HALLOWEEN: OCTOBER FESTIVAL OF THE DEAD Journal Entry, October 31st............................The Transition from Autumn to Winter Origins: All Hallow's Eve, Halloween or Samhain once marked the end of grazing, when herds were collected and separated for slaughter. For farmers, it is the time at which anything not made use of in the garden loses its' life essence, and is allowed to rot. Halloween is the original new year, when the Wheel of the Year finishes: debts are paid, scores settled, funereal rites observed and the dead put to rest before the coming winter. On this night, the veil between our world and the spirit world is negligible, and the dead may return to walk amongst us. Halloween is the night to ensure that they have been honored, fed and satisfied--and is the best time of the year for gaining otherworldly insight through divination and psychic forecasting. Recognition of the unseen world and the ordinary person's access to it, as well as the acceptance of death as a natural and illusory part of life is central to the sacred nature of this holiday. Right next to the stone hearth where a spider spins, past the brooms stacked in the closet, I squeezed through a child sized passageway and out to the lovely grounds of the homestead. I could see the stacks of hay, far in the left garden, and great orange pumpkins picked over from harvest. The light was steep, the air as crisp as a cold apple. Old Missus Krone greeted me. She is a gorgeous, wild gray haired granny with sparkly green eyes and weathered hands, soft as crushed paper. She winked at me and promised a tour of the place. Mind you, she seemed to me very clever, as if she's had many adventures in her long life. She has been here as long as anyone can remember. Missus Krone wore a long black coat, and carried a lit iron lantern as the sky turned to dusk. She is very charismatic, and it almost seemed to me, caught in a glimpse out the corner of my eye, that she actually changed and shifted, becoming younger and older, as we wandered... Elemental Homeschooling Bats and Owls ...Legend and Fact History of Halloween in America Witch Heritage and Poems Tasty Treats Halloween Crafts Spooky Links E l e m e n t a l H o m e s c h o o l i n g As much fun as it is for children to get great bags of sweets at Halloween, the origins of this time of year are sacred and meaningful. It is the time when nature appears to die, so it becomes natural to consider those who have passed away to the spirit world. Bring out pictures of your ancestors and re-tell the old family stories to those who haven't heard them yet. Remind yourself where you come from. Water is the element of Autumn, and the fluidity of emotion is most apparent in the Fall. We retreat within, burrow down into our homes in order to stay warm for the coming winter. We look within, and easily seek inner communication. Halloween is the perfect time to link the deepening of emotion with finding new ways to search for interior wisdom. Likewise, this is a fun and exciting holiday: theatrics, costuming, and acting out new personas express our ability to change. Here are some ideas for integrating this holy day with home schooling lessons. methods of inner communication with divination tools: tarot, palmistry, astrology, dream journalizing memories, recording family folklore, re-telling the past archetypes: fairy tales, storytelling the Dark Ages, the medieval era, issues about superstition and eternal truths skeletons: the skeletal system, organs, anatomy theater, costuming, puppetry, mask-making issues about death, persecution (using the Burning Times as a beginning point for older children), mysteries, the spirit world night: nocturnal animals bodies of water: rivers, lakes, ocean, ponds carving of wood, vegetables B a t s and O w l s Bats are an ancient Asian symbol of immortality. At Hallows, bats remind us that even though nature seems to die now, it will return. One night the King of the Bats invited the moon for a feast. The moon was cool and lovely and the Bat King greatly admired her, because he tended to stay out all night, like herself. He generously offered her a great piece of fish on an intricately cast, large silver tray. The silver tray caught Moon's eye. "Oh, how beautiful," the moon cooed, "can I keep it?" The bat was shocked at the moon's boldness, and he said, "No...please ask for anything else." Many times the bat asked the moon to come to his feast, and offered her many delicious dishes. Always she desired to keep the silver tray for herself, and always the bat king refused. One night the moon stole the tray and took it to her home. King bat could do nothing because bats are not strong. Ever since that time, bats hang upside down with their