Talk:Halloween/Archive 14

Archive 10

←

Archive 12

Archive 13

Archive 14

Archive 15

Archive 16

Images Cleanup

At a glance the images need some work, the layout could be improved. The images especially the gallery is repetitive and doesn't follow the image galleries guidance. I will leave it here for discussion, but I am gonna start chipping away at this.--0pen$0urce (talk) 20:48, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Good idea. To anyone who sees issues, go ahead and remove any unnecessary or unhelpful images. - M0rphzone (talk) 07:29, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Irish name?

In Gaelic, the festival is called Oíche Shamhna ("the Night of Samhain"), Samhain being the month of November that follows immediately thereupon. Given the origins of the festival (as already discussed in the article), shouldn't we mention the Modern Irish name somewhere in the article itself. elvenscout742 (talk) 02:20, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Unnecessary, since it is mentioned at the article for Samhain. This article addresses Halloween, not Samhain or related Celtic holidays/festivals. - M0rphzone (talk) 07:29, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

All Souls' Day

Yes it is Nov. 2, absolutely... See Mershman, Francis (1907). "All Souls' Day". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Souls%27_Day and http://www.binetti.ru/collectio/liturgia/missale_files/crg.htm — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.27.22.101 (talk) 07:36, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

 Done -It's fixed. -- FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:02, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

During Ancient Times

" In other countries, during the ancient times" - unspecified ancient times in any country that you care to imagine? This sounds more like a storytelling mechanism than a fact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.40.57.234 (talk) 09:43, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

Y Done - It's been removed. - M0rphzone (talk) 07:29, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Halloween origins

I agree with the name Halloween having Christian origins but the origins of the festival are connected with the lunar calendar. Originally there were 10 months in the year... this was changed to 12 in order to make 2 extra months in celebration of the Roman Emperors and change from the lunar calendar to the solar calendar - hence we have July for Julius, and August for Augustus - and it also explains why Sept (7) is the ninth month, Oct (8) is the tenth, Nov (9), and Dec (10). So Halloween was the original new year's eve and the precise date used to change according to the lunar cycle... it is still celebrated by Hindus in the festival of Diwali - although they have different traditions surrounding that day they keep lanterns going throughout the night in order to clean the house of bad spirits. In Western traditions the lanterns were meant to ward off evil spirits for the coming of the new year, hence they added the gargoyle type features to the lantern.

Also turnips were carved as lanterns in the North East of England - keep in mind that for most of the North of Britain, a turnip is what the South and the supermarkets call a swede. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.23.29.25 (talk) 12:34, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

The turnips represent skulls or severed heads on poles that were intended to deter the undead and/or other spirits in ancient Scotland. See 'The Faded Map' by Alistair Moffat. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jsp1488 (talk • contribs) 02:15, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Should there be a differentiation in the Christian religious celebrations of Halloween (All Hallows Eve) since we can date to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrdom_of_Polycarp the Martyrdom of Polycarp in the 2nd century and the contemporary secular and neopagan adoption of Halloween? As well as Pope Gregory the VII's move of All Saints Day (and therefore All Hallows Eve) to November 1 in the 700s? Seems like these two facts show that All Hallows Eve developed independently and predated any Irish or pagan celebration since Samain can only be dated as early as the 10th century?

Diwali can be dated long before the 8th century AD and it represents the new year in most Hindu traditions. It includes keeping a lantern alight throughout the night to cleanse the household of evil spirits and the giving of sweets and fruit to children. It is based upon the lunar calendar and falls in late October/early November according to the lunar cycle. As most religions observe similar dates that are generally based around solar/lunar cycles connected with food... it is not unlikely that there is some sort of connection between Diwali and Halloween that predates Christian tradition. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.23.63.208 (talk) 00:43, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

I think it would be hard to make the case that Hinduism and Christianity, let alone the pagan traditions of Northern Europe had any influence on each other when it comes to All Saints Day, Diwali, and Samain. Similarities between Diwali and Samain are lunar similarities and unrelated to the development of one another or the development of All Saints Day and All Hallows Eve. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.214.52.162 (talk) 13:55, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 1 November 2012

Please change All Hallows' Even to All Hallows' Eve. 74.103.48.151 (talk) 02:47, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

 Not done As far as I can tell, it is on purposely titled "All Hallow's Even" ("Even" standing for "evening").

–– Anonymouse321 (talk • contribs) 07:05, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

• Your request is unspecified anyways. If you mean the lead sentence, it's already been changed. If you mean the etymology section, the original wording is correct and mentioned in the ref. - M0rphzone (talk) 07:07, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Holiday ?

