[valknova]

its lost a lot of its meaning since it got christianised from Samhain soul-cake night and the doors between the land of the living and the dead being open on that night.In the UK this day was seen as a festival of closure, when the souls of departed friends and relatives who'd died in the previous 12 months could finally go through the door. Or at least,thats one of the main theories,its hard to be sure because the Puritans torched not only the stories but also the storytellers too.
Anyhows, that sense of closure is now gone,and the festival of the dead is just an excuse to wear plastic masks made by barely-paid workers in the East. I think one of the reasons people in the modern UK has such a problem dealing with bereavement today is because we don't have a soul-night anymore where the spirits can cross over,and the families can have emotional closure and move on with their lives. Thats the problem with wiping out pagan beliefs that existed for 60,000 years, many of those beliefs were there for a reason.Ho hum.

Anyway, trick-or-treaters get a much friendlier reception at my house than the Carol-Singers do. Carol singers just go straight into the boiling pot, hymn-sheets & all. A nice hot soup is perfect during those chilly winter months.