bottoms toward the moon, to show her their contempt. And, of course, the moon hung the tray in her home; and we see the silvery disc at full moon, in the nighttime sky. A folktale from Africa Bat, Bat, come under my hat and I'll give you a slice of bacon, and when I bake, I'll give you a cake... if I'm not mistaken. United States, traditional By day the bat is cousin to the mouse. He likes the attic of an aging house. His fingers make a hat about his head. His pulse is so slow we think him dead. He loops in crazy figures half the night. Among the trees that face the corner light. But when he brushes up against a screen, We are afraid of what our eyes have seen: For something is amiss or out of place When mice with wings can wear a human face. The Bat, Theodore Roethke Colorado state wildlife agencies are currently rehabilitating old mines left over from the gold and silver rushes from a century ago, in hopes of creating safe and attractive homes for bats. A bat is born naked and blind and pale. His mother makes a pocket of her tail and catches him. He clings to her long fur by his thumbs and toes and teeth. And then the mother dances through the night doubling and looping, soaring, somersaulting-- Her baby hangs on underneath. All night, in happiness, she hunts and flies. Her high sharp cries like shining needlepoints of sound go out into the night and, echoing back, tell her what they have touched. She hears how far it is, how big it is, which way it's going: She lives by hearing. The mother eats the moths and gnats she catches in full flight; in full flight The mother drinks the water of the pond she skims across. Her baby hangs on tight. Her baby drinks the milk she makes him in moonlight or starlight, in mid-air. Their single shadow, printed on the moon or fluttering across the stars, whirls on all night; at daybreak the tired mother flaps home to her rafter. The others are all there. They hang themselves up by their toes, they wrap themselves in their brown wings. Bunched upside-down, they sleep in air. Their sharp ears, their sharp teeth, their quick sharp faces are dull and slow and mild. All the bright day, as the mother sleeps, She folds her wings about her sleeping child. How Bat Came to Be, a North American Anishanabe Tale from the Eastern Forests One morning that should have begun with the sun's rise remained completely dark. The world became cold, and the animals began to search for the sun. Clever little brown squirrel found the weak and pale sun trapped high in the branches of the tallest tree. "I'll get you out," Squirrel said, and she began to chew the branches away from the sun. But the sun was so hot, it burned her tail away. "I have to stop this, its so hot," Squirrel said, worried. But Sun pleaded, "Please, just a bit longer...Help me, little sister!" Squirrel got closer and chewed away more branches, and Sun rose higher in the tree. The brightness was so intense, Squirrel's eyes began to be blinded. "I cannot keep going, " she said, "I can hardly see." "Just a little while longer," Sun begged, "You can do it!" As Squirrel moved even closer, and gnawed the last branch free, Sun broke loose and rose into the sky. The animals cheered and the world became warm again. But little Squirrel was not happy. Her brown fur was burnt off, her body was black from the fire, and her eyes were so dazzled that she could barely see. Sun felt very sorry for her: she had sacrificed so much to save him. Tenderly Sun asked Squirrel what he could do for her. "Well, I always wanted to fly," she admitted. Radiant Sun smiled down at Squirrel. "You will be able to fly even better than the birds! From now on, you will fly at night, since my light will always be too strong for you. Your nose will be so sensitive that you will be able to smell your baby from hundreds of other such babies. Your echo voice will be so advanced that you will be able to find food in the darkest night. Your ears will be so strong that you will be able to hear everything all around you." Squirrel excitedly jumped off the branch and spread her new, leathery wings, and flew into the night. And with that she became the first bat ever in the world. Never disturb a hibernating bat! Bats load up on all the calories they need to winter over. Just the few minutes it takes for a bat to wake up early from hibernation can burn all of its energy, and it would surely starve. 