Hello, Everyone! Happy Halloween!

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I want to wish everyone both a Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain!

(http://lubuntu.me/blessed-samhain/)

On the pre-Christian Celtic calendar, October 31 was Samhain, pronounced Soo-when or Sow-when, and it marked the day when the world of the living and dead where at the closest. It is also the end of year, with November 1 as the start of the next year. This day is one of the most important Gaelic/Celtic/Pagan/Wiccan/Druidic holidays of the year!  And please do not worry about the devil–he is not a part of Samhain. There is nothing evil here.

Samhain/Halloween is a day to remember those who have passed and to think of the future.

So, enjoy the day, dress up, have candy, party, and raise a toast and wish all a Happy New Year!

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Larisa Aukon

October is my birth month. I’ve always had mixed feelings about that. Being born when the days are growing shorter, the nights colder, the leaves turning yellow and red in a last burst of glory before they drift away. Life coming to an end, hunkering down, readying itself for hibernation, for hiding beneath a blanket of snow. The melancholy of it all.

And yet that bright burst of glory, brief as it is! There’s nothing to compare to that. And nothing melancholy about such brilliant defiance. So, on the last day of the month, here’s to October trees, falling leaves, and bursts of glory.

Wolf Kahn

Tom Thomson, Autumn’s Garland

Erin Hanson

Egon Schiele

Matthew Wong

Claude Monet

Claude Monet

Wolf Kahn

With the plethora of Christmas movies deluging Hallmark channels AND Lifetime, what to do on Halloween? Watch a favorite movie of Virginia’s that combines BOTH!

Tim Burton’s THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Who says Christmas has the corner on happily-ever-afters, what about Halloween?

Sometimes the heroines of Christmas movies seem a bit too perfect, like fairy tale princesses. And their ‘princes’? Ditto.

In our go-to fairy tales (and costume considerations for Halloween) I never resonated with Cinderella (glass slippers = uncomfortable), Snow White (too beautiful to be seen), or Sleeping Beauty (wake up, wake UP!) But, I will always love Sally in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” because she loves Jack Skellington and I’ve been crushing on him for years!

Sally keeps it together by a thread (literally) as she rushes to save Santa Claus from Oogie Boogie when Jack Skellington is busy taking over Santa’s Christmas duties and botching it up…

Daily Prompt – Darkness

Darkness doesn’t scare me. I’ve visited that chasm many times.

Born on All Souls day, two days from All Hallows Eve, I see the depths of its tunnel.

Shrouded in its charcoal cloak, only breath, heartbeat, and thought exist.

And when its weighty hands wash over me, I’m released, again, enlightened.

No, darkness doesn’t scare me. It visits on days when I despair.

When joy escapes me, it cocoons me from light.

In those painful hours, my life unfolds. I rediscover gifts I’ve been given.

No, I’m not afraid of the dark. An old friend, it welcomes my darker side to its dwelling.

In blackness, I see clearly.

And when I’ve embraced my demons, brighter light guides me home.

No, I’m not afraid of the dark. I greet it boldly.

For many, including myself, Halloween is a fun autumn holiday filled with trick-or-treating, costumes, candies, carving pumpkins, and ghoulish theme parties of wicked laughs and cheer. All Hallows Eve is a tradition brought to America by Irish emigrants during the 19th century. Given Halloween’s origins stemmed from pagan festival of Samhain when people worshiped Celtic deities around bonfires in costumes made from animal heads, the ceremony was harmless. Celts believed spirits of the dead returned to earth to wreak havoc and damage their crops. To appease Celtic Gods, they sacrificed animals and brought other offerings. As well as sacrifices, Druids (Celtic Priests) practiced divination (foretelling the future). They believed the presence of spirits on All Hallow’s Eve, made foretelling easier and would divine issues such as health, death, luck, and marriage.

All Hallow’s Eve, like many, is a tradition rooted in ancient pagan history—a means of an unsophisticated people to…

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there,

wondering, fearing, doubting,

dreaming dreams no mortal

ever dared to dream before.

~ Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven (1844)

This is one of my favorite times of the year. A day to revisit childhood fears, dress in outrageously scary costumes, watch a couple of horror flicks, read a scary book,  drink Witches Blood with devilish sweets, and fear in my heart.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup cherry schnapps

1/2 cup vodka

1 cup whiskey

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

4 cups cherry soda

Stir and serve in a champagne flute. Garnish with a cherry.

What will you be watching this Halloween? These are a few of my favorites, but the list could go on forever.

I’m dying to check out this new Asianflick, Kuntilanak 2.

If you’re looking for a short supernatural read, check out my bookRAVINE LEREUX available at