Halloween in Australia

I find it strange that there is any confusion about Halloween in Australia considering that it is derived from an ancient Celtic (Irish) festival, Samhain.

http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/origin-of-Hallowee...

for most of my childhood i participated in halloween because everyone else did. i'm sure my parents were right there with that. i doubt they did much research into ancient celtic practices.
i like the balloon idea!
i guess i'd explain it to someone who was unfamiliar with it by starting simply with something like 'it's a cultural festival where kids (and some grown-ups) dress in costumes and go house to house, showing off their costumes and collecting candy. it's become popular to have parties instead of house-to-house trick-or-treating, but lots of us still love the traditional trick-or-treat.'
if they're interested in further info i'd go into celtic pre-christian customs surrounding culling the herds, harvest and preparing for the long cold winter, which included propitiating any nasty spirits that might be lurking about. most people aren't really interested in historical background, though.
your final question is a bit too vague. our culture participates in all SORTS of things 'just because'. do we really think about why we blurt out 'bless you' when someone sneezes (but not when they cough), or all the nuances of hand-over-heart and/or removing a cap for the national anthem, or why school systems persistently close for easter? i mean, most of us do question some, but there are only so many hours in the day. who really 'educates themselves first and then decides' about EVERYTHING?
khairete
S.

It's much bigger in the USA than anywhere else. We had halloween in the UK, but it really didn't take off until the last few years. Different countries different traditions I guess. We have Guy Fawkes night on November the 5th in the UK, where we burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes who attempted to blow up the houses of PArliament. Kids make a man and dress him, then we parade him around in a stroller saying "penny for the guy" then we effing burn him and set off fireworks. We think nothing of it, but EVERYONE in the UK celebrates this. I bet most people in Aus know about halloween, they just dont celebrate it in a big way.

Generally I suggest people Google it to find out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating

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

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

People do stuff all the time without attaching any particular meaning to it.
We carve pumpkins, cut down trees and bring them inside for a month and decorate them, we decorate eggs in the spring, we (at least in the US) like colorful explosions (fireworks) around the anniversary of the birth of our country, etc.
A lot of it falls into the category of 'doing fun stuff for/with the kids' and that in itself is meaning enough for most people.

Funny you should ask... a few weeks ago, the mother of a new family in our neighborhood (recent arrivals from Japan) came to our door with a note asking 'please tell us about Halloween.' I told her we would write down an answer and bring it to her. I handed the note to our two school-aged kids and asked them to write down their answers. They explained about dressing up in costumes, going to houses and getting candy, as well as that you give candy to kids who come to the door and when you run out, you turn off the outdoor light. Obviously, there's nothing about spirits, paganism, All Saints' Day, etc seems to enter into their view!

We look forward to having about 200-300 kids come to the door--our neighborhood is one of the go-to zones, apparently, and some people have awesome haunted-house decorations up. Enjoy the scene!

Personally I'd just say it's an old tradition that I don't really understand either but the kids find it so much fun, does it really matter? I personally never liked it a lot but my kids get so excited not just for the candy but the thrill of picking a costume and seeing their friends' costumes and all the decorations. I'm not sure how anyone can be so negative on something kids find so much fun. And where we trick or treat, we know the people so I feel it's safe. We examine the candy for any pinpricks etc anyway. Theoretically someone could stick something candy in a store too with a small needle... So I think your answer was good and similar to what I would say. I don't know where carving pumpkins started but it's a good family activity and they look cool at night as jack-o-lanterns. That simple to me... And if I was in another country, yes, I would participate and ask casual questions about it but in general if people were having fun, I'd go with it. Lots of people do the Indian paint parties that are their big tradition. I don't think everyone knows the exact meaning of it all but again - it's fun. It seems highly unlikely to me that any widespread celebration in most civilized countries is actually secretly celebrating evil or the devil.

Our family just moved back to the US after 5 years living in the French speaking part of Switzerland. My French is only OK so we often participated in festivals and other events that I didn't fully understand. I would often try to get the info before from locals that we knew or expats who had been there longer than us, but it wasn't always possible. We also wanted to soak up as much of the culture as possible while we were there. So I can completely understand participating in something that you don't fully understand. It's kind of adventurous!

I'm of the belief that it is actually a Christian holiday totally separate from Samhain though possibly influenced by it. So I would just say it is based on a time long ago when people left food out the night before All Hallows Day/ All Saints Day because they either thought that their ancestors ghosts were able to visit that night or as a means to simply honor their ancestors. People also baked little cakes and passed them out to the neighbors to remember the souls of the dead. And now, kids dress up in costumes and go around their neighborhood, door to door, and receive candy. Most kids enjoy it.

I would not participate in some holiday that I knew nothing about. That just seems foolish to me. Especially when most people in Australia do have access to the interwebs and could easily figure out what the holiday is and the history of the same.

I'm from Australia. You don't have to explain halloween to us. It just isn't celebrated here as much as in the US. Australians aren't as Christian as a lot of Americans are, and I've never heard anyone here say we shouldn't do it because of satan worship. It's becoming more commercialised here now and more people are participating just for fun. We've decorated and tonight we're having a spooky soirée for the kids.

Halloween does have religious roots, but anymore it's secular. Some Catholics celebrate All Saints' Day on 1 Nov and All Souls' Day on 2 Nov, days of remembrance of martyrs and loved ones who have passed. But the celebrations on 31 October aren't religious, nor are they satanic or evil. Some Christians believe that dressing up pokes fun at the devil, and allows us to brag about Christ conquering the grave. But I'm 35 and this year is the first that I've heard that explanation.

In the US, Halloween is a primarily secular holiday where children (and some festive and adventurous adults) dress in costumes. Children go from house to house where people give them candy when they say "TRICK OR TREAT!" Homes are usually decorated with scary stuff and jack o lanterns. People throw costume parties and enjoy junk food and games.