What's your Halloween plan for your kilt?

[Jock Scot]

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-----------------My tartan kilts are my Scottish Nation's national dress and not fancy dress costume.

I cannot help but agree. Bravo!

[Liam]

I cannot help but agree. Bravo!

I would tend to agree here as well. I have in the past donned my "great kilt" as a costume, which is what I guess I consider it to be.

[Mel1721L]

As I wear a kilt most days, the only difference will be my white Druid robes worn over it as I celebrate Samhain, the Celtic New Year. I will leave an offering of food and drink for my deceased ancestors during my ritual. At this time of year as Winter approaches, animals would be brought in from the hills and fields and those unlikely to survive the winter would be slaughtered. At this time of year the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. People used to wear masks so they wouldn't be recognised by the dead. Offerings were left out for the dead so they knew they were not forgotten. As a pagan, I hate what has become of this special time, commercialised just like our Yule festival at mid winter.

[TRWXXA]

I'm gonna go visit a sexy nurses forum, and see if they get offended that women are wearing their traditional uniform as a halloween costume.

An 8 year old trick-or-treated at my house last year dressed as G.I. Joe. I sicced the "stolen valor" people on him.

[Profane James]

LoLz....well played sir.

[OC Richard]

I will leave an offering of food and drink for my deceased ancestors... At this time of year the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. People used to wear masks so they wouldn't be recognised by the dead. Offerings were left out for the dead so they knew they were not forgotten.

Are these traditions which survive in Spain? Or are they things which have been revived in modern times?

I ask because I had an interesting conversation about these things with a person from Mexico, and the traditions he described were virtually identical to ones I had been told about by Irish people.

The Mexican said that food would be left on the table for your deceased relatives/ancestors, the front door left partly open. The living family would lock themselves in a back bedroom- "you want to honour them, but you don't want to see them!" he said.

In so many ways Mexican culture is Spanish culture, and I assume that these traditions were brought from Spain.

[Mel1721L]

Are these traditions which survive in Spain? Or are they things which have been revived in modern times?

I ask because I had an interesting conversation about these things with a person from Mexico, and the traditions he described were virtually identical to ones I had been told about by Irish people.

The Mexican said that food would be left on the table for your deceased relatives/ancestors, the front door left partly open. The living family would lock themselves in a back bedroom- "you want to honour them, but you don't want to see them!" he said.

In so many ways Mexican culture is Spanish culture, and I assume that these traditions were brought from Spain.

No, although the Spanish too have a "day of the Dead." Or so I believe, these are British or rather Celtic traditions. Ghosts were believed to be the dead, who were thought to live in their burial mounds, returning to the world. Some Norse sagas contain stories about this kind of thing and they were considered dangerous. The Celts migrated from Spain thousands of years ago and Northern Spain has a distinct Celtic culture. I don't know if these beliefs stem from there or not but Samhain (pronounced Soween) is British. Although many Brits are ignorant of it.

[Father Bill]

The original question was about the kilt and what we'd do with it for Hallowe'en and my first response was to think, "I'll leave it in my closet - it's no costume."

A second thought however, has ocurred to me: Perhaps I'll meet the young'uns at the door wearing it properly - no silliness and perhaps a mite understated.

For many of the children it will be their first time to see a kilted gentleman up close and in person, and (the retired teacher in me, now) it may fix in the wee bairns' minds a primary image of the kilt that is more correct than the nonsense they'll surely and sadly see in years to come such that they may say to themselves subcosciously, "That's not how I think of it."

What say ye?

Edited to add:

I should be clear that in at least my part of Canada, dressing up for Hallowe'en includes both the fantastical and the representative, and the former is extreme enough that it's pretty easy to tell which is which.

[Jock Scot]

I can see what you are trying to do Bill and education of children is never a bad thing. But, I do wonder if wearing the kilt on this particular time of year in front of children may be counter productive? Halloween, as far as I understand it anyway(we don't really do Halloween over here), is these days mainly a costume event and I do have concerns that the children will equate the kilt with costume, not something we ought to encourage in my view. Depending on the age of the children, visual learning will trump verbal learning every time. Just thinking aloud, nothing more.

[Angela Kaye Bodine]

Hi ! I may be my usual, which is a black cat..Basically just cat ears and tail and put cat features on my face.. BUT I will be a Scottish Kitty....I'm just torn on which kilt to wear..I may wear my Cameron Red and Black or my Moffat Clan or do all black My Dark Island Shadow on Black Tartan kilt. My Balmoral hat or my other wool knit hat it looks like a beret a pair of my Doc Martens with tights...I may add a lace bussel I saw at Spirit of Halloween but it goes on the outside ..A Gothic twist to it..All of my kilts mean alot to me, I love them and I love Halloween and my kilts can be part of my Halloween ensemble..That is my plan..Happy Halloween have fun...Angie