions , and holidays with them . As the years went by , many of these unique customs and traditions began to blend together ; and gradually evolved into a new traditon , the one we have today .
As it is celebrated now , Halloween has become simply a holiday more or less for the enjoyment of children . Kids dress up in strange costumes , walk around the neighborhood collecting sweets and candy , and have a little fun . And that's about it . There is really very little of the original ideas or reasons behind Halloween left today . Halloween , as it's celebrated today , has nothing to do with the paganism and devil-worship that you speak of . It's just really a fun holiday for children .
John , here in America this 'holiday' has been so watered down and commercialized that it's original meanings have been more or less completely forgotten . Is that right ? Or wrong ? Who knows , it's just the way it is . It's a little embarrassing to admit this , but from some of the things that you mentioned in your post , I'd be willing to bet that you probably know more about the history of Halloween than most people I know . I think that if I asked 10 people in my neighborhoood some questions about 'why do we celebrate Halloween ? ' ; I'd get a lot of blank looks , a few 'I don't know' ' and a few 'Well , we've always done this on October 31st...'
I could ask the same questions or make the same statements about 'Valentine's Day ' ; and I'm willing to bet that I'd get the same answers . I'd be willing to bet that only 1 or 2 people out of 10 know anything about St Valentine's story . Sad , but true . Is that good ? Or bad ? Who knows , that's just the way it is...
Last week , I was on the phone with my fiance ; and she asked me about 'this strange American holiday , Halloween ' . I thought about that for a minute ; you know all this stuff seems perfectly normal to me , because I've seen it every year my whole life ; but - what would somebody who's never seen it before think ? I've got to admit , it would certainly seem pretty strange . I tried my best to explain it to her ; her English is OK , and my Russian is pretty bad . I didn't do a very good job of explaining it to her ( and I probably didn't do a very good job of explaining it to you either ) ; but needless to say we had a very interesting and entertaining conversation about it . :-)
So that's probably why you took a little flak about your take on it , and why some here are trying to tell you to lighten up a bit . Just a little misunderstanding . Thanks for your post ; you made me think for a minute about how Americans are looked at by the rest of the world , and about some of the reasons for that .
And John , :
HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!! :-D
Don
