Friday, October 25, 2013

Guest Post by Inanna Arthen - Have Yourself an Old-Fashioned Halloween



Have Yourself an Old-Fashioned Halloween

Halloween was always my favorite holiday when I was a kid (way back in the 1960s)—even more than Christmas. Back then, it was a very child-focused holiday, with a few exceptions. My parents hosted a Halloween costume party that I will never forget. One of their male friends came as Little Bo Peep (my first experience seeing a straight guy in drag!), while my dad borrowed a theatre costume and dressed as a very authentic Henry VIII. But the day was really for the young. I looked forward to trick or treating all year long. Our costumes were homemade—only the tiniest tots wore the printed-jammies-and-plastic-mask costumes from the dime store.

When I became a serious Pagan, Halloween turned into Samhain and a sacred holiday for me. I continued carving Jack o’lanterns and dressing up to answer the door. But for twenty-five years I’ve lived on a country road too lonely and dangerous for trick or treating, and my observance of the holiday has been a very private one. In the meantime, Halloween as a social and cultural event has exploded in the United States. Evangelical Christians deplore “the glorification of evil and the occult” in vain. Halloween is big business, to the tune of $8 billion a year for candy, costumes, decorations and events. It’s the grown-ups who decorate their houses and yards and wear the costumes now, both often far more explicitly gruesome and macabre than anything from my youth.

If you don’t celebrate October 31 as a religious holiday (either Pagan Samhain or the Christian “All Hallows”), you may enjoy all the brilliant and technological festivities. You can buy Halloween lights in multiple colors and styles, and professional quality costumes and make-up. Elaborate yard displays include life-size ghosts, monsters and skeletons, or huge inflatable and/or animated figures (my neighbors have a giant spider on their porch roof right now that looks like it should be chasing Frodo through Cirith Ungol). But what if you fall somewhere between these two poles? Maybe you’d like to try some of the old-fashioned, quieter traditions for celebrating the day. Here are a few things you can do:

Carve a Turnip Jack o’ lantern.
The original Jack o’ lantern predates the introduction of the pumpkin to Europe from the Americas, where it was domesticated and cultivated by the Native tribes. The earliest such “punkie lights” were made from large root vegetables like turnips, rutabagas and mangel-wurzels. You can buy the big rutabagas in many grocery stores, often waxed to keep them from drying out.

The first time I tried making a “turnip light,” I was surprised at how easy it was. All you need is a large metal spoon with a sharp edge. Slice the top off the rutabaga and start scooping out the inside flesh a little at a time. As you work down into the core, start scooping to the sides. You want to hollow out the rutabaga until the sides are between a half inch to a quarter inch thick. Make a “floor” at the bottom that can hold a tea light candle (or you can use a battery-powered Jack o’ lantern light or a small flashlight) When your rutabaga is completely hollowed out, carve it the same way you would a pumpkin.

Try Out Some Fortune-Telling.
Reading the future was a common tradition for a number of holidays, including New Year’s Eve, May Day and Midsummer Day. But there are more fortune-telling customs around Halloween than any other day. Many of them sought predictions on who would die in the coming twelve months, but many asked about love and marriage. A young girl would sit before a mirror with her hair unbound at midnight on Halloween. By the light of a single candle, she would eat an apple slowly and comb her hair, waiting to see the shadowy image of her future husband appear over her shoulder.

You could try reading the cards or any other divination method you know. The Ouija Board has acquired an undeservedly negative reputation, but you can make a “talking board,” the Victorian parlor game on which the Ouija Board is based. All you need is a large sheet of smooth paper on which you’ve written the letters of the alphabet, numerals, and any symbols or words you wish (“yes” and “no” help speed things along). Then you need a small flat, or flat-bottomed, object that will slide easily over the paper. The Victorians used an inverted wine glass (short stem, wide mouth and base). A large coin like a silver dollar also works well. To operate the talking board, two or more people rest the tips of their fingers on the slider very lightly. It can take a while for the board to come to life—it should start with the slider moving in broad, sweeping circles. When it stops, ask a question.

Speak to the Spirits.
Traditionally, Halloween was the old Celtic New Year and the beginning of winter. That made it a “threshold” holiday when different dimensions or planes of reality overlapped, and beings not usually seen in our world could enter. This might include the Fae, spirits of the dead, deities, elementals, and to Christians, angels or devils. Dressing up in masks and costumes (or “guising”) as these beings was a way of confusing them or warding off the harm they might do.

But Halloween was often a solemn time of communing with these spirits. You could set a “dumb supper” or empty place setting at your dinner table for them, or leave a lighted candle with food and drink by the hearth (if you have one) or on the doorstep. People sometimes sat before a mirror hoping to glimpse a lost loved one, or placed a memento under their pillows and made a wish to speak to the departed in their dreams. Pagans create “ancestor altars” with photos and small belongings of deceased family members, while Christians remember their beloved dead in their prayers.