2500 hundred years ago a Japanese artisan was inspired by the incredible jointed folds of bat wings to create the first folding fans. O w l s Shadow lit with yellow eyes. Sky split by its cry. Night caught in magic when the owl flies by. Some Native American tribes believe the owl to be harbinger of illness and death. While some writings emphasize the fear owls inspire, some poems relate gratitude to owls for maintaining a balance of health in the tribe. Owls are believed to do the necessary work of helping escort the dead to the spirit world. Owls only have as many owlets as they can care for. They feed all their babies equally, making certain smaller babies catch up to others in size and health, never leaving weaker ones to starve. The brown owl sits in the ivy bush, And she looketh wondrous wise, With a horny beak beneath her cowl, And a pair of large round eyes. She sat all day on the selfsame spray, From sunrise till sunset; And the dim, gray light it was all too bright For the owl to see in yet. "Jenny owlet, Jenny owlet," said a merry little bird, "They say you're wondrous wise; But I don't think you see, though you're looking at me With your large, round, shining eyes." But night came soon, and the pale white moon Rolled high up in the skies; And the great brown owl flew away in her cowl, With her large, round, shining eyes. A cold and starry darkness moans and settles wide and still / Over a jumble of tumbled stones / dark on a darker hill. An owl among those shadowy walls, gray against the gray of ruins and brittle weeds, calls and soundless swoops away. Rustling over scattered stones / dancers hover and sway, drifting among their own bones / Like webs of the Milky Way. Ghosts, by Harry Behn The moon's a holy owl-queen. She keeps them in a jar under her arm till evening, Then sallies forth to war. She pours the owls upon us. They hoot with horrid noise and eat the naughty mousie girls and wicked mousie-boys. So climb the moonvine every night And to the owl-queen pray: leave good green cheese by moonlit trees for her to take away. And never squeak, my children, Nor gnaw the smoke-house door: the owl-queen will love us And send her birds no more. What Grandpa Mouse Said Clouds are flying over the moon, The dark night air is cold; the wind sings a continual tune whose words are very old. Forgetting that we forgot that song (Like daisies in December) We hear all night, all winter long what only owls remember. They see inside the blackest skies And darknesses of night; Somewhere deep, deep behind their eyes there shines a sparkling light; Everything that we've yet to know (Like snowfalls in September) Is being seen when the high winds blow and only the owls remember. What All the Owls Know, John Hollander H a l l o w e e n - A m e r i c a n H i s t o r y For most cultures, the beginning of Autumn's dying season traditionally initiates a time of reflection about those who have passed away. In Northern Britain, the words ghost and guest (geist) are the same word. In isolated and mountainous Celtic villages, dead relatives were disinterred and their skulls reverently painted, so they could rejoin the family during October "dumb" feasts. With little space to spare for burial, these skulls would be stacked and saved for future in eerie rooms. Other world cultures celebrate the end of harvest with a nighttime wander to either welcome or frighten away roving spirits, while some festivals include door-to-door begging to benefit children and the poor. Mexico's Day of the Dead on November second wondrously combines honoring the dead--by tidying graveyards and offering food to ancestors--with the playful and macabre preponderance of sugar skulls and paper mache skeletons. In the United States, the sacred Autumn aspects of divination and communication with the spirit world are a legacy of the Celts; while American Halloween activities descend from the British Isles, focusing on parties and nighttime mischief, evolving only during this century into "trick or treating." 19th Century Halloween parties involved play acting, costumes and whimsical fortune telling. Parties were fun for the children and gave courting couples an excuse for romantic nighttime walks and visits. Victorian-era lovers revived the ancient practice of bobbing for apples, as well as parlor pastimes like the provocative game where couples together bite into suspended donuts with their hands tied behind their backs. Edwardian postcards featured classic Halloween images: witches, cats, bats and owls, and little charms and chants to attract sweethearts and foresee the future. In Germanic Pagan tradition, taxes and wages were collected in person at this time of year. In Scotland, this practice turned into playful door-to-door begging called "guising." The ancient art of communing with the spiritworld evolved into "Souling" in England: wandering about at night, disguised, welcoming the ancestors back with lights held in carved out turnips. Later, with the rise of the church, seeking contact with the other side was discouraged, and folks attempted to