The way bands like Lesbian bed Death and The Nostalgia chicks have covered Hex Girls, "Earth, Wind, fire, and Air", and other songs from animated spooky shows and movies from our youth I wish someone would do a modern cover of "Touching Old Magic" from The Real Ghostbusters animated series. It's a catchy song and probably one of the first songs about Samhain in American TV.
Consider this a PSA.
October 30th is NOT "All Hallow's Eve"! It has been called many names such as Mischief Night but it is not All Hallow's Eve.
All Hallow's Eve is the old full name for Halloween (October 31st). Halloween or Hallowe'en is a conjoining of the words All Hallow's Eve (evening). Hallows = Hallow and evening / eve = Een.
Hallows is an archaic word for Saints or blessed. In this case Saints. All Hallow's Eve = All Saints Eve. The Catholic Holiday of All Saints Day is November 1st.
Samhain (The ancient pre-Christian holiday that pre-dates modern Halloween) starts on the dusk of All Hallow's Eve (October 31st) and runs until November first. After that is All Saints Day and after that is All Soul's Day. This makes up the Mexican Day of the Dead.
October 30th = Mischief Night
October 31st = All Hallow's Eve (modern English = All Saints Eve. Hallow meaning blessed or Saints). Halloween / Hallowe'en. Samhain (Gaelic). Nos Calan Gaeaf (Welsh).
November 1st = All Saints Day (Archaic = All Hallow's Day). Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) Also Samhain Day. (Samhain starts at dusk on October 31st and ends at dawn on November 1st but can be celebrated for multiple days).
November 2nd = All Souls Day. Day of the Dead. (El Día de los Muertos).
I appreciate the ancient Samhain history of Halloween but sometimes the revisionist history annoys me. For example, yes, leaving offerings to spirits (and deities) is a very ancient practice. And we like to conflate this with Trick or treating and pretend that trick or treating happened for centuries.
The reality is that though the offerings to the dead or to appease nature spirits and goblins is quite old, actual modern trick or treating is not even quite a century old yet.
Between the mainstream act of leaving offerings and modern trick or treating there was a long gap where the concept of trick or treat wasn't there (in Christian society anyway) in any form.
In fact the first recorded use of the phrase "Trick or Treat" started in Blackie, Alberta, Canada, in 1927. That's right. As American as modern Halloween seems, modern trick or treating is actually a Canadian invention.
Offerings for spirits = Ancient.
Trick or Treat = Started in the 20s and first recorded in 1927 in Canada.
It figures that one of the more wholesome traditions we associate with Americana is actually Canadian. 🎃
Now, one can easily argue that the offerings to the dead inspired the concept of trick or treat but actual trick or treating is still pretty new and ironically in danger of being destroyed by fear mongering and unnecessary restrictions (curfews and age restrictions).
The whole reason modern Trick or treating started was to keep teens busy on Halloween and to stop them from making mischief. A treat to avoid trickery. And now teenagers aren't even allowed to do it because, in less than a century, we let ourselves forget why modern trick or treating started.
Yes, respect the ancient history, but also know the modern one as well. Maybe we wouldn't have so many arbitrary and unhelpful limitations placed on children if we actually remembered it. And please know that I AM aware of Wasailing and Christmas Caroling and guising. All not quite the same as knocking on doors, going going "Trick or treat" and expecting sweets on All Hallow's Eve. All similar and may have helped inspire it but not quite the same thing. I've come across too many short stories and fan fictions where children are going trick or treat anachronistically in 1750 or so.
Pumpkin Magick
Pumpkin Magick
This is a revising of an older post since I learned some more pumpkin lore.
It's that time of year again so it is good to remember that your favorite decorative gourd is not only edible but also (if you believe in such things) a protection charm.
First, every component of the classic Pumpkin Spice mixture is a ward against evil and negativity and also an attractor for luck. This includes Cinnamon, Nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
Not only that but you will find that for over a decade now most pumpkin spice confections, at least in the USA, contain actual pumpkin, whether dried pumpkin or pumpkin puree. In the US it's very hard (today) to find a pumpkin spice beverage or confection without actual pumpkin as an ingredient now.