Make Something Out of Blackberries.
The last blackberries of the year must be eaten before Halloween night—after that, anything left in the fields belongs to the “pwca” (or Pooka), a dark and sinister spirit shaped like an animal. Bake a blackberry tart or squeeze the juice for a deep red drink.

Bob for Apples.
Apples are a sacred fruit in many cultures, and autumn is their time of year. Bobbing for apples is one of the oldest and most common of Halloween games. An apple is floated in a large tub of water and the contestants have to try and retrieve the apple with their teeth. In a variation, you can hang the apple from a string—the winner is the first who manages to take a good bite out of it. The winner must eat the whole apple after the game ends, and supposedly will gain the gift of second sight.

Candy apples—dipped in candy syrup, caramel or another sweet coating and often rolled in nuts—are one of the earliest Halloween “treats.”

These and other traditional customs are less expensive and gaudy than animatronic zombies or cakes shaped to look like severed body parts. When you revive them, you’re connecting with your forebears who practiced them in simpler times. That connection with those who have passed on is the “true meaning of Halloween.” But whatever you do to celebrate, have a fun, safe and spooky October 31!

————————————————————————————————————————

Inanna Arthen (Vyrdolak) is an artist, speaker and author of The Vampires of New England Series: Mortal Touch (2007), The Longer the Fall (2010), and All the Shadows of the Rainbow (September 30, 2013). Book 4 is currently in progress. Inanna is a lifelong scholar of vampire folklore, fiction and fact, and runs By Light Unseen Media (http://bylightunseenmedia.com), an independent press dedicated to publishing vampire fiction and nonfiction. She is a member of Broad Universe, New England Horror Writers, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE). She holds an M.Div degree from Harvard and is an outspoken advocate for the Pagan and LGBTQ communities. She is minister of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Winchendon, MA. Her professional website is http://inannaarthen.com.

Purchase All the Shadows of the Rainbow HERE.


By Light Unseen Media http://bylightunseenmedia.com
The Vampires of New England Series http://vampiresofnewengland.com


11 comments:

Vanessa Morgan said...

Great post. Inspiring to do something different on Halloween than just eating pumpkins and watching horror movies.

Aurian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aurian said...

What a great post Inanna, thank you very much. I enjoyed reading it.

xjd7410@gmail.com said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

nhl jerseys wholesale
mlb jerseys wholesale
true religion outlet
oakley sunglasses sale
polo ralph lauren shirts
adidas predator
oakley sunglasses outlet
beats by dre headphones
kate spade handbags
converse sneakers
2017.4.5chenlixiang

Unknown said...

Una primera chaqueta de la liga de camisetas de futbol fútbol nacional de buena fe no camisetas de futbol comprar era de baja calidad. A decir verdad, Camisetas Baratas De Futbol usted puede conseguirlos como un sombrero de entrenamiento profesional que también le ofrece ser encontrado. Probablemente pagará una costosa etiqueta de precio de compra en la mayoría de las boutiques del mundo real, por lo que si el precio de comprar una chaqueta Camisetas Baratas De Futbol de fútbol real es un agravante, le gustaría pasar un tiempo en línea. Siempre hay muchas opciones y recomendaciones, si alguien mira que se detecta una muy buena primera web de sombrero de fútbol americano a un costo posiblemente pueda competir con una buena versión sintética, una cercana en espera,

wangzha said...

So many of today news organizations are constrained by tradition and unable to take full advantage of rapidly evolving technologies. Or they just out of touch with the community they claim to serve. You, the reader, are left to fend for yourself, knowing the information you need is out there somewhere but not knowing exactly where to look. The choices at hand are frustrating. You settle into a routine that is unsatisfying at best. We understand; we been there, too.

Jackie Chan once starred in a Hong Kong action flick called in which he wielded the deadly art of intoxication. Seriously, he spent the whole movie getting spread eagle drunk, and that somehow enabled him to T Shirt Design Online kick even more ass. That is easily the least plausible of all Jackie Chan film premises and we're including that time he had a superpowered robot tuxedo.

Yes,he did have flaws;yes,he did lose his life to an addiction; but he gave so much more of himself to people than was expected, and that should override any negative characteristics that he possessed. Apart from Elvis,no living person, let alone deceased, has been imitated and influenced a culture as he did! Please let Design Your Own Shirt Michael RIP.

If you love Clothing Designer the quick witted insider's perspective behind lifestyle site Lifehacker, you should be a big fan of Kristin Wong. As a longtime columnist for Lifehacker's Two Cents blog and contributor to major publications such as The New York Times and Glamour, Wong is basically your cool, clever BFF who seems to know it all but never acts like it.

Anonymous said...

It was equally clear from the earliest days that there Yeezy Boost For Sale was something very special about Jack himself. He covered his first nine holes on a full golf course at Cheap Jordans For Sale the age of 11 in an extremely credible 51 shots. Two years later, under the guidance of his coach Jack Grout, he broke 70 for a full 18 holes for the first time, and was playing off a handicap of just three.