frighten ghosts away. In America, successive waves of European immigrants in the 1800's diluted British traditions, and when nighttime mischief-making began to be practiced by the newcomers, it fueled native prejudices and fears of juvenile delinquency. By the turn of the century, Halloween had become an ever more destructive way to "let off steam" for crowded and poor urban dwellers. As Stuart Schneider writes in Halloween in America(1995), vandalism that had once been limited to tipping outhouses; removing gates, soaping windows and switching shop signs, by the 1920's had become nasty--with real destruction of property and cruelty to animals and people. Perhaps not coincidentally, the disguised nighttime terrorism and murders by the Klu Klux Klan reached their apex during the decade. Schneider writes that neighborhood committees and local city clubs such as the Boy Scouts then mobilized to organize safe and fun alternatives to vandalism. School posters of the time call for a "Sane Halloween." Good children were encouraged to go door to door and receive treats from homes and shop owners, thereby keeping troublemakers away. By the 1930's, these "beggar's nights" were enormously popular and being practiced nationwide, with the "trick or treat" greeting widespread from the late 1930's. The 1900's through the mid 1960's was the golden age of Halloween-themed Americana. Paper cast jack o' lanterns and candy containers, die cut decorations, wooden ratchets and tin noisemakers, postcards and party idea magazines abounded and featured wacky, mischievous pumpkin-headed kids or goofy characters composed of vegetable shapes. Cats and owls had grinning teeth and rolling eyes. Witches were fierce and strong characters, often retaining a realistic old-woman-quality about them. Devils were particularly gleefully fierce, and represented naughtiness, or lack of conscience. Many of these pieces were made by women in German cottage industries before World War II and later expanded in Japan. American companies such as Luhrs, Dennison and Beistle dominated the party accessories market in the United States. The decorations of those decades reveal a society secure enough to get pleasure out of being spooked, apparently reserving fear for real enemies and actual threats. Our Grandparents understood and tolerated such fun for children on one night of the year: to run through neighborhoods and across country lanes, without supervision, getting a generous stash of homemade sweets from neighbors and friends: cookies, popcorn balls, muffins and wrapped cakes. And to experience that creepy, thrilling rush of being outside at night, with spirits and ghosts all around. Social changes during the last thirty years have diminished much of Halloween's innocence. During the 1960's, the rise in cults, the Manson murders, and movies such as Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist fleshed out satan's vague biblical character. The popular culture's expression of satan gave life to it: literally invested it with fear of evil, where there was little previously. Hollywood created the satanic cult. The well-publicized acts of loading brownies with pot or LSD by a few demented individuals insured that Halloween treats are now exclusively pre-packaged, store bought candy. Later scares of candy loaded with pins or razor blades further lent a sinister possibility to Halloween. Ironically, most Halloween decoration and paper products today are benign and fluffily cute, while "acceptable" scary entertainment features convulsively violent bloodbaths. Mystical spirits and ghosts are gone from the scene. Yet Halloween survives as an exciting part of the harvest season. Perhaps our society will learn to effectively challenge every-day threats and dangers, leaving alone those traditions that make childhood magical, and restoring the mystical freedom and connection to community that Halloween has come to express. Last Hallow Eve I sought a walnut tree, In hopes my true love's face I might see. Three times I called, Three times I walked apace, Then in the tree I saw my true love's face. (from a 1912 Halloween Greetings postcard) A list of folk names for hobgoblins, elves, fairies, gremlins, imps and Things That Go Bump in the Night: Redshank, Phouka, Manx Buggane, Padfoot, Boggart, Galley-Trot, Picktree Brag, Licke, Dunter, Colt-Pixie, Skrike, Rawhead, Pokey-Hokey, Lull, Melsh Dick, Orph, Fane, Dunnie, Booback, Cauld Lad of Hilton, Hobmen, Pinch, Yarthkins, Pug, Redcap, Mumpoker, Sib, Hagge, Booman, Capelthwaite, Dobie, Puck, Spunkie, Knockers, Mara, Peg