A history of Halloween.

Halloween is a mixture of the old and new, very old pagan, with a mix of Christian Holidays thrown in there.  The blend of the two in American culture grew into a creation that was unique when the different immigrants that had arrived in the American colonies, were free to celebrate without fear of retaliation by the various Churches.

Now every ancient culture seemed to have a final harvest celebration that occurred around the same time period.  They all seemed to have a number of things in common, which were, seeing this celebration as a time of the very last fruits of harvest, getting ready for the long days of darkness of the coming winter, preparing for those times of food shortages,  honoring the God and Goddess of the Harvest, and of the Light, and giving honor to the God and Goddess of the forthcoming time of Dark, and cold, giving honor to the spirits and beings who helped with the fruitfulness of the harvest, and trying to appease those who would be arriving with the cold, dark winter months.  It was also common to see this as a time of thinness between the veil that separated the living, and those who had died, and giving honor to one’s loved ones and ancestors who had passed into the afterlife.

For the ancient Irish Celtic folks, it was called Samhain, and they also considered it the start of their New Year.  They had bonfires, communal feasts, costumes, and would leave out offerings to the spirits and for their ancestors.  In the British Isles, these Celtic celebrations were influenced by the Romans, who had begun trade in 55 B.C., before invading later on.  The Roman's had their holidays such as Ferlia, which honored the passing of the dead, and also the festival of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and trees.  They were incorporated into the Celtic holidays.

The Welsh called it, Calan Gaeaf, and celebrated it on November 1.  To them, it was also a celebration of the first day of winter.  The Cornish Folk celebrated it on October 31 and called it Kalan Gwav.  In Brittany, they too celebrated it on the 31 of October, and there it was called Kalan Goanv.

Now the Germanic peoples had a festival, celebration if you will, that was celebrated on the 14th and 15th of October called Vetrablot, which was also known as Frey's blessings, and is known now as Winternights, and is celebrated on October 31.  It too was along the same line as the other celebrations we have discussed.

October 31 was also the Feast Day of the Egyptian goddesses, Sekhmet and Bastet.

The indigenous peoples of South and Central Mexico had a Holiday they celebrated around the same time as the Celts and the Romans, and the rest; they called it Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead.  It too was seen as a time of honoring and appeasing those who had gone on.

Now, as the influence of the Catholic Church increased and spread, they, in a hope of ousting the pagan celebrations, created the celebration of All Saints, in the early 600's A.D.  This was a celebration of all the Catholic Saints, and it was November 1, and the Church hoped it would entice everyone to put away their pagan beliefs.  It soon became known as All Hallows, which would become Halloween or All Hallows Eve.  It didn't quite work out the way the Church planned.  So in the 9th century, they rearranged their calendar and added All Souls Day on the 2 of November.  It was to pray for all the dead Catholics.  Once again, it didn't quite go as they planned, and soon, the customs of the 2 Christian Holidays, were incorporated into the celebrations of the everyday folk.

Halloween is seen as the time of the thinning of the veil between the worlds.   It is a time to celebrate and pay homage to not only our ancestors but to all of our loved ones that have gone on, be it human or our pets.  It is also a time to pay homage to the Lady and Lord in their aspects of the Crone, and he of the Underworld.  It is also a time to propitiate those spirits that are associated with not only the forthcoming time of the cold winter months, but also those who may be associated with the land, and with your family lineage. 

From the Garden Crone Witching Handbook by A.D. Sarapa


Happy Samhain/Halloween everyone!!

Crone and Friends save the Halloween Candy. A short story for Samhain.

Wrote a short story for everyone to enjoy for Samhain/Halloween.  Hope you enjoy it.

Crone and friends save the Halloween Candy. by The Garden Crone

Crone was talking on her crystal ball on the afternoon of Halloween. She and Elaine, Elizabeth L, Elouise, and Ronny Harmony were discussing their plans. Suddenly Elizabeth P came into view on the crystal ball, looking all flustered. "Crone, we have a problem! That orange troll Ronald Trumpkin and his gang have been going around stealing all the candy and other goodies! They are hijacking trucks, breaking into homes and stores and holding up people to get their candy stores! We have to do something!"

