Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Dandelionlady

Home
About

Home
Pagan
How to Integrate Halloween, Samhain, and Thanksgiving into Your Busy Life

How to Integrate Halloween, Samhain, and Thanksgiving into Your Busy Life

Last updated on: October 8, 2017 at 12:08 pm by Melissa Hill

How to Integrate Halloween, Samhain, and Thanksgiving into Your Busy Life 2017-10-08T12:08:50-04:00 Melissa Hill

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It can be really hard to juggle secular and religious holiday traditions especially when you’re trying to manage Halloween parties, costume changes, managing candy for kids, and dumb suppers for ancestors, taking the time to give offerings, make treats, and if you’re lucky, sneaking in a visit to a local cemetery. Then there’s the decorating: do you delve into the gory glory of pumpkin guts and witches with broomsticks, or do you focus on putting up elaborate ancestors altars?

In my house it’s been a balancing act for years, so I thought I’d share the schedule that I’ve evolved to survive some of my families favorite holidays:

August – September:

We work on developing costume and decorating ideas. Pinterest is our friend. We gather materials and plot. Most of this plotting is Halloween centric.

October 1st Halloween Season Begins!

I decorate the house in all the boxes of tchokes, skulls, purple witches, pumpkins, zombies and fake blood can all be involved. We take the kids to things like Boo at the Zoo and host our annual Halloween Party for adults, the weekend before the 31st. I don’t worry too much about the ancestors at this point, because I know that they will get their time in the sun, or the shade…. Whichever they prefer.

Three Jack-O-Lanterns glowing in the dark.

Attributed to: Lobo235 at Flikr. Cropped.

October 31st–

This is the switchover point. We have one last bonanza of Halloween themed fun with trick or treating awesomeness. A note to those with young children, especially those with kids who have food allergies: For years I would put together a Halloween basket for my kids, much like an Easter basket, packed with healthier treats, themed stickers, and a book or a doll and then trade my kids for most of their hard won candy. It was a great way to make everyone happy on one of the big sugary holidays.

November 1st :

I pull down most of the Halloween decorations the first week of November, and start pulling out the family photos. We pick a desk or table top to build our ancestors altar. (And this is where we do things a little different than ordinary, but it works so well!) This ancestors altar stays up until Thanksgiving.

November 1st– Thanksgiving:

We give offerings at our ancestors altar, usually coffee in the morning and then a bit of dinner as well. We light candles at our altar, and talk about family history with the kids. I try and take the kids to the local cemetery at least once during this time. When I’m really on my game we take flowers we’ve grown in our garden to give as offerings. Another idea: leaving candy from Trick-or-Treating at gravestones is a great offering too. Sugar is often appreciated by the departed, plus it does double duty by downsizing child hoards of high fructose corn syrup.

Thanksgiving:

We always light up our ancestors altar brightly this night and it’s worked out so well. Thanksgiving is a holiday about remembering the past and being grateful for the present. We often also honor the indigenous ancestors of the land, and have had many productive conversations about the history of this country and how we as Euro-Americans can do better. This is something that has developed over time and has resulted in things like my eldest writing a letter to her congressperson about Columbus Day. If you tell your kids about smallpox, be prepared for their horror. Ancestors aren’t always great and sometimes it’s about doing better than they did.

Post Thanksgiving:

After Thanksgiving we start breaking out the Yule decorations. Sometimes we leave the ancestors altar up and sometimes we take it down, depending on how much space there is amongst Odin Claus and the Yule Tree. I know those who are heathen often celebrate Mother’s Night on the Solstice, so if that’s your persuasion I would suggest leaving the ancestor’s altar up until then.

Surviving the Season:

I have said for many years that as a pagan my holiday season starts in October, with the number of social engagements, rituals, and parties skyrocketing right through until January. It’s important to remember to take time to slow down, especially if you are deeply tied into the cycles of the seasons. Here in the Northern Hemisphere the veil is thinning and the days are shortening. This year I’m hoping to take my kids (who are older now) out to view the stars, which is easier since they obligingly come out so much sooner. Take some time to breathe and feel the slowness of the land as She settles down for her winter sleep. There’s always work to be done and part of that work is caring for yourself.

If you like my work and would like to support more posts like these, please consider donating to my Patreon account! Thank you so much for reading!

Previous Post

September 13, 2017

Making Corn Dollies for the Autumn Equinox

Next Post

October 16, 2017 Five Prayers for Ancestors Most People Don’t Think About at Samhain

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category animism Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Health and Wellness History Holidays Magic Nature pagan parenting plant animism Politics Ritual and Practice symbolism and science Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 January 2014 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who provided bread and Goliath's sword to David at Nob?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Abiathar Abner Ahimelech the priest Jonathan