Once upon a Time Pumpkin Spice used to just mean the spice mixture one adds to Pumpkin Pie but after Starbucks started adding real pumpkin to their Pumpkin Spice latte, a trend was started that almost everything Pumpkin spice would now carry actual pumpkin.
Though incorporating actual pumpkin to the pumpkin spice confections is relatively new, the use of pumpkins for Halloween is not. And their protective power is old as well.
The flower of a pumpkin plant is a five-pointed star that blooms for only roughly thirteen hours out of a day. It will wither and fall away but regenerate until fertilized into a pumpkin or until the first frost. The five-pointed star is considered sacred geometry by the Ancient Greeks. It is Sacred to many NeoPagans, Druids, Wiccans, And Baha’i. It is also the ward against werewolves, demons, (and if you have faith in its power) against vampires as well as other supernatural threats. The five-pointed star is an ancient symbol for the elements of nature (Water, Fire, Earth, air, and spirit) and of magick as magick is the heart of nature. The fact that a pentacle is the shape of a pumpkin flower might be a subtle reason why the pumpkin was chosen as the jack-o-lantern of the new world. Similarly, apples were considered, by some, to have magical and sacred potential because if you cut them in half you could see a star formation at the core.
Many people who do not grow pumpkins don’t realize that the pumpkin flower is a five-pointed star (Pentacle) of yellow-orange golden color. The pumpkin flower, itself, is an ancient symbol if protection and magick.
It is believed that if you eat the stalk (stem) of a pumpkin you will be cursed to be a fool. Personally, I think that if you ate a pumpkin’s stem it may be a little late for that. You were already a fool. Try to only eat the flesh and seeds of a pumpkin, not the stem.
In China pumpkins are a symbol of fertility.
It is sometimes believed that giving a woman a pumpkin or something with a pumpkin depiction on it will aid in getting pregnant. Some women will eat pumpkin-based foods to try to improve chances of pregnancy. Pumpkins are a plant considered sacred to The Mother. Meanwhile pumpkin seeds or small, young pumpkins, represent The Maiden, and hollowed out pumpkins represent the crone of the Triple Goddess. But a whole pumpkin that is fresh and ripe is symbolically The Mother. While the pumpkin flower (a five pointed star that blooms for about thirteen hours at a time) represents magick itself.
When dust particles in the air give the full moon an orange-ish tint this is a pumpkin moon. A blood moon (lunar eclipse) may also be considered a pumpkin moon. A blood moon is believed to have wild magical energy.
One superstition in regard to pumpkins is that if you point at a growing pumpkin it will cause the spirit of the pumpkin to become bashful and shy and the pumpkin will start to rot.
Another superstition says it is best to plant pumpkins on good Friday however it is known that if you plant a pumpkin before the last frost of the season, it will die. Contradicting the notion of planting pumpkins on Good Friday is the rhyme “Plant Pumpkin Seeds in May and they’ll all run away. Plant Pumpkin Seeds in June and they will grow soon.”
If a cat eats pumpkin it will cure the cat of excessive hairballs.
It is believed that eating pumpkin will cure constipation.
Jack-o-lanterns have been a protection ward against wandering spirits for centuries. The Tale of stingy Jack says that he was a wandering soul not granted access to Heaven or Hell and The Devil and his minion laughed at him and tossed on an ember from Hell to light his way. Jack carved out a turnip to use as a lantern and placed the ember inside of it. But Jack was a coward so if he saw similar lanterns he'd flee an area. Over time the belief became that these carved turnips would ward off all wandering spirits and malevolent entities.
When the Irish came to America, they started to carve their Jack-o-lanterns out of pumpkins. Most pumpkins were larger and easier to carve. Also they taste better when cooked and incorporated into foods. It also became a common belief that the pumpkin worked just as well as (if not better than) turnip Jack-o-lanterns.
It is believed that on Halloween night Jack-o-lanterns provide the most protection though they can work all year long (so long as you can make one). If you keep a Jack-o-lantern lit all night long it promises good luck for the year. If it burns out before midnight (however) or if it is blown out, that invites wandering ghosts into your home and possible bad luck. This is why you should never blow out a Jack-o-lantern's candle but instead let it burn out naturally.