Everyone begin to talk all at once excitedly. "Oh that orange menace", "Let me at him", "Oh NO", "What are we going to do" Crone said "Let's calm down and try and think. Let's call up the rest of the gang and we will all come up with a plan." Everyone calmed down as Crone proceeded to get Lyn, Sarah, Kendrix, Tena, Susan, Janice, Deb, Debra, Ana and Jennifer on the crystal ball. "Ok everyone, we need to come up with a plan to stop Ronald Trumpkin and his band of thieves and get back the candy they have already stolen from everyone. Idea's anyone." Susan asked "Are we bringing the pets? Because my Hagbard really detests the Trumpkins and since he had his surgery he has been a bit out of sorts. I think an outing will do him good." "Yes bring the pets, my fur babies detest him also. They can help." , "Yes, I say we bring them." , "Shield will definitely want in on this." And so it went with everyone wanting to bring their animal companion. "Ok, so we have decided the companions can help, so now let's come up with a plan."

Elouise said thoughtfully, "I think we should take George as the broom bus, whatever we do." Everyone agreed that was a good idea. And so the friends began to toss out ideas. Finally they came up with a plan. Ana would ride her broom to Crone's house, Elaine would ride Shield to Crone's house and from there they would all take George to pick everyone else up. They would all wear costumes and pretend to be trick or treaters. Crone would tell her friend Carol what was going on. Carol's husband had a radio show, and she could make an announcement to everyone to keep an eye out for Ronald Trumpkin and his band of malcontents and if anyone saw them, they could contact Crone on her portable crystal ball. They all had Witchbook and Witch tweet accounts also, and if they posted it on their profiles, people could let them know via their portable crystal balls. They also sent a message to Ghom the King of the Earth Elementals and he told them he would send them help in getting the candy back from Ronald Trumpkin and his gang. As for the friends, they would fly around in George and keep an eye out for the trolls. Everyone scurried around to get their costumes ready, find their brooms, portable crystal balls, round up their fur companions, post on Witchbook and Witch tweet and get ready to save the Halloween candy.

Crone decided to put on a Witch costume, that way Mem could ride on her shoulder and she dressed Stormy the German Shepherd up as a K-9. She had just finished getting Storm in his outfit when she heard Ana singing as she flew into sight. "Oh what a night to fly on a broom bus and trick or treat..." as Crone looked out the window she saw Ana come to a screeching halt. Off in the distance she saw a flying dragon and Ana said "Well, here comes Elaine and Shield." As Shield landed, Crone started to laugh, because Elaine and Ana were also dressed in their Witch outfits. Ana looked and begin to grin, and Elaine said "I see we all the same idea for costumes." The three friends began to giggle as Shield, Elaine's dog Monty, Storm and Mem greeted each other. Ana giggled "I wonder how many more Witches we will have join us." Crone replied "No doubt enough for a Coven and a few to spare!"

Crone brought out George who began to float in the air in front of them and Mem began the spell. "From broom to broom bus now be, and off we fly in the evening sky to pick up our friends and a mission to fly." POOF!! In an instance George was elongated and had seats for many. Crone, Ana, Elaine and their companions all climbed in and settled down for the flight. With a SWISH George was up in the air and off to pick up the rest of the friends. Like the speed of light they were soon picking up Ronny and Tena. Ron was dressed as a Scottish Highlander complete with a War hammer. He grinned and shook his hammer. "Thought this might come in handy to play whack a troll with Ronald Trumpkin." Tena was dressed as a Sorceress. SWISH up they flew and off into the evening sky and soon had picked up Elizabeth L, Elizabeth P, Susan, Jennifer, Janice, Lyn, Deb, Debra, Kendrix, and Sarah and were on their way to pick up Elouise. The friends were chatting and singing and Kendrix exclaimed "This is so much fun! And it was so wonderful flying through those lovely sunset clouds."

Soon they were at Elouise's house and George began his descent. Elouise was waiting on them and she too was dressed as a Witch! She laughed as she climbed in the bus. "So we have one Highland Warrior, a Sorceress and a Coven of Witches!" Everyone began to giggle. Crone said, "Now I will let Carol know that we are on the move." So she got out her crystal ball and called up Carol and let her know that the friends were now officially on the hunt.