Powler, Clap-Cans, Bullbeggar, Tom-Poker, Bugs, Frid, Henkie, Lubbard-Fiend, Cearb, Bug-a-Boo, Mare, Banshee, Tankerabogus, Lob, Trow, Wight, Jack-in-Irons, Tatterfoal, Bugbear, Skillywidden, Boggle-Boo, Galley-Beggar, Bogey-Beast, Urisk, Licke, Galley-Trot, Dunnie, Barguest, Derricks, Grogan, Dobby, Klippe, Booback, Pixie, Brag-Buggan, Puddlefoot, Tom Thumb, Firedrake, Hellwaine, Calcar, Kit with Cansticke, Boneles, Puckle, Tom Tumbler, Spoorne, Humbug, Spoge, Putz. W i t c h H e r i t a g e There was an old woman tossed up in a basket Seventeen times as high as the moon but where she was going, I could not but ask it for under her arm she carried a broom Old woman, old woman, old woman, said I! Where are you going away to, so high? To sweep the cobwebs out of the sky May I come with you? Aye, by and by. A connection between the Old Woman Nursery Rhyme & The Burning Times (Caution: text about the Witchcraze is appropriate for older children who have been introduced to the Burning Times, but may be upsetting to younger children. While discreet, I suggest that parents read first.) Particularly in the medieval age, among the illiterate populace, nursery rhymes were an oral, cryptic and often ironic way of preserving major historical events. This nursery rhyme is one of the last remaining remnants of popular culture that survives from The Burning Times. As Anne Llewellyn Barstow confirms in her book, Witchcraze(1994), 80% of accused witches were women, and initially, the old, independent, infirm and poor were persecuted. The old woman is likely being tossed up in a dunking basket: an iron cage used to torture witches by trapping them, sitting inside, and dunking them up and down into river water in order to extract confession. Seventeen may be a cryptic numerological reference to eight, the number of witch holy days in a year. An ancient symbol of women's spirituality and of the Goddess, the moon is consistently connected to witches. A church document of 1677 attempts to quell rumors that "because women worship the moon, they can draw the hearts of men towards the Pagans." (A History of Pagan Europe by Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick, 1995) The storyteller in the poem need not ask where 'she is going' (why she is being dunked), because old woman carries a broom under her arm: an ancient pagan symbol merging male and female principles in a household object. Brooms were particularly associated with the householders of society, that is, women and witches. The storyteller's question of 'where she is going' is poignant and ironic; since if a witch's prosecution went so far as to involve torture, most likely the woman would die. The logic of the courts held that an innocent person could never withstand such torments, while a survivor must be getting some otherworldly aid. In other words, if a person denied being a witch, she would be tortured until she "confessed;" and if she would admit to being a witch, she would be executed. Rarely did the accused survive. The old woman is sweeping the cobwebs out of the sky: with her death, she is actually getting rid of all traces of witches. According to Barbara G. Walker, witches were also associated with spiders, which symbolize the weaving of fate itself: just as the triple Goddess (the "fates," or wyrd sisters) spins, weaves and destroys the fabric of life. Practically, 'sweeping the sky' represents society disposing of that which it considers useless and unnecessary, or threatening and dangerous. Under the premise of destroying witchcraft (the broom), the courts sought to sweep from society (atmosphere, sky) its "useless" members: the old, poor and infirm(cobwebs). Later on, the witch craze especially became an excuse for vengeance, misogyny and vigilantism, and every woman was suspect. Finally, the storyteller asks if she can come with her, and old woman answers, Aye, by and by. This is a forgone conclusion: the old woman will be killed, and our witness will surely join her in death, either in natural time, or will herself be swept up into the horrors of the witchcraze. The word "witch" has its linguistic birth in the words wit, wisdom and wise. According to Neo-Pagan activist and author Starhawk, the Anglo Saxon root is "wic" (Wicca) which means to bend or shape...as in bending consciousness and manifestation of matter. A man lost his wife on a Saturday night, and where do you think he found her? Away in the sky, flying so high, with the stars and the moon all around her. Like cats, rabbits or hares used to be associated with witches as well. Celts believed that because rabbits spent much time underground, they had contact with the underworld. They are still known for their fertility, and for being affected by the moon. According to Scottish folklore, eating a rabbit is tantamount to eating one's grandmother. Many South American and Asian Moon Goddesses' totems are