The text in a number of places (e.g. multiple times in paragraph three) refers to Halloween as a "holiday" but of course "holiday" means "holy day" and Halloween has never ever been a holy day. More of an anti-holy day. Also it is not a vacation day (which for some is the new meaning of "holiday") so again the word "holiday" does not fit. Could we change the text to refer to Halloween as a "festival" ? Mrdavenport (talk) 15:12, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Maybe commemoration, rather than festival? HiLo48 (talk) 16:47, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

I would like to see the word holiday removed from ALL articles where it's use in that form is NOT universal across all places that speak English. That would include Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day, etc. HiLo48 (talk) 16:45, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Being away from work is THE meaning of holiday in Australia and many other places, not the new meaning. (And it's a mistake to use the word vacation as part of the definition. That word is not normally used in Australia anyway.) HiLo48 (talk) 16:45, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Etymologically speaking "holiday" may have once meant "holy day", and that may have been used exclusively to refer to Christian holy days, but it is not its most common meaning in everyday English. Should we also remove "holiday" from The Emperor's Birthday? elvenscout742 (talk) 01:22, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Why don't you think it is a holy day? As the article also mentions, it is the evening before All Saints' Day, so there would be prayer vigils and (at least earlier) the practice of souling. Sounds holy enough to me. --Lanfranc (talk) 22:12, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

Because nobody participating in normal Halloween activities is doing it as a holy activity. HiLo48 (talk) 02:47, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

There are plenty of places that are holding church services and/or prayer vigils on Halloween, as the article also mentions. --Lanfranc (talk) 21:49, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

This is nonsense. See WP:commonname. Of course it's a holiday. We go by what reliable sources call it, such as this one: [1]. OR is not acceptable.-- FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:40, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

Please travel the world a little (or accept what others say about things you know nothing about). It is NEVER called a holiday in my country. (And it doesn't matter what that country is.) I don't mind if you call it a holiday, but try not to claim that you can speak for the whole world. HiLo48 (talk) 05:04, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

Don't be such a bigot, HiLo48. There are PLENTY OF PEOPLE in Australia who celebrate Hallowe'en and call it a holiday. Don't assume everyone subscribes to your narrow-minded, anti-American views. You might even care to read this article and this article. It may be a corporate construct in Australia, but that doesn't mean you can just close your eyes to it. 159.253.7.128 (talk) 06:52, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

It is NOT called a holiday in Australia. Those articles don't do it. YOUR bigotry and abuse are on display. HiLo48 (talk) 12:02, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

Just IM'd two friends in Sydney and one in Melbourne - all three said they consider Halloween a 'holiday' - you are not speaking for the entire country, HiLo48.HammerFilmFan (talk) 18:18, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

No idea what "IM'd" means. But if that statement is true, they must be part of the same demographic which has been influenced by American cultural domination to accept Halloween as something meaningful in Australia at all. (It doesn't work as part of the harvest season at all. We're enjoying Spring, and people have to import pumpkins for Halloween, and they cost $15. Stupid.) They must also be using more of the American form of English, rather than Australian. Sad. HiLo48 (talk) 00:35, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Wow, you're quite old then, self-described pedant. (And you complain against "conservatives" - what a hypocrite). The word holiday is synonymous with celebration or festival. Just because you disagree with it doesn't mean the definition changes. - M0rphzone (talk) 07:12, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Wow, I was conceding that our unique language must be, sadly, changing, and you respond by attacking me for being old. What a great debating strategy! HiLo48 (talk) 09:50, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Unique language? What a joke. English is English no matter if it's from the US, Canada, Australia, or the UK. And languages always constantly change anyways, so I don't know why you're so surprised or concerned. - M0rphzone (talk) 09:57, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

That you don't understand my point actually proves it. HiLo48 (talk) 10:06, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Oh I understand what you're trying to say, and your complaints over the morality of Halloween or the inappropriate usage of a Christian word is quite funny. You're almost like those conservative Bible-thumpers down south (or under). Get over it, old man. - M0rphzone (talk) 01:32, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

No, you don't understand. HiLo48 (talk) 04:32, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Well that's sad then; I'm afraid you're alone with your thoughts. - M0rphzone (talk) 03:27, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Futuretrillionaire - making absolute statements like "Of course it's a holiday" is rarely safe, nor polite. Hatting comments disagreeing with you is rarely safe, nor polite. You cannot win an argument here by censorship and silencing those who disagree with you, and that's what re-hatting this will be. I have said my piece, and will now move on. Hopefully others will see that your POV is not helpful to the article. HiLo48 (talk) 23:08, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

This is pretty ironic, considering that halloween takes its very name from hallowed/holiness. Both of which refer to an old English word for being whole, pure, perfect etc.Ninahexan (talk) 23:11, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 1 November 2012

change the word holiday to celebration or festival.

71.130.197.16 (talk) 06:26, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

N Not done - Unnecessary. The word holiday is used synonymously with celebration or festival. - M0rphzone (talk) 07:09, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Devil in Celtic influences?

I assume that with the "Celtic Influences" the Pagan traditions are being presented, as the Christian influences are directly underneath. Why then is the devil - a Christian figure - mentioned? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.179.127.63 (talk) 22:01, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Links with Guy Fawke's Night

The way this is written anyone would think there's no link at all between these holidays. Even the section under Trick of Treat there's no refeerence to Guy Fawkes Night. The name guising came about because the kids asked for a 'penny for the Guy.' The Guy is Guy Fawkes. These nights have similar traditions because Guy Fawkes Night appropriated and developed many of the traditional aspects of the modern Halloween. Corrections and edits upcoming. Mdw0 (talk) 07:32, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Wicca

"Halloween is celebrated as a religious festical by Wiccans who refer to it as Samhain."