Rick and Carol were doing their radio show when Crone contacted them. Rick said "My wife has just let me know that Crone and friends are out hunting Ronald Trumpkin and his gang and trying to reclaim the Halloween Candy. If any of our listeners see him, please contact Crone on her Witch Tweet account and give her the location. Now for a small break."

The friends and George were flying low to the ground. Susan said "Is that Melly Trumpkin up ahead?" Janice replied "It sure looks like a vamp, and I swear that is Rudy Ghoulkin." Elouise was checking all the messages on Witchbook and Lyn was keeping track of Witch Tweet. Elizabeth P said "Let me send Pegysue and check it out." So Pegysue flew ahead and went in for a better look. She came back and landed on Elizabeth P's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "No, that's not them." Jennifer shrugged "Well all those vamps and ghouls look alike."

Crone's crystal ball beeped with a Witch Tweet notification. Crone looked and started to grin. "And we have confirmation, someone just spotted Ronald and his gang 2 blocks over, and they have the Candy Truck with them. " And everyone cheered and began to prepare. ZOOM! George was off and Sarah sent off a quick message to Ghom that they had found Ronald Trumpkin and his gang.

George hovered beside a building as the friends spotted Ronald Trumpkin. " Yep, there's Ronald the Troll, Melly and Vanny the Vamps, Eir Duh and Ron Ron Trumpkin the gremlins, Rudy the Ghoul, Billy Goat Barr, Jerry Kushkin the Ghoul and Kell Conkin the ghoul." said Deb.

Slowly George descended and poofed back into his original broom form. The friends and their companions all began to race up the street to the Trumpkin Gang. They soon surrounded the stolen Candy Truck and the Trumpkin Gang. Crone and Storm stepped forward. "Give us the Candy Truck and Candy and no one will get hurt!" Ronald Trumpkin began to shake his fist and howl "NO! It's mine! I am the King of Candy." "You leaf my hussband alone, you Witches, or I will bite you! and Melly and Vanny barred their fangs. And with that all spell broke loose! Ronny was swinging his hammer, the Witches were swinging their brooms and slinging spells, Tena was punching the troll gang members, the cats were scratching them, Storm and the rest of the dogs were biting them, Pegysue was dive bombing them, and Shield was raking fire over their toes and the Troll Gang were screeching, and jumping and trying to run away. Above them they heard over all the noise a chanting of "Pumpkins away! Witches duck"! They looked up to see Goblins riding in on Gargoyles holding lots of pumpkins. The friends all jumped out of the way as the Gargoyle brigade began to drop pumpkins on the heads of the Troll gang members. "Ouch! That hurts!" and the troll gang stopped fighting and tried to cover their heads as they got whacked with pumpkins and knocked out. Soon they were all lying on the ground.

Ronny and Tena climbed into the Candy Truck laughing. "Wow. That was fun! We'll make sure the truck and candy gets back to where it belongs." And off they drove to return it and the candy. With the help of the gargoyles and the goblins, the friends all tied the Troll gang upside down and the gargoyles lifed off carrying them off to Ghom to deal with.

The friends were all high fiving each other and celebrating, because they had saved the candy from the Trumpkin gang. George poofed back into the broom bus and everyone climbed aboard. "Now, let's go party and have same nice soup at my house to celebrate.! " said Elouse. Everyone cheered and with a zoom and a zip George was up in the air flying towards Elouise's house.

The End. Wishing you all a wonderful Samhain!

Angry White Men like Warren Hurst and other MAGA idiots

Oh yes to hear Warren Hurst a Sevier County Commissioner in Tennessee the White Males are discriminated against and have their rights violated on a daily basis.  This angry adult white male threw a hissy fit that would have made a 3 year old proud.

He cried that white males had no rights.  He cast slurs at the Democratic Candidates, he whined, whimpered and decried the status of white males.

So let me be blunt here Warren, YOU ARE PREJUDICED.  Oh you can deny that all you want.  But man up here.  The problem with you and the rest of the MAGA twits is suddenly you have to play fair with everyone else.  No more are you considered special.   Suddenly it is expected that Women have rights and are equal to Men.  No more wife beating and abuse is not condoned.  No more of this right wing Christian nonsense of the MAN being the head of the household.  Most women will laugh in your face if you try that nonsense.  No more grabbing women and kissing and pinching without their permission.  Do that and you are liable to be punched in the fact and arrested.  These new rules just deflate your male ego don't they?  Reality has kicked in and suddenly you are being made to acknowledge you all aren't special.