rabbits--see Ostara for more on this. In the black furrow of a field I saw an old witch-hare this night; And she cocked a lissome ear And she eyed the moon so bright, And she nibbled of the green; And I whispered "Whsst! witch-hare," Away like a ghostie o'er the field She fled, and left the moonlight there. Sometimes there are people who feel that nobody cares about them. They want people to love them but nobody does. On the outside they look ugly and witchlike. They are witches, and they are good, and you never know it. They make you see your watch when you have lost it. They put another cookie in the bag when you thought it was empty. They get you home safely on dark nights and do other good deeds. But no one knows of these good things. No one loves them, and they are very, very sad. Original Witch The respect we extend to the Native American Shaman or African Sangoma has yet to naturally include Europe's native wise folk: the Witches. But shamans and healers they are, were and have been for centuries. In pre-Christian Pagan Europe, women ordinarily practiced skills of healing, spiritual leadership and intuition and fierce protectiveness of family, unseparated from everyday life. The ordinary business of Germanic wives included healing and protection spells as well as routine future forecasting. At first contact with the Germanic tribes, Romans were astonished that the men respected and honored women equally as themselves, and sought their wisdom in counsel. Believing the women's prophetic ability was a divine gift, Germans greatly valued their seers. Veleda sang charms of power and protection to tribes engaged in battle, was greatly honored as a mediator, and lived independently in a high tower--inaccessible to ordinary dignitaries. Both Thiota and Aurinia gained renown for the accuracy of their predictions. In his Book of Runes, Ralph Blum says that the Teutonic and Viking rune casters were often women: tribal members whose skill and interpretation was welcomed, respected and feared; her knowledge expressive of the tribal worldview. A 13th Century Scandinavian saga describes a shaman's outfit which included a tall walking staff, a catskin lined hood and a charm pouch hanging from her belt. European Wise Women's knowledge necessarily reflects pagan deities and beliefs. Hecate is the crone Goddess from the Byzantine Empire, as Skadi is from Scandinavia, and Baba Yaga from Russia. Hecate is the form of the Great Mother who takes away and destroys. Like the night, she wears all black, the color of the Great Mystery that is death. Native Americans associated black with learning and wisdom. Her conical hat directs energy from higher dimensions to her mind, and down through her body. Bronze Age statues show such hats were worn by Italian priestesses. Hecate carries in her hands two lit lanterns, illuminating the world above and the world below. Her symbol is the wise owl, a night creature universally believed necessary for the passed spirit to find the light and fly to the afterlife. She is also associated with the bat, which Africans believe is the ghost of a being who has not yet been reincarnated. The willow branch is her plant, whose buds (catkins) resemble the paws of her favorite pet, the cat--a creature who exquisitely embodies the pagan ideals combining sensuality with spiritual awareness. In North Africa and Greece, the cat had long been a symbol of the hearth, the genus loci, or spirit of place. Some African tribes see the black cat as a symbol for a pleasure-loving young woman. Hecate's backdrop is the moon, forever the symbol of woman's rhythms and mysteries. She rides a broom through the air, which symbolizes her ability to blend a domestic life with travel to other spiritual dimensions. Hecate's sacred creature is also the frog, which symbolizes the fetus, or that which is to become. Just as birth and death are inextricably linked; she helps babies to be born, and acts as midwife to the dead. This Night Queen's powerful manifestation bubbles up from her cauldron, a symbol of the Great Mother's generous and creative womb. Hecate and her sisters are the original archetypes of the Wise Women, older than history. Another characteristic of the Witch is independence: they have often lived alone and followed their own path. The Vargamors of Sweden communed with wolves, living deep in forests. Imperialists of the 5th Century claimed lands of the Haliarunnos, wise women who communicated with the spirit world. Wise women lived in earthen homes strewn with bones in the Netherlands until the 17th Century. Just as Siberian Volkhv (Shamans) lived in homes made of the discarded skeleton of mammoths, the Russian death Goddess Baba Yaga is known to live by herself at the