This is important information but doesn't fit well in the lead. Do they merely "refer" to Halloween as Samhain? Or do they celebrate Samhain on the same day that others celebrate Halloween? Just because this source words it as the latter doesn't mean it's accurate or that it fits well with the lead. I recommend doing a little more research and potentially adding a "Wicca" section under "Religious influences." (Note that there should be reasons to include information here as opposed to in the Wicca section of the Samhain article.) Happy harvest, groupuscule (talk) 22:49, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm not a Wiccan but I know this statement is misleading. Today's Halloween is influenced by Samhain; Wiccans and other Celtic Neopagans observe a religious holiday based on Samhain, not on today's Halloween. Their religious holiday involves ceremonies or rituals, not trick-or-treating, costume parties, fireworks, haunted attractions, asf. ~Asarlaí 23:20, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Obvious vandalism

There's obvious pathetic high school vandalism on this page and clue it reverted it... Can we do away with the autistic poem on the front page. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.27.242.194 (talk) 04:37, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

Ah, yes. It seems like there was a lot of reverting of the mass content removals you kept making. Ironically, those reverts were preserving vandalism.  —Sowlos  06:18, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

The discussion of ancient Celtic practices (1 BCE) and the practices of their descendants (17th Century CE onwards) in one section

I'm starting this thread to discuss these edits: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Halloween&diff=575621599&oldid=575599220 The material about the practices of people living in Britain and Ireland, in the modern era, should not be included in the section which should discuss the influence of Samhain on Halloween. Samhain was recorded in the first century B.C.E. in the Gaulish Coligny Calendar and All Hallows has been celebrated since the seventh century C.E. It’s very confusing to list both ancient Celtic practices, along with modern practices of the descendents of the Celts on Halloween. This makes it seem that Celtic civilization and Christianity are mutually exclusive, which they are not. The practices that are in the latter part of that section are also Christian ones, since their practitioners no longer held the beliefs of the Druids, but became Christians. Mumming is actually a medieval practice that was not only performed on All Hallows’ Eve, but on Christmas Eve, Twelfth Night, Shrove Tuesday—Christian holidays. It does not make sense to put a Medieval practice alongside those from ancient times, especially when the ancient Celts never practised them. Most texts, including Hutton’s, do not present Halloween this way either, but first talk about influences from Samhain, and then All Hallows. In fact, the citations that are linked to the paragraphs that you added are from the section of his book titled “The Modern Halloween.” That’s why I refactored the material you added about guising in Ireland, Wales, etc. to the appropriate sections about modern practices “Trick-or-treating” and the content about turnips to the section on “Symbols”. These are modern practices and it makes more sense to discuss them there. Furthermore, we should not devote one large section to the modern practices of the descendants of the Celts, when there are a host of other groups that celebrate Halloween—that’s why there’s a “Halloween around the world” encyclopedia article. If you’d like, there’s a section about this topic on the main article and I won’t object if you move some of the material you added there—I am trying to be accomodating.

Let’s also talk about ‘Muck Olla’. Where did you find this? I looked through MacLeod’s book, in addition to pages 308-309 of the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 2 and it’s not mentioned there once. On those pages, the journal is discussing Ancient Monuments of the New Ordance Maps and Kilbarron Church, nothing related to Samhain. The only practice in the second to last paragraph that is related to Samhain is that of Láir Bhán, which is mentioned in Sharon MacLeod’s book. That’s why I left it there. The paragraph on guising in Ireland, Scotland, Mann, and Wales is a colourful and interesting one—let’s move it to the section on trick-or-treating where it makes sense. I hope you see my point here. Obviously, I have not removed the material you added, but have refactored it—hopefully we can come up with something that we can both agree on. Maodhóg (talk) 03:21, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

I agree — discussing Halloween practices in Britain and Ireland from the 1800s along with ancient Celtic practices from Samhain in one paragraph doesn’t make sense at all. That would make it seem as if the practices of the 1800s developed completely independent from the Christian influence in the British Isles (by that time, the ancient Celtic religion had long been dead and those regions were practicing Christianity). I think it would be better to add them in sections discussing the modern day practices of trick or treating and games and other activities. The ‘Celtic’ section should be dedicated to discussing possible influences from Samhain on Halloween. That being said, Samhain is a festival that historians know very little about. Most sources generally mention bonfires, the mixing of the worlds of the living and the dead, and animal sacrifice. These things should be included in the section, not ways that people from Britain and Ireland celebrated Halloween in the modern era. Happy Harvest! — Tylerjfrancke (talk) 19:09, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

The "Celtic influences" section is about how folk customs and beliefs in Celtic-speaking regions influenced the Halloween that we know today. That's what the section has been about for over a year. In these Celtic-speaking regions, 31 October–1 November has been the date of a major festival since before All Hallows existed. In the Celtic languages, 31 October–1 November has always been referred to as Samhain, Calan Gaeaf, or variations therof. Historians hav used these names to refer to 'Halloween' customs in the Celtic-speaking regions right up to the 19th century. Many of the customs can't be clearly linked to Christian dogma; for example propitiating fairies or nature spirits, bonfires that were deemed to hav protective and cleansing powers, divination rituals, people going about in costume (or even drest as the opposite gender), the Láir Bhán, and so forth. That's partly why they're not in the section about "Christian influences". Folklorists didn't get around to recording most of the customs until the 17th-19th centuries, so most of the section deals with that period.