And worse, the LGBT community has rights according to you.  No more can you shake your manly fist and attack them without fear of repercussion.  Oh you can quote your Bible verses all you want, but we don't care. Which cuts to the next point, all of a sudden people are pushing back telling you idiots you can't push your religious nonsense down the rest of everyone's throats.  You can tell your revisionist history of the "USA is a Christian nation".  PFFFT, it's not.  IF you folks would get an education you would learn true history and not the lying propaganda you all try and push.

And minorities have rights!  Now you are told they are equal to you.  Oh you can push your lies and fake science that tries to show they are defective and less moral and less intelligent, but most folks with a bit of intelligence know better.  In fact most of them are superior in morals and intelligence to you all.

So what you all are really crying about is you can't go out and attack women, or be a sexual predator anymore without repercussions, you can't beat up the LGBT anymore and get away with it, or attack minorities anymore or be applauded for belonging to your little Nazi or KKK group.  You haven't lost your rights, what you have lost is your right to take away the rights of others. 

My advice to you all, is get an education, and I don't mean Bible Class or your little religious Colleges, but a REAL education with history, psychology and sociology.  Go see a therapist, it will help you not only understand yourself but others.  And last, pull up your big boy briefs and get over it already.

What is the void you ask?

You hear me speak of the void when doing spells.  And I have had folks ask me what is the Void.  So I shall try and explain it easily to you. 

The symbol for infinity is the Lemniscate,  it looks like a figure 8 lying horizontal instead of upright and vertical.

Where the lines intersect to form an X is the void.  So the void is the spot in the space time continuum where energy churns waiting to be used.  It is where all possibilities and outcomes exist.  It is the time without a time, a place without a place. It is the threshold of action and possibilities.  It is where everything that is, is.  The spot of everything that could be, might be is, and is not.  The threshold to the past and to the future.  .So the energy there churns waiting to get direction in being used.  So when we do spells, this is where we tap into and use our energy and willpower to meld with this energy, and mold it into the desired action or outcome we are striving for.  Again let me reiterate that when doing magic, or spells, the results are not instantaneous, but put into motion the actions that will result in our outcome we strive for.  Using herbs, crystals and other tools help us to connect with this energy in whatever form we are trying to bring into being.  When we petition Deity, we are basically asking for their help in forming our connection to this energy.  Sometimes we get a good connection and sometimes we have to try again.  Sort of like when you are dialing the utility company to speak to someone.  Occasionally we get through to the person we need to speak too on our first try.  Sometimes we get the message to try again later because all circuits are busy, or there are 20 callers ahead of us, please hold.  Sometimes we get a busy signal and have to hang up and try our call later.  The longer one does magic or spells, the better we get at getting that connection on our first try.  And as we redo spells, we strengthen that connection and feed more of our energy into the molding of the desired outcome.                                                                                                           

Hope this helped you understand the concept of the void better.                                                          

Those who misuse power will be destroyed by power.

Make no mistake about it, those who seek power for their own gain will misuse it, and those who misuse it will be destroyed by it. That my friends is a fact, not an alternative fact bounced around by the Trump regime and supporters and the Alt Christians, but a pure, unadulterated, immutable fact.

Just because I have not posted lately does not mean that I have given up.  No my friends I have been livid.  No, World, never think the United States has become completely filled with right wing suck ups and evil doers.  There are millions of us that are filled with a justified, righteous anger.  And make no mistake, there is a storm brewing of immense proportions that is filled with the anger of the righteous.  Evil doers beware.  Right now Vladamir Putin is rubbing his hands with glee, and figuratively jumping with joy, but I have news for Vlad, his reign of terror is on the wane.  The stars have shifted and his power will now decline.  The wheel of fate has spun and landed on justice and karma.  As for Turkish President Erdogan, you too will taste the sharp cutting edge of justice and karma, and last if not least, the current regime squatting in the White House, and it's enablers will now taste the power of justice. 