It is believed that if you carry a Jack-o-lantern (or even just a replica of one) with you on Halloween it will protect you from wandering ghosts while out and about. A lit one is best but a depiction of one on clothes or jewelry, or an artificial Jack-o-lantern also works. This may be the unconscious reason so many traditional trick or treat buckets are made to resemble Jack-o-lanterns. This superstition works for any hollowed-out pumpkin or something resembling it carried on Halloween. This may also include a small artificial pumpkin.
And finally we have Pumpkin seeds.
It is believed that eating pumpkin seeds will cure an “excessively passionate nature.” Whether this means carnal urges or intense emotions is unclear. There have been real studies into pumpkin seeds’ ability to reduce anxiety and depression. Eating roasted pumpkin seeds or pepitas (small roasted pumpkin seeds) can possibly work as a mild mood stabilizer and sleep aid.
It's an old Eastern European belief that a pile of grain or seeds might distract a vampire, who will feel compelled to count the seeds rather than prey on the intended victim. There was the great New England Vampire panic in the late eighteenth century and nineteenth century.
Many Native Americans considered pumpkin to be one of the "three sisters" as important as corn and beans. Not only was it a source of nutrition but it was thought that pumpkin could keep away some pests and pumpkin seeds were used in medicine.
It is scientific fact that L-tryptophan is found in pumpkin seeds. This is a natural sleep aid and mood booster. A mild, natural, anti-depressant. Eating roasted pumpkin seeds or pepitas (small pumpkin seeds) can help drive away sleeplessness and negativity.
Negatively a superstition has it that if you feed a cow pumpkin seeds the cow will stop producing milk.
An old superstition is that if you eat pumpkin seeds it will cure worms and intestinal parasites. Since pumpkin is high in fiber and considered a natural stool softener and can aid in constipation it could be that this belief comes from pumpkin helping to expel the infection.
So there you have it.
Pumpkins (in the modern version of the Pumpkin spice mixture that contains pumpkin too) works as a ward against evil.
Carved Pumpkin Jack-o-lanterns drive away wandering spirits and malevolent entities.
Pumpkin seeds can ward off vampires, aid with sleep, and improve mood- driving away negative feelings.
Pumpkins may be "basic" but there is a practical magick to them.
I know it's The Summer Solstice / Midsummer but I feel like correcting this before I have to deal with it in autumn... again... I had to explain this to someone just last year who was confidently wrong in how THEY were explaining "All Hallow's Eve." All Hallow's Eve is NOT the night before Halloween! It IS Halloween. "Hallow" is an archaic word for blessed or Saint / Saintly. All Hallows Day is an old term for All Saints Day (November 1st). Halloween is not All Hallow's Day. It's the Eve of All Saints / All Hallow's Day. It's not "Like how Christmas Eve is the Eve before Christmas. So it's the Eve before Halloween." No. Halloween literally IS the EVE. The DAY is November 1st. Christian / Catholic = All Hallow's Eve = October 31st. November 1st = All Hallow's Day / All Saints Day. November 2nd = All Souls Day. Ancient / Pagan / Wiccan = Samhain (Pronounced Sow-en or Sow-in) Latin America = Dia de los muertos (Day of the Dead) Halloween / Hallowe'en = Modern American spooky hodgepodge created from the blending of many cultures having a sacred, spooky, seasonal event at the same time where fears and death are confronted as a means to appreciate life and respect those who have passed. A time for rekindling belief in wonder and magick. Note on Halloween / Hallowe'en. Both spellings are considered correct. America started to drop the ' in Hallowe'en in the 1940s and 50s, partly to save on ink when making Halloween cards and decorations and it just stuck. Personally I prefer Hallowe'en because it feels more old fashioned.
Without the context of the show's plot in Agatha All along, I think that the Lorna Wu version of The Ballad of The Witches' Road (coven cover too) is the perfect Samhain song.
For starters, you can take "The witches' road" as meaning "The path of a witch" or "life of a witch." This can mean anything from Neo Pagan, Wiccan, Heathen, Seeker of Knowledge,to practitioner of The Old Ways.
And finally the song (the ballad version) is ultimately about how you need love to endure and that real love is unconditional "My love cannot be turned."
And how even if death separates you from loved ones, you will be reunited in the afterlife. "I'll see you at the end."
It may be owned by Marvel / Disney but it is the perfect modern Samhain song.