However, you've shortened the section considerably by trying to make it be about the ancient Celts only. This seems to be based on the mistaken belief that "Celtic" and "Celtic-speaking" can only refer to ancient times. You moved everything that can't be traced to ancient times and put in a Christian interpretation for what remained. Firstly, there was no need to move the content. The wording made it clear that the section wasn't primarily about ancient times. Also, the content was about historic customs, so it belongs (where it was) in the "History" section. Secondly, I've no problem with mentioning Christian interpretations, but we should be basing them on scholarly sources. For example, you added the following: "other scholars argue that Hallowe'en bonfires are solely a Christian custom [...] with fire being used to scare witches of their awaiting punishment in hell". The source for that is a book by a Christian evangelist that seeks to "Scripturally and Theologically Justify" Halloween. If we're going to use such sources we should be clear about their intentions.

In summary:

• The "History" section is about the history of Halloween and how it developed into the festival we know today. This is where most of the content about historic, pre-20th century customs should be.
  • The "Celtic influences" subsection is about how folk customs and beliefs from Celtic-speaking regions may hav influenced the Halloween that we know today. These are folk customs that didn't come from Christian dogma, or whose Christian origin is disputed.
  • The "Christian influences" subsection is about how Christian dogma, and customs derived from it, may hav influenced the Halloween that we know today.
• The rest of the article is, or should be, about Halloween as it is today.

I've moved the content back into the section and, to avoid any confusion with the ancient Celts, I've re-named it "Gaelic and Welsh influence". I havn't removed any of the content you added but I've re-factored some of it.

As for the Láir Bhán and Muck Olla, it says on pages 308–309 of the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 2 (1855): "It is not many years since, on Samhain's eve, 31st October, a rustic procession perambulated the district between Ballycotton and Trabolgan, along the coast. The parties represented themselves as messengers of the Muck Olla [...] at the head of the procession was a figure enveloped in a white robe or sheet, having, as it were, the head of a mare, this personage was called the Láir Bhán, 'the white mare', he was a sort of president or master of the ceremonies. A long string of verses was recited at each house. In the second distich were distinctly mentioned two names savouring strongly of Paganism". ~Asarlaí 20:00, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

My main concern is that the distinction between the ancient festival of Samhain and the celebration of Halloween in Britain and Ireland in the modern era has been blurred in that section. I clearly understand that "many of the customs can't be clearly linked to Christian dogma." However, if you're going to talk about observances that happened in the 1700s and 1800s, only some of these will be linked to paganism; others will be linked to Christianity. This is because the celebration of All Hallows Eve had largely usurped the original celebration of Samhain. My intention is not to keep on reverting one another so I will let most of your additions stand (though I still think that it would be better if the section just talked about ancient Celtic influence). However, there are a couple of things that I'd like to refactor that I hope you won't object to. Maodhóg (talk) 20:45, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

The section isn't mixing the ancient festival with the later one. It discusses 31 October customs from the Middle Ages onward that were specific to the 'Celtic' regions, and briefly explains how many of them probably descend from ancient Samhain customs/beliefs. It makes sense to discuss and explain these customs together, in one place. Also, let's remember that Samhain, Bealtaine, Imbolc and Lughnasa weren't just ancient pagan festivals (as I explained in my last post).

I think the section names themselvs hav caused some confusion. I can see that, by having one section named "Celtic influence" and another named "Christian influence", we might be implying that the first is only about "ancient pagan influence". I've dealt with this by changing "Celtic influence" to "Gaelic and Welsh influence" and by re-wording it to make it clear what it's about. However, maybe we should also re-name the other section. It's about how Christian dogma, and customs clearly derived from it, may hav influenced the Halloween that we know today. Most of the customs originated in, or are mainly associated with, England. So we could re-name it "English Christian influence". That way we're not implying that the Celtic folk customs were altogether un-Christian. ~Asarlaí 02:37, 5 October 2013 (UTC)

My original concern, as I mentioned above, resonates with your last sentence "That way we're not implying that the Celtic folk customs were altogether un-Christian." I strongly disagree with renaming the second section, because All Hallows' Eve was observed by the Church Universal, not just in England. Italy is mentioned in the paragraph and I also added a sentence each on France and Spain. I think that I've addressed the issue you speak of (and that I spoke of before) by making mention of Celtic Christianity and adding Jack Santino's comment in the first section. Celtic Christianity is unique in the sense that it developed apart from the influence of Christianity in continental Europe. That being said, it seems that the article is fine now. Maodhóg (talk) 05:46, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Why did you make all of these sweeping changes without getting any consensus at all? 98.209.42.117 (talk) 08:46, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

"All Hallows' Evening"?

The opening paragraph states that Hallowe'en is a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening", and is sourced with a 19th century Scottish history by Thomas Thomson and Charles Annandale. The following quote is cited as the reasoning behind the contraction:

"Of the stated rustic festivals peculiar to Scotland the most important was Hallowe'en, a contraction for All-hallow Evening, or the evening of All-Saints Day, the annual return of which was a season for joy and festivity."

The problem is that I don't believe the source is correct. Per the Wikipedia article on All Saints' Day, that feast has been celebrated on November 1st since approximately the 8th century. As Hallowe'en takes place the evening prior, it is the eve of All Saints' Day, not the evening.