Hang in there those who believe in equality, justice and brotherhood.  The storm is moving in fast.  Keep up your search and fight for justice and truth and goodness.  Be not led astray by the lies of the sociopaths and the patriarchy.  Be not afraid to fight the good fight against evil.  Pray your prayers, sling your spells and stand up for what is right.  Always remember Evil often comes clothed in a pretty little, glittery package, and it appeals to the baser instincts.  It devours and destroys.  It doesn't create, and it most certainly does not create peace and harmony.  It encourages selfish behavior and pits people against people based on stupid things like skin color and gender.  It claims to be the favored, the anointed, and appointed by the most high.  But it is not.  It lies, for evil does not spread the truth, it in fact destroys it, corrupts it and encourages the spread of propaganda and hate.  Do not fear your righteous anger is wrong, because it is not. 

Always remember that those who believe in good outnumber evil.  But evil is well versed in manipulation and using fear to suppress.  Throw off those chains of fear and realize that within you lies the answer and the solution.

Bunnies, spiders and other critters.

I like birds, bumblebees, honey bees, can deal with wooly worms and earthworms, lightning bugs are cool, and I even like crickets.  What I do not like are snakes and spiders.  Snakes of any size or type are totally out of the question.  As for spiders, those little one's no bigger than an eraser on a pencil I can deal with and call them Grandmother Spider.  Anything over that is suspect and may be subject to the death penalty.  If it comes in my house, I consider it an invasion.  So the other night I was minding my own business and having a nice relaxing bath when out of the corner of my eye I saw something big and black skittering across the throw rug.  I looked, and there went a big old spider the size of a 50 cent piece.  Well, I was real proud of myself.  I didn't scream, I just yelled "Holy Hell!"  and jumped out of the tub, keeping an eye on said critter while looking under the sink for the can of Raid (if you will recall, this is not the first time I have had spiders in the bathroom, I now keep Raid in there just for such situations).  Finding it, I went on the hunt.  And there it was, squeezed between the clothes hamper and the wall.  I proceeded to spray at it, and got it a bit, but it squeezed behind the towel cupboard.  I managed to get some back there, but I am not confident that it died.  I now have the Raid can sitting on top of the sink and the can of hairspray sitting on the vanity.  If it comes out in my sight again, I am prepared. 

Then Jean calls me and asks me if I would think she was crazy if she asked me to come over and help her catch a baby bunny that had decided to come visit her, in the house.  Yep, somehow a baby bunny had gotten in her house and was hiding.  So over I went and just as I walked through her door it ran out from under her couch and underneath a stand.  So I caught it.  We put it in a box and took it down to the park and released it.  I am sure it had quite an adventure to tell to its friends and siblings.

Then the mouse.  Hubby had been leaving the basement door open so we could easily carry stuff out (yeah it is that time of year again, go through this, pitch out that) when apparently a pair of mice thought it would be a grand adventure to  explore and perhaps take up residence.  Well I tried to explain to them they had to leave.  No dice, so we put out bait for them.  Ha!  Apparently they knew better then to take it.  Hubby was not amused "Cats in the house and they can't even get a mouse!"  He told Mem he was going to go borrow the neighbors cat since Mem apparently couldn't catch them.  Well, Mem caught one of them.  I know, because I had a heck of a time getting it off of him.  I explained to him that they carried germs and disease and he couldn't eat them, they would make him sick.  He got noms and praised and bragged on.  I also told him to get the other one.  I said Mem get the other one.  Slash it with your claws, shake it, but do not eat it.  Either put it somewhere Mom will see it, or better yet just throw it in the garbage can.  So I get up the other morning and hubby said that Mem caught the other mouse. I asked hubby if Mem had ate it.  Nope said Hubby, he laid it on the floor next to the garbage can.  SEE!!!  Mem is one smart cat! 

Of course we have had various other critters such as Wasps (they are not on the protected list at my house), who if they are trying to get out, I will open the window or door and shoo them in the correct direction: flies and stinkbugs who are immediately subject to the death penalty and a cricket, who was caught and released.

One thing about it after being together for 32 years hubby knows which critters are to be killed and which ones protected.  Including the size requirements on the spiders. 

So enjoy the beauty of the Fall my friends.