Pagan traditions

[babybombo]

Iam a catholic and go to a catholic school, but I have many friends who go to the local non-denominational school. The others from that school always have a halloween disco, yet we dont. I put this to a teacher from my school one day who suggested that it is becaue halloween is traditionally a pagan ritual, but yet we celebrate all souls day? Aren't they sort of the same thing?! Iam slightly confused.
Also, we always dressed up and had partys in primary school , which was also catholic, so why does the tradition stop then?

I also recently found out that most wedding rituals come from pagan traditions too:
The throwing of confetti was origionally grains as the seeds symbolised fertility in pagans
The bride wearing a veil was so that evil spirits could not get to her
Having bridesmaids was to confuse evil spirits and keep them away from the bride

So if catholics children in primary school can celebrate halloween then why cant we at high school?
And if we supposedly shouldnt do the pagan tradition at halloween , then why do we still do these things at weddings?

[dot.hawkes]

the halloween 'celebrations' we see these days are a product of American influence from the 1970s onwards, it's not a tradition at all, blame the yanks for it all i say.

[babybombo]

aah lol thanks dot

[Shadow Man]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the new education act forbades exclusivity. Under your human rights (of which there is a direct protocol under The European Convention), a right to religious belief and freedom of expression must be adhered to in within public bodies.

If you really want to make a name for yourself, organise a Hallowe'en celebration and see what they do.

(Check I have this right though!!!)

Hopefully it will put the willies up the stuffy school board of governers!

[briar-rose]

I heard last night that Dot's a really nice person - so she doesn't mean anything horrible by that remark about "the yanks".

[dot.hawkes]

How do you know briar-rose, i may have a deep seated disalike for Yanks!!!!!! lol don;t concern yourself with anything to do with me if you don;t mind, it makes me feel I am being stalked.

[cazzz1975]

I remember doing a lot of praying at catholic school, they always found a way of putting god into the curriculum like maths english ect...

I dont remember ever celebrating halloween at school

[pastafreak]

Haha-according to wikipedia,Hallowe'en started HERE as a pagan festival amongst celts in Ireland and England.....hmmm-has it come full circle??

[briar-rose]

It's an open forum Dot. You also have a nasty streak.

[dot.hawkes]

yes i do briar so wind your neck in and get outta my face, don;t become another looney obsessive bowiefreak or zigzag type for gods sake, it's apain as it is, keep your snide jibes to yourself, remember you are supposed to be a newbie, picking on me means you aint so you are lying

[briar-rose]

I'm not picking on you Dot! Why - it rather sounds the other way round! If you'd had the energy to stay up last night and read what ensued, you'd probably be in a different frame of mind. Btw - it WAS the first time I'd posted any comments...I'm not a guy, as Cazzz suggested...and I certainly woudn't want to get in your face (perish the thought!). If you feel stalked, it's because you're paranoid - oh, and I see you're only too quick to make a reply. I think you secretly like me!

[cazzz1975]

surely if you want us to get a different perspective of you you wouldnt be so arguementative in your postings...Im no expert but you seem to be looking for an arguement?!

why not begin again and start being pleasant and friendly, non of us in particular enjoy arguing every evening.

[dot.hawkes]

I have no idea who you are, and i don;t particularly care, just quite making comments about me, cos guess what, you don;'t know me either, unless as i said before, you are a liar.

[babybombo]

ha cazz yes I know what you mean.

We had a service last week where the priest tried to make us spell other words from the letters of harvest eg heart, share =|

lol thanks for the info pastafreak

shadow man that is a good idea, think i will get everyone to dress up for halloween and see what they do!

There seems to be an awful lot of squabbling on this thread...

[Pippa68]

Our 'traditional' Christmas & Easter celebrations are pagan too..

[Whickerman]

This on Halloween: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

You could always try the angle that Catholics celebrate All Souls Day on Oct 31st - a thinly veiled excuse to keep the celebration that is Samhain, but it may work.

[babybombo]

Thanks whickerman

Quite interesting, liked reading about how and why it started here.

Yeah, I may try that. I think they're pretty settled on the "No halloween celebrations" rule but I will fight my corner, it's worth a try!