I believe the reference to this abbreviation is incorrect and should be removed. 74.215.188.148 (talk) 21:04, 5 October 2013 (UTC)

Well, it's six o' one, half a dozen o' the other, in'it? It's the "eve-ning" before All Saints. Same applies to Midsummer Eve/Midsummer-Evening/Midsummer Night...that's the eve before Midsummer Day. I think (but could be wrong) that it harks back to an older way of reckoning time, where the evening prior to daylight is part of the next day. Rather how the Jewish calendar operates even today: the next day begins at sundown, not at midnight or dawn, e.g., Saturday begins at sundown on everybody else's Friday. Eastcote (talk) 01:39, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

Goidelic and Brythonic influence

I changed the paragraph title 'Gaelic and Welsh influence' to 'Goidelic and Brythonic influence'. Its more balanced less nationalistic as no one culture or people had a specific influence for the harvest festival over any other. Especially as the Brittonic use is found in Wales as Calan Gaeaf, in Cornwall Kalan Gwav and in Brittany as Kalan Goañv. It would be just as wrong to state 'Gaelic and Cornish influence' or 'Gaelic and Brittanys influences'. Goildelic also includes the Gaels of Mann, Scotland and Ireland. Uthican (talk) 05:17, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

"Gaelic and Welsh" is accurate. The section is about customs practised by the Gaels (in Ireland, Scotland and Mann) and the Welsh. It doesn't discuss Cornish and Breton customs. If something about those customs is added then we might consider re-naming it.

Also, "Goidelic" is a linguistic term, referring to the Goidelic languages. It's almost never used to refer to the culture. ~Asarlaí 14:23, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

""Gaelic and Welsh" is accurate" Have you read the section that states the festival was known as Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Britany? Also Gaelic could be termed as a linguistic term too. The proper term would be Gael and Britonic or Gael and Brythonic. I suggest 'Insular Celtic Influences' as seen in the 'Insular Art' page to remove any nationalistic tags.Uthican (talk) 04:20, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

This is interesting, but I'll let you two discuss this. My thoughts are that the word 'Insular' would not be appropriate, especially because the culture and beliefs of Wales and Ireland were influenced by the arrival of Christianity in those regions, which in turn may have influenced the customs of Halloween. Maodhóg (talk) 05:51, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Halloween Costumes

There are numerous problems that are occurring with Halloween costumes these days ranging from the fact that most are highly inappropriate for the age groups that they are geared towards, they are very genderized, not to mention the character they are supposed to me recreating is often misrepresented. Adie Nelson writes in, The Pink Dragon Is Female "the importance of participation in the paid-work world and financial success for men and of physical attractiveness and marriage for women is reinforced through costume names that reference masculine costumes by occupational roles or titles but describe feminine costumes via appearance and/or relationships..." Nelson continues the discussion about Halloween costumes by comparing female and male villains. For males their villainous costumes are often right on point, where as female villain costumes tend to be over sexualized and almost erotic. Halloween costumes these days are over sexualized and very gendered, even for the small children that should be having the most fun with this holiday.

Nelson, Adie. "The Pink Dragon Is Female." Psychology Of Women Quarterly 24.2 (2000): 137. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

--Tarak7 (talk) 00:09, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

Alternative dates?

Are there other places that celebrate Halloween on a date other than the 31st of October? I know that in Kilmarnock in the west of Scotland it's generally celebrated on the last Friday of October, apparently due to factory workers and miners being paid on a Friday, therefore having money to spend on sweets and treats that might otherwise have been spent by the time the 31st came. None of the surrounding towns seem to have adopted this variable date for Halloween, and I've never heard of anywhere else doing it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.11.145.165 (talk) 13:13, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

Halloween doodles - Edit request on 27 October 2013

Hi, i find out list of Google doodles about the topic Halloween. Any one could you please add this link into external link section?

http://www.getinfo.co.in/2013/10/halloween-doodles.html

Amenda1020 (talk) 07:51, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, no. It fails WP:LINKSTOAVOID items 9 and 13. It's nice, but not informative for an encyclopedia. --Stfg (talk) 11:38, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Note: Links to getinfo.co.in have been spammed to this article (and others) multiple times now, and is being considered for blacklisting Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam#JennyK07_and_getinfo.co.in --Ronz (talk) 17:21, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Sub-title state christian influence yet cites catholic observations.

I'm unclear how one of the sub-title is "Christian influence" when the content clearly cites Catholicism. This would rather be said Catholic influence.

Catholicism is a branch of Christianity and since that section details the practices of other Christian traditions, the sub-title is fine as is. Maodhóg (talk) 20:21, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

No talk of Mexican Day of The Dead influence?