For the non-Wiccans and non-Neo Pagans seeing "Samhain" greetings everywhere he's the quick and easy explanation.
Samhain (usually pronounced as sow-in) is the Gaelic celebration that became known as All Hallow's Eve (All Saint's Eve) and is now celebrated as Hallowe'en or Halloween (Spelling varies).
Samhain was a time to reaffirm one's belief in the spiritual. And a time to honor and remember deceased loved ones. To reassure the faith that physical death is not the end and that souls are eternal.
It was (and is) believed that during Samhain (and also during Beltane Eve, AKA Walpurgisnacht, the spring equivalent) that the veil between our world and the spirit realms is thinnest.
Faeries (including goblins), and souls of the dead are able to enter the mortal world and mortal plane-bound entities gain strength during this time of year.
The majority of paranormal activity is reported between September and November and reaches its apex during Samhain / Halloween.
Modern celebrations of Samhain include the modern Halloween standards of spooky decorating, having masquerade or costume parties, giving out treats to trick or treaters, telling ghost stories, carving and lighting Jack-o-lanterns (to ward against evil and wandering spirits). And drinking sweet (American / Canadian style) apple cider. Either chilled or warmed, with or without cinnamon (optional).
There are also more serious things you can do such as lighting a candle or building a small alter for deceased loved ones, having a feast in honor of loved ones past. And visiting and tending graves of deceased loved ones.
In regard to people mistaking edgy fan theories as fact... Someone almost ruined the movie Trick ‘r Treat for me because the first person to explain the plot of the movie to me believed the fan theory that Sam was the ghost of one of the special needs children from the bus story. Yes, Sam was on the bus but only because he was watching and present in each story if you pay attention. Sam is no mere ghost of a child obsessed with Halloween. He IS Halloween. He’s the anthropomorphic personification of Halloween. Sam is short for a deliberate mispronunciation of Samhain, like the taller version of the same character called Sam Hain in The Real Ghostbusters animated series. Sam's head, under the sack-like costume mask, is a pumpkin-skull and he has pumpkin guts instead of blood and organs. That entity was no human ghost. But for years I believed the person who repeated the fan theory as if it was the real plot summary. It wasn’t until I sat down and watched it that I realized how utterly wrong they were and why that theory doesn’t actually work.
For those who don't get the reference it's not a mistranslated or misunderstanding of the Gaelic festival. Sam Hain (literally pronounced that way) is a character from The Real Ghostbusters animated series. He's like if Jack Skellington had a break down and wanted to make every day Halloween in our world.
Reblogged samhaindreams
incorrectvillainquoteoftheday
“Halloween Store, open all year,
So every night I can appear!”
-Samhain
For all the Pagan blogs sharing that STUPID post claiming that the veil between worlds concept is a twentieth century invention...
Time to become The Credible Hulk Again.
I keep seeing that really awful post claiming that the veil between worlds being thin on Samhain is a contemporary invention according to one person on a rambling Twitter tirade. This incredibly harmful bit of misinformation has been shared over 22,000 times but such is the way of the Internet where people don’t actually read or research for themselves.
I hate when Witch blogs actually share this idiocy and or think this is “So good.”
I wish I could tag and reply every ill-educated / unresearched Pegan sharing this garbage as fact. Stop trusting every copied and pasted meme as being true and learn to research!
Have none of you read anything from before 1930? Have none of you thought to check these things for yourselves?
It’s not just Halloween / Samhain, mind you. There were several nights where this was believed- that the veil (not necessarily that wording) between worlds is thinner.
How about Goethe’s Faust? First published in the 1780s with the second half published posthumously in 1830.
Goethe’s closet drama was based on the early Renaissance legend of Faust, popular in Germany since the late fifteenth century. The first adaptation of the story was by Christopher Marlowe. The second (with the more hopeful ending) was by Goethe, who, historians believe was a closet Pagan by his subtle use of “Maiden, Mother, Crone” descriptions for The Virgin Mary among other things.
The significance here is a big part of Goethe’s Faust is set during Walpurgisnacht, The German half-way point until All Hallow’s Eve and precisely one night before Beltane. The play describes how the way between worlds is thinnest. The term “Veil” may not be used but the concept is there in the 1780s version of Faust, based on the fifteenth century legend, first adapted into a play by Marlowe.