Sweet Farm in California is offering up this and other animals for $65. You can also get a virtual tour of the farm for $250. And if you looking for another way to spice up your work from home video conferences, maybe do a shot of Jagermeister every time someone says the Black And White Jordans word fiscal or try answering all questions from the boss with your best Sean Connery impression.. Jordan 1 Black And White

The 23 year old is blind, but with the help of her mom she competes Yeezys For Sale at home in each game. Marah said that she and her mom have plays cards and Black And Yellow Jordan 1 that if there a picture they will pause the game so it can be described. She only recently learned what Trebek looked Yeezy Boost 350 Cheap like..

''These people rely on us they haven't got anyone else,'' he said. Mr Millar will continue to be involved with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. At the time, Yeezy Boost 350 Cheap individual pilots were asked to provide help in Purple And White Jordans medical situations, and would take off with little more than a map and a compass..

Include prints, negatives and transparencies. The majority of these s are listed below. Thousands of photographs have also been placed online and can be viewed in the Western North Carolina Heritage website. The second event was part of the Halton Skills Competition, in which professional interviews comprise the evaluative process. A team of 18 HRSA members were responsible for interviewing over 350 students along six hours. The competition aims to provide students from Grade 4 12 from the Yeezy Boost 350 Black Halton District School Board and Halton Catholic School Board a chance to demonstrate their technical skills in a friendly but competitive environment...

Anonymous said...

He had plenty of help from the Pirates' other three core juniors. {tag: White Adidas Yeezy Shoes}Air Jordan 11 Retro Low Black Varsity Red, National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the country, organized the protest to call attention to the thousands of health care workers nationwide who were infected by the coronavirus because of lack of protective equipment, the union said in a statement. Nurses who were known to have died of COVID 19 were read aloud during the protest. Forty six names were read, including two with a "name withheld" designation."Nurses protested today because we need to stop the spread of the virus and to do that, nurses and other health care workers need the optimal personal protective equipment to do their jobs safely," Deborah Burger, RN, co president of National Nurses United, said in a statement to USA TODAY."We need Congress and the White House to act now and mandate that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issue an emergency temporary standard to protect health care workers and other frontline workers from COVID 19 exposure.

Jordan Ovo Black And White, On Wednesday, April 15, thousands of protesters gathered in Lansing to express their disapproval of Whitmer's handling of the crisis. (The ones with Confederate flags should be deported to Alabama or, worse, Ohio.) In the national media the protests were either dismissed as farcical or else held up as examples of this state's deep seated misogyny (no one has ever protested male politicians, apparently). Whitmer's initial response was to suggest that people who "don't like to be in this stay at home order" might "have just created a need to lengthen it," which made her sound like a cartoon villain.

Jordan Retro 11 Black Black Black, 1) Discovery as a triumph of scientific prediction: Neptune was predicted to exist by John Couch Adams and Urbain Leverrier, based on features observed in the orbit of the planet Uranus. The hypothesis explained these features as gravitational effects of an eighth planet. Johann Gottfried Galle discovered Neptune when he observed it in the predicted location on September 23, 1846..

aldousmoore said...

Yet another reason Coach Purses On Clearance to pursue treatment? If left untreated, this mood disorder can develop into more severe depression. It can also increase your risk for attempting suicide., such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), or tricyclic antidepressants, are often used to treat PDD. Because you may need to continue treatment for a lengthy period, it's important to consider which medications not only work well Nike Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet but Coach Outlet Clearance Sale also ideally have few side effects.

A few of my favorites: Coach Outlet Clearance Sale Movie I have MK Outlet Store to see is "Logan" . Before I compete, I eat Jimmy John's or pizza . In my dream career, I would Coach Outlet Online own my own business . The headaches appear suddenly and are characterized by severe, debilitating pain on one side of the head often accompanied by a watery eye and nasal congestion or a runny nose on the same side of the face. During an attack, Michael Kors Outlet Online sufferers are often restless and unable to get comfortable and not likely to lay down the way someone with a migraine Michael Kors Bags Outlet usually does. The cause of cluster headaches is unknown, but they may have some genetic component.

mecolefqwarxp said...

User friendly phone One of the best things about Samsung mobile phones is that they are designed and engineered in such a way that anybody can easily understand their working and functioning mechanism. Whether its the design, the user interface or the functioning, a Samsung phone stands sabse aage in the league. There is a also a huge collection of exciting games that come loaded in the phones.

Bowden described how this led to him visiting theworks:In the early Ray Ban Outlet part of 1887, while looking for a Cheap Michael Kors Handbags good specimen of the then new safety bicycle, I Nike Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet came across ain London. Its patent changeable gear and other special features struck me Best Yeezys as superior to all Coach Outlet Clearance Sale the others I had seen, and I purchased one upon which I toured MK Outlet Online extensively through France, Italy and England during 1887 and 1888. In the autumn of the latter year, happening to pass Jordan Shoes For Sale through Nottingham, and with the idea of, if possible, getting a still more up to date machine, I called Coach Outlet Online upon Messrs..

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...