So much similarities it cant all be european influence in this modern day American Halloween style holiday sweeping the people's of the world. ChesterTheWorm (talk) 19:29, 31 October 2013 (UTC) ChesterTheWorm

It was actually All Hallows' practices brought from Spain that combined with the native festival of that region to form their current festival. The article for The Day of The Dead is linked in this article. Maodhóg (talk) 20:23, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

Ireland

In Ireland,believed to be the birthplace of Halloween , the tradition is still — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.2.76.31 (talk) 20:46, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

By whom? Moreover how is the holiday specifically Irish? Many countries have contributed to the festival of halloween as it has grown over the centuries and it isn't specifically traced to any of them. The ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain in Ireland, Scotland and Mann are very similar if not identical to the Brythonic 'Calan Gaeaf' (in Wales), 'Kalan Gwav' (in Cornwall) and 'Kalan Goañv' (in Brittany). Samhain isn't even the oldest reference the Gauls of France called the festival 'Samonios' in the Coligny calendar the oldest known celtic calender. Uthican (talk) 14:50, 9 January 2014 (UTC)

Recent edit warring over lead sentence

Starting section to discuss the changes by Bhlab. Edits are unsourced and user is edit warring. Hoping to initiate dialogue here. EvergreenFir (talk) 20:30, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

Halloween Decoration Service in Mckinney Texas by LBV

I have removed the spam that was here. Note that Wikipedia uses nofollow, and so adding links to your website here is useless for SEO. Skittle (talk) 16:46, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 October 2014

there is a few small typos and grammar mistakes Hanniee.e (talk) 02:59, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

Not done: Please be specific. Format your request like "Please change X to Y". EvergreenFir (talk) Please {{re}} 03:01, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

please change the link that the words "patato pancake" links to a page on that is not patato panckes

Hello, In the second paragraph the word "patato pancakes" in the string (apples, colcannon, cider, potato pancakes, and soul cakes) links to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxty When it should link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_pancake I would have made the change but the page is not open enough for me to do it (today). thanks for helping out. bytheway042 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bytheway042 (talk • contribs) 01:59, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

• Done. Thanks. Drmies (talk) 02:05, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

Edit Warring, Plagiarism, and Unsourced Edits

Take down the Walmart ad. 73.165.97.80 (talk) 20:47, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

I'm opening this thread and asking involved users to explain their edits. User:Bhlab has edit warred to introduce a revision of the article with the edit summary "Inaccurate claim maybe in the United States but not in Europe", violating WP:EW. Could he/she please explain what he/she is referring to? In addition, User:Randy Kryn has introduced a revision of the article with additions stating that Halloween has "it's [sic] original pagan name of [[Samhain]],". User:Randy Kryn has also directly lifted a sentence (without quotation marks) from the quote parameter of the reference Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night and has added that to the introduction, violating Wikipedia:Plagiarism. Could he/she please explain these edits? User:EvergreenFir, User:Jeff077, and User:Favonian have also contributed to these revisions and their comments would be welcome as well. I originally worked on this introduction a couple years ago and am going to revert to the stable version before the dispute, until these issues are addressed. Thank you, Anupam^Talk 22:44, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

No one has commented on the material thus far so I'm going to share my thoughts and hope others will chime in. I think User:Randy Kryn is correct when he wanted to mention that Halloween has a secular character as well, although I think that this word could be placed in a location other than next to the etymological summary of the article (see Edit Summary in question). I disagree with User:Bhlab's wholesale removal of the term, although I agree that in certain parts of the world, Christian religious traditions are carried out to observe the day, as section 8 of the article describes (see Edit Summary in question). Similar to Christmas and Easter articles, we have to present both aspects in the introduction. After I hear from others, I could look for sources to buttress such a statement. Another thing I observed was that User:Randy Kryn is adding that Samhain is an alternate name for Halloween and also adding the claim that modern wiccans [sic], observe Halloween as a holy day (see Edit Summary in question). This issue was discussed earlier (now archived), with the conclusion not to include that group, and it is clear that Wiccans do not observe Halloween as a holy day, but instead observe Samahin. The Manitoban notes that:

Wiccans don’t officially celebrate Halloween, despite the fact that Oct. 31 will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan’s day planner. Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain. Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don’t try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised but at its core, the holiday is simply a time to celebrate darkness and the dead — a possible reason why Samhain is often confused with Halloween celebrations" (Reference).

I would be completely fine with adding a footnote from The Manitoban in the infobox so readers can be alerted to this common confusion that the article speaks of. I think this would be a good compromise between a full removal and the mentioning of Wiccans, who do not observe Halloween, but its putative predecessor, Samhain. In this way, Halloween, which may have roots in Samhain, is akin to Christmas, which could have its roots in the pagan Saturnalia. I look forward to hearing the thoughts of others and suggest that we discuss any proposals here rather than seeing another edit war take place. With regards, Anupam^Talk 02:38, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

Hi Anupam! Thanks for starting this. The event for me started when I was checking Special:PendingChanges and reviewing edits. My first revert was because I was confused by the edit made, as it didn't seem logical. The second was a request for the user to discuss the matter on the talk page. Third was again a (strong) request to take it to the talk page and I realized this was edit warring. Warned user about 3rr. From there, it went downhill with reports to AN3, then some warning templates. Upon level 4 warning the user created the sock account Jeff077. Favonian and Bbb23 immediately jumped, locking the page and blocking the user and her/his sock. Upon review of the page history, this user has 2 prior edits reverted by Favonian and McGeddon so really the second one I reverted broke 3RR. Anyway, the content of the edits wasn't so much an issue (though I did think the by Randy Kryn were good, but didn't realize they were plagiarism). I have no issue with either form, just was responding to the behavior of the editor and their claim that it is s religious holiday in Europe. EvergreenFir (talk) 03:22, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