edge of the world in a dwelling ringed by a bone fence, with skulls on the top. The very terms "witch" and Wise-woman" were synonymous, and up until the Burning Times (a term initiated by the 1990 Canadian documentary of that name, beginning in ca.1560), Witches were revered for the expertise they provided the community. According to Prudence Jones in A History of Pagan Europe: in Brittany until the 17th Century, old women called "fatuae" kept shrines wherein they taught "the rites of Venus" to young women, instructing them in 'Shamanistic practices': likely passing on women's reproductive, sexual and spiritual knowledge. Witches seamlessly blended healing aspects of diagnosis, counseling, gynecology and medicine with the supernatural abilities of conjuring, astrology, dowsing, and exorcising. Witches mediated disputes, predicted the future, orchestrated love matches, delivered babies and nursed mothers; they created charms to alter energies, cured infertility, set broken bones, performed abortions, and healed sick animals. Witches provided contraceptives and knew the uses of wild plants: fennel cured stomach-ache, belladonna prevented miscarriage, yarrow was an astringent, chamomile soothed inflamed tissues. In Witchcraze, Anne Llywellyn Barstow confirms that even the elite clergy consulted Witches for removing curses and detecting unseen threats. Priests even used Witches' arts themselves in protection spells and love potions for the laity. Until their persecution, Wise Women/Witches were respected members of their communities, whose shared knowledge was integral to the well-being of all. While our society idealizes shaman from other cultures, we have yet to adequately honor the wealth of tradition our European ancestors knew as the Witch. Her origins tell us of the sacred archetypes which gave birth to egalitarian societies. She represents the independent woman with deep knowledge of wilderness. She models for us the wisdom in combining the healing arts with magical manifestation. Society has much to re-learn in integrating the idea of Witch as the Wise Woman she has always been. I refer to the witch as wise woman, but do not mean that there are or were no Wise Men Witches. There certainly always have been, and men are necessarily integral to the Earth-based religions, just as the energies of such duality--in a healthy and equal state--create balance, spirit-wise and worldwide. Seeking such balance, I intend to restore understanding of the Witch as Wise Woman, with no alienation from men intended. Come with me now as daylight ends; the sun sinks low, black night descends; into a world of sleep and dream, moon and starshine and lamplight gleam. Enter now and join the dance of creeping shadow and midnight trance. This is the dark kingdom where colors change, streets grow longer and mystery reigns. Enter now and join the dance. But the moon hangs in the air, in the tree's arms, and she throws on trees and ground her silver charms, healing the fear of the dark and night's alarms. The night wind rips a cloud sheet into rags, then rubs, rubs the October moon until it shines like a brass doorknob. T r e a t s Delicious Pumpkin Cookies For recipes that call for cooked pumpkin, save your pumpkin scraps from the carving, cut them from their rinds and steam or boil until they are soft. 1/2 cup butter 1 1/2 cup sugar.....cream butter and sugar together, then add egg and blend well. 1 egg 1 cup cooked pumpkin 1 teaspoon vanilla.....blend in pumpkin and vanilla. 2 1/2 cups flour.....blend together dry ingredients: flour, powder, soda, salt and spices, and add to pumpkin mixture. 1 t. baking powder 1 t. baking soda 1 t. nutmeg 1/2 t. salt 1 t. cinnamon 1/2 c. walnuts.....stir in nuts and chips, and drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet. 1 cup chocolate chips Bake at 350 degrees for fifteen minutes, cool and eat! Pumpkin Soup 4 pounds of peeled pumpkin, chopped 2 onions, chopped 2 apples, chopped 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock 1 teaspoon nutmeg or 3 t. curry powder 1 t. salt 2 cups water...place pumpkin, apples, onion, stock, nutmeg and salt in the water in a heavy saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer 40 minutes until pumpkin is tender. Puree in a blender or processor. 2 1/2 cups milk...Return to pan and add milk and pepper. garnish with cilantro if curry is used Popcorn Balls These are fun to make and fun to give--wrap them in orange tinted cellophane or clear wrap and tie with a ribbon. This makes about 18 three inch balls. Unless you have a really large pot, make these in two batches. 