the jack-o-lantern
Every October, carved pumpkins peer out from porches and doorsteps in the United States and other parts of the world.Gourd-like orange fruits inscribed with ghoulish faces and illuminated by candles are a sure sign of the Halloween season. The practice of decorating “jack-o’-lanterns”—the name comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack—originated in Ireland, where large turnips and potatoes served as an early canvas. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, home of the pumpkin, and it became an integral part of Halloween festivities.
http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/jack-olantern-history
I love halloween - its the only night of the year when i can just be me and no one even notices.
This is one of mine - a tribute to my favorite holiday.
HALLOWEEN NIGHT
Listen, can you hear the moaning?
Is it just a harmless wind?
Or the ghosts of the long departed
Come to steal your soul away?
Are those just branches of a tree?
Scratching at your window pane,
or some demons boney fingers
searching out his prey? I
s that a Jack-O-Lantern?
On the porch across the street
Or the blood gorged eyes of the undead
Looking for more to eat?
Do you know what’s around the corner?
Are you prepared for a fright?
Watch out for ghosts and goblins
IT’S HALLOWEEN NIGHT.
Martha 'Gipsiecrone' Bowman
This short film by Disney is a must see on my Halloween list
Happy Haunting!
Ghouls just wanna have fun
Halloween night is lots of fun but if you see a monster, run, run, run!
What's Halloween without some scary music videos so here's one to start you off that should send chills up and down your spine.
Though not normally considered HALLOWEEN songs here's
A very creepy KDHX playlist: 25 scary songs for Halloween
If one of your family's traditions is to gather around a bonfire or in front of the fireplace and tell scary tales here are a few hair raising stories to get you started.
http://www.spookysoundtrack.com/track/The_Wolf_Girl.html
http://www.spookysoundtrack.com/track/The_Slithery-Dee.html
http://www.spookysoundtrack.com/track/The_Church.html
http://www.spookysoundtrack.com/track/The_Black_Dog.html
if you're still in the mood for more fun check out this webpage.
another of my poems - and yes - both of these are also on my poetry pages
HECATE
Come join us within the circle
On this All Hallows Eve
When the veil between the worlds is thin
And HECATE does ride the night
The women dance the circle round
Thrice and thrice again
Chanting as we move and sway
We beckon The Goddess in
Isis, Astarte, Dee-ana.
HECATE, Demeter, Kaa-li,
Inanna
All aspects of the Crone
Now HECATE stands in the midst of us
Fearsome to behold
Powerful, strong and wise is
she She stirs the cauldron round
Nine times nine and
Nine times more
The smoke it starts to rise
Carrying messages through the veil
To loved ones on the other side
So Merry Meet and Merry Part and
Merry Meet again
May HECATE protect you
all On this All Hallow’s Eve.
Martha 'Gipsiecrone' Bowman
did you know
Halloween has its origins in the
pagan celebration of
Samhain. You can read more of the origins of
Halloween
in my Word Press post here
The eve of October 31 is not only Halloween or All Hallows Eve it is also Samhain, one of the most important of the Pagan sabbets . To the ancient Celts it marked the end of one year and the beginning of the New. The word Samhain actually means Summer's End and is often called The Festival of The Dead.
https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/celebrating-the-seasons/celebrating-samhain
http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/Samhain.htm