Mephisto (who is a powerful demon, not Satan himself) takes Faust to a Walpurgisnacht festival inhabited by witches, goblins, and faeries where time moves differently and one night to them is several months in the human world, many of the beings at the festival have accessed our world from the realm of Faerie because the magick and the membrane between worlds is thinnest and most fragile on nights like this.
You can read the whole thing here.
Dracula’s Guest also suggests this about Walpurgisnacht (the dangers of increased supernatural threats) AND Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) claim this about The Eve of Saint George.
The book Transylvanian Superstitions by Emily Gerard (published in 1885) inspired the scene in Dracula. This was a thoroughly researched book on Eastern European tradition and lore.
Even Shakespeare’s A Midsumner Night’s Act 3, scene 2, has Puck deliver a speech that Suggests that Midsummer Night (24th of June / 5th of July depending on the Calendar you use) is a night when creatures from other worlds (and the dead) have access to the realm of the living but only until dawn.
“My fairy lord, this must be done with haste, For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast, And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger, At whose approach ghosts, wand'ring here and there Troop home to churchyards. Damned spirits all That in crossways and floods have burial, Already to their wormy beds are gone. For fear lest day should look their shames upon, They willfully themselves exile from light, And must for aye consort with black-browed night.”
The Scotish fantasy novel Lilith by George MacDonald (1895) has a man travel into a surreal other world because on a particular night the way between those worlds has become very fragile and delicate.
There’s the Chinese festival of the Hungry Ghosts (August 25th this year) in which it’s believed deceased loved ones return from the lower realms. This is an ancient custom.
The Ancient Romans had nights for placating Lemure which were more active / had more access out of the Underworld on certain nights of the year.
The Ancient Greeks believed that the Underworld was penetrable on the equinoxes (the days persephone returned to her mother or left her mother to return to The Underworld).
Mexico has it’s Dia De Los muertos and the Catholic All Souls Day / All Saints Day on All Hallow’s Day. The Catholic holy date predates the twentieth century by a considerable amount of time.
All over the world there have always been significant days where the realm of the dead or the realms of magick (i.e. Faerie) is supposed to be more accessible than other times and often (usually) there is an overlap. This was NOT a twentieth century invention, PICK UP A BOOK AND STOP DEGRADING YOUR OWN FAITH BY TRUSTING AND SHARING CRAP YOU READ ONLINE!
And no, they were not always believed to be tangible places in our physical reality until our world became “too mundane.”. For though the Scottish may have had Sidhe living in familiar mounds - and that's debatable since some researchers have found interpretable accounts and tales suggesting that the mounds would lead to entirely other realms or dimensions as we'd call them now), the Nordic and Germanic elves resided in their own realms, Alfheim (Elf home), and Svartalfheim / Nidavellir (Dark elf home or place of Darkness). Again, not a contemporary idea. For sources on that bit, read The Poetic or Prose Edda or even just Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
As for the idea of the Faerie realm: For Sources of lore where the mounds might actually lead to another world there is the Encyclopedia of Fairies by Katharine Briggs, Dark Fairies by Dr. Robert Curran, and even certain Germanic folktales retold by the Brothers Grimm like The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Other realms and dimensions (known by many names) long predate contemporary "tampering" with Irish and Scottish lore. The Australian Aborigine people (for example) had "The Dream Time" which was very similar to how certain Western European lore depicted the realm of dreams as an actual place your soul or mind travels to as you sleep.
Research is your friend!
Trick ‘r Treat
So I finally saw the horror film that has been recommended to me for years. Trick 'r Treat. It had been described to me fairly well and I already had a feeling I would like Sam (A play on the spelling of Samhain, The literal spirit of Halloween) before it even started but it exceeded my expectations. I had seen parts of it before on things like Syfy, such as the segment with the stingy old man (who turned out to be a certain bus driver). I was pleasantly surprised. Sam is definitely on my list of favorite new classic monsters. Right up there with Freddy Krueger. It felt like a 1980s horror film (in a very good way). The effects were mostly practical and I noticed subtle homages like Rosaleen's version of the Red Riding Hood dress in The Company of Wolves. I really liked Trick 'r Treat. It's unique, creative, and yet familiar and in my opinion it's far more worthy of being a Halloween tradition than the Saw franchise.