1/2 cup solid margarine 2-10oz packages of large, white marshmallows orange paste food coloring...melt margarine in a large pot. Add marshmallows, turning to cover with oil well, and cooking slowly to melt completely. Stir in tiny amounts of food coloring with a toothpick until the color appeals to you. When completely melted, remove from heat. 20 cups popped, fresh plain or colored popcorn (don't use microwave corn) 1 cup candy corn (optional)...stir in popcorn and candy, covering well with melted marshmallow until marshmallow turns to stringy threads. Let sit a few minutes. extra butter...butter all popcorn ball-maker's hands liberally, and begin … to pack mixture into balls. Adults mind that the mixture can still be quite hot, so put aside a pan in which to set balls down if children find them too hot. Let balls thoroughly cool, then wrap them up! The most traditional form of this Mexican holiday bread is made into a round shape with a cinnamon or anise flavored star shape on top, tinted red, blue or purple and sprinkled with sugar. But you can also make the dough into shapes. Serve with milk or hot chocolate, and offer some to your departed ancestors, so they may breathe in its essence and be nourished, before you gobble it up yourself! 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 Tablespoons sugar 1/4 t. salt 1 egg 2/3 cup milk 1/4 cup vegetable oil 10 drops anise extract....mix all of the above until smooth. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a cookie sheet. With clean hands, mold the dough into a round shape with a knob on the top (which will be a skull) or into smaller round shapes, animals, faces or angels. Place dough on cookie sheet. 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 T. flour 1 t. ground cinnamon 1 T. melted butter...mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted butter for the topping. Sprinkle topping on dough and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When cool, decorate the skull shaped knobs, animals or faces with icing sugar to make eyes, nose and mouth. H a l l o w e e n C r a f t s I'm a jack o' lantern with a great big grin. I'm a jack o' lantern with a candle in. Poof! goes the wind and out goes the light. Away fly the witches on Halloween night! I absolutely love Halloween, and always have. When I was little, my mother carved our pumpkin with the same face, year after year, and it became a tradition. It was a heartily wacky face, and deserved to be brought back. Now that I have a family, we are creating our own traditions. Every year, a week or so before Halloween, we have my sister and her fellow over for a pumpkin carving party. We start on the pizza and beers, and get to work carving. The individuality of the jack o' lanterns is amazing! Faces change from fierce to hilarious through the years, but always retain some of the personality of the artist. Every year, we set up the tripod and shoot our jack o' lanterns, grinning in the dark. Parties that feature adults creating "art" together have a dynamic of closeness all their own, that just sitting around talking and eating doesn't have. When you let your guard down around each other to "do art," you are expressing yourself as at no other time. Children love to be around the grown-ups when the activity is charged with such energy, and so learn how to be creative without self-consciousness. They chose me from my brother: "that's the nicest one," they said, and they carved me out a face and put a candle in my head. They set me on the doorstop...Oh, the night was dark and wild, but when they lit the candle, then I smiled! Dorothy Aldis Make graveyard rubbings by using a black crayon or charcoal crayon (remove the wrapper and draw with the long side) to lightly rub against white paper you have pressed against the most interesting, old tombstone you can find. The designs and writing will show as white. Remain very careful and considerate around old graves so that they will not be damaged or disturbed. You might even bring flowers and tidy up a neglected grave. This can be a very touching experience, to be so close to a far away stranger's resting place. Who were they? What might they have experienced in their lifetimes? Let it spark some historical inquiry! Make a family tree. Use a very large piece of paper, and very lightly draw in a large branching tree on it. Make certain this is pale enough that words will show over the top of it. First, write in yourself, birthdate and birthplace at the center top. To either side below, write in your mother and father--below them, their mothers and fathers, as far back as you know. Consult some books on genealogy to see some examples before you begin! Make this as simple or detailed as you like, including siblings and marriage and death dates. Write down some interesting or funny family anecdotes for generations to come.