Hello everyone! Though the conduct of Bhlab was inappropriate, he was correct in asserting that Hallowe’en may be considered secular in the United States but not in Europe and here in the Philippines, where many of the religious customs of the Church, described in the article, are very commonplace, i.e. the visitation of cemeteries, vigil services, etc. It’s also pretty obvious that Hallowe’en and Samhain are not the same holiday—the mentioning of “Samhain” in the lede is therefore inappropriate, as was Randy Kryn’s selective trimming of a quotation to push the claim that Hallowe’en is definitely descended from Samhain. The article, as well as academicians like Ron Hutton, makes it clear that this is just one theory and many scholars embrace the alternate theory that “the existence of a specific pan-Celtic religious festival which took place on 31st October/1st November” is dubious, as the BBC reference points out. Modern neopagans (including Wiccans) don’t celebrate Hallowe’en as one of their sabbats, but observe a reconstruction of how they believe Samhain was celebrated over a millennium ago.--AR E N Z O Y 1 6A•t a l k• 07:47, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

I just got back to this, and see all kinds of edit wars. My edits were all in good faith (not plagiarized, I just saw one quote in references which would balance the page and pulled it out into the page). Now that the page is back to its original state - with the balancing edits reversed - the page, especially the lead and the infobox, again looks like a satire. Halloween is not totally a Christian holiday, the Christians stole it, slapped a new name on it, and it hasn't taken in recent years. All that aside, here is where the real discussion should take place. Halloween is listed under "Secular" at List of holidays, not under the Christian section. As long as it's not changed there it should be balanced here, which is all my edits were trying to do. There are prayers in the references in the infobox for Christsake (literally). Like I said, satire. Please read The Halloween Tree by the great Ray Bradbury - now he knew Halloween! Randy Kryn 22:00 1-6-14

Randy Kryn, although your edits might have been in good faith, directly pulling an author's words without making it clear that it is a quote, and instead presenting it as your creation, constitutes plagiarism. The bigger issue is that you selectively pulled part of the quotation and used it to push a view that the author did not intend. The original words of the author were that "In the case of Halloween, the Celtic celebration of Samhain is critical to its pagan legacy, a claim that has been foregrounded in recent years by both new-age enthusiasts and the evangelical Right." You only directly copied "the Celtic celebration of Samhain is critical to its pagan legacy", adding it to the article as a fact, rather than a claim being pushed by "new-age enthusiasts and the evangelical Right." I, and others here, have tried to respond to the material that you tried to add to the article, such as your false claims that Wiccans commemorate Halloween, and that Samhain equals Hallowe'en, but you have not addressed these issues. The lede is pretty clear that many academic scholars view Halloween as a Christianized festival being influenced by pagan festivals, such as Samhain (or as you bluntly state "the Christians stole it, slapped a new name on it"). We do have an entire section on "Gaelic and Welsh influence" that provides in depth coverage of its possible pagan origins and we have an entire separate article about Samhain. At the same time, the purpose of the lede is to summarize all the parts of this article--the etymology section (covered in the first paragraph of the lede), the history section (covered in the second paragraph of the lede), and sections three through nine (covered in the third paragraph of the lede). I added one sentence that states that the religious "customs are less pronounced" in some locations, such as where you are from (the United States?). You also have to take into account that in the Old World (such as where I'm from, the Philippines), many of the Christian religious customs are still observed on Hallowe'en. That's probably why the list of holidays that you linked to places Hallow'en as a secular holiday--because in some parts of the world, it is celebrated that way. It's our job to present a balanced perspective and we've done that in the lede by stating that in some parts of the world Christian religious customs are emphasized and in others they're less pronounced. You wrote that there are prayers. I don't see them. What I do see is a reference in the infobox supporting the word "prayer" as an observance of All Hallows' Eve in the infobox--that's just simply complying with WP:V. I also want to make mention that the fiction writer Ray Bradbury wrote The Halloween Tree as a fictional fantasy novel, as that article indicates. It's not a nonfiction book like the one's that are used in this article--let's stick to nonfiction references for this article.--AR E N Z O Y 1 6A•t a l k• 14:07, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

This isn't a topic I'll pursue, I was just editing some Bradbury stuff and took a look at the Halloween article and found its lead (usually considered the first paragraph) a satire on Halloween as being totally a Christian holiday. The term "secular" should be in the first paragraph, imho, to balance the labeling of the holiday. If it is honored as a Christian holiday in some places, that should be clear, as should the secularization of the holiday in many parts of the world (and what would you do with the "List of holidays" which lists Halloween as secular? If it stays that way, why wouldn't that be in the lead here?). As for the plagiarism, which I've never been accused of before, the reason I just released a portion of the quote from the reference was to not plagiarize but to present that point of view as a balance, nothing else intended. I'd put the entire quote in the body of the page and attribute it, but that would be reversed (that particular reference is selectively used on the page). And of course Ray Bradbury wrote fiction, but his "Halloween Tree" is based on factual data which attributes the original holiday as Samhain. Christians, of course, must carry the burden of their history of stealing holidays and symbols from other practices in order to divert attention away from them and to publicize their religion. Look what they did to the nature god Pan, a prime example of changing the emphasis. I'll make only one edit now on the page, the expansion of the Halloween template which has been reversed twice, but I'm glad this has been discussed a bit more and if you can't see why the word 'secular' should be in the first paragraph, please read this talk page over again and once again see List of holidays. Thanks. Randy Kryn 15:25 2 June 2014 (UTC)

