This Hallowe’en has thrown parents into a quandary. As debate rages on social media, our poll asks: Is it okay to take kids guising on a Sunday?
Last year, our Hallowe’en frights were put on ice by the real life Covid horror story. This year looked set to mark the return of a (relatively) stress-free Hallowe’en.
That is, until parents started to ask: do we go guising on the Saturday, or the Sunday?
On the face of it, the answer is simple. Hallowe’en always falls on October 31, so that’s the time to get ghoulish.
However, many parents pointed out that in years gone by, if Hallowe’en fell on a Sunday, celebrations would move to the Saturday night.
Why? It seems it’s mostly to do with the holiday’s Pagan roots.
The festival of the dead
Hallowe’en dates back to the Pagan Samhain, or ‘festival of the dead’, when the Celts lit bonfires to ward off evil spirits returning to earth. It was celebrated half way between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, marking the darker half of the year after harvest.
When Pope Gregory III decided to honour saints and martyrs on 1 November, he included these Pagan rituals, and Samhain was renamed All Hallows’ Eve.
On that night, it was traditional for the poor to visit the homes of the wealthy, and offer prayers in return for food or beer.
The holiday as we know it now was popularised in America and has grown arms and legs (and bones and cauldrons) over recent years.
However, it’s thought to be disrespectful to the church to mark Hallowe’en on the Sabbath, a traditional day of rest.
Is it really such a big deal?
A Hallowe’en poll among parents on Facebook group Inverness Mummies appears to show a pretty even split of opinion. Some parents take a simple view: Hallowe’en will be celebrated on Hallowe’en, and that’s it. Others say they never celebrated Hallowe’en on a Sunday growing up, and won’t start now.
Perhaps the most pragmatic parents plan on loading up on sweets for both nights. Some will stick with the Saturday simply because there’s no sleepy zombies to wake for school on Monday morning.
Inverness Mum Lyndsey-Jane Campbell said: “Kids have had a bit of a rubbish year so I’ll be doing sweeties both nights. Glad I keep seeing these posts as I would’ve only been prepared for Sunday otherwise. Never even heard of not celebrating Halloween on actual Halloween night before reading them.”
Over on twitter, Robin Murray is Team Saturday, but like many other commenters, it’s an inherited tradition.
As a kid was always told not to do it on a Sunday, but guess times change! Some bairns will do both nights for extra sweeties lol
— Robin Murray (@ClashRobin) October 25, 2021
What do you think?
Take our Hallowe’en poll and let us know: will your kids be heading out on Saturday or Sunday this year?
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