I agree with most of the things said by User:Renzoy16 and at the same time, see no issue with User:Randy Kryn's request to add that in some parts of the world, the holiday has become secularized. I went ahead and added that clause to User:Renzoy16's sentence and provided a reference for it. I hope this helps. With regards, Anupam^Talk 19:50, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

I guess that is OK with me if it ends this dispute. I should clarify to Randy Kryn that the Church did Christianise various pagan festivals but when that happened, the festivals are no longer pagan. The spread of Candlemas, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc. as Christian holidays have been due to the Church, not previous pagan religions. Although they incorporated pre-Christian customs, they are now baptised as Christian ones.--AR E N Z O Y 1 6A•t a l k• 02:26, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

True but in Ireland the festival was never a Christian festival and never associated with Guy Fawkes. Each example in this thread is from Ireland yet the heading is "Gaelic and Welsh influence", Irish traditions at Halloween have nothing to do with Wales and as they have happened continuously to this day cannot simply be called Gaelic or Celtic. In Scotland (which received the Celtic part of its culture from Ireland), it is fair enough to say Celtic harvest festival as it only revived as Samhain/Samhuinn in 1988 after Scotland had originally being more influenced by Guy Fawkes night. I believe the page should revert to the way it was originally which was broken down by what each country had given to the modern Halloween instead of this pan-Celtic approach which essentially white washes what has been commonly understood as being an Irish festival. Here is the original page: http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/h/Halloween.htm

....  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.238.96.7 (talk) 13:47, 28 October 2014 (UTC) 

Inaccurate information

Greece doesn't celebrate the festival of Halloween, but it was created in Greek antiquity nonetheless.

While much of the Western world except Greece celebrates Halloween on Thursday October 31, the celebration actually is rooted in ancient Greek mythology. The Ancient Greeks believed that people who died went to the banks of the River Styx, the boundary between Earth and the Underworld. They would give the ferryman Charon a tip to transport them across the river to Hades so as to spend eternity.

If they lived a good life, they would reside in Elysium, a virtual paradise, and also be allowed to return to the world of the living for one day per year.

Christianity converted this myth by stating that the virtuous would become saints and their day with the living was set on November 1 for all saints day or the “hallowed ones” where they were honored with praise and prayer for evil spirits to leave them.

That is how All Hallow's Eve became Halloween.121.222.48.84 (talk) 04:22, 8 November 2014 (UTC)

The information in this article is inaccurate. All Hallows Eve or All Saints Eve is simply the day before Halloween. All Saints Day is recorded to be on November 1. The day before All Saints Day has nothing to do with Saints Day. It is a day someone made up to capitalize on the selling of candy and retail merchandise. Going back to a Webster's dictionary printed in 1964 Halloween is noted as a day where children dress up in costumes and go begging. it is also noted as "THE DAY BEFORE" All Saints Day. Halloween IS NOT, I repeat "IS NOT" a christian holiday or celebration of any sort. It is an abomination to Christ to celebrate dead spirits. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.190.255.43 (talk) 01:35, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Maybe this is a question of semantics but I do not agree with this point of view. Clearly an eve cannot refer to a day. But there are other issues. But this needs some context. In the Bible the Three Wise Men visited Herod which led to the Massacre of the Innocents. All Saints' Day in Mexico, coincides with the first day of the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) celebration. Known as "Día de los Inocentes" (Day of the Innocents), it honours deceased children and infants. Portuguese children celebrate the Pão-por-Deus tradition (also called santorinho, bolinho or fiéis de Deus) going door-to-door, where they receive cakes, nuts and pomegranates. This occurs all over Portugal. This is very similar to the Halloween tradition. As traditions move around the globe they are often "translated" into different, local, customs. The veneration of Angels, Martyrs and Saints is matter of great debate among the Christian faiths, so I prefer not to comment. JHvW 15:59, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

I agree with the above, for the most part. Unfortunately, this article is LOCKED and cannot be edited. Wikipedia should not allow this because so much information via Wikipedia is relied upon by far too many people in this day and age. This is egregious and outrageous that someone can put up an article without accountability and prevent others from updating or correcting it.

This article states that All Soul's Day is a Christian holiday and occurs on November 2nd of each year. All Soul's Day is NOT A CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY, BUT A CATHOLIC HOLIDAY SOLELY. All Soul's Day is a day for praying for the souls in "purgatory". Catholicism is the ONLY religion that believes in purgatory, and while Catholicism is considered a Christian religion, no only Christian religion believes in purgatory, as there is no mention of it in the Bible. Hence, All Soul's Day is a CATHOLIC holiday, not a Christian holiday. All Saint's Day on November 1, however, IS a Christian holiday, since other Christian religions DO recognize the remembrance of those who have departed this life on this day. and

It is outrageous that this article cannot be corrected and is allowed to disseminate incorrect and inaccurate information to the world wide community. this is NOT in the spirit of true wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kentuckywoman2 (talk • contribs) 00:22, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

References