@roxy-cat and @erikah launched a new challenge called #seasonchallenge.
Season Challenge is meant to give you the opportunity to share your thoughts and art towards the seasons. Until 1st of December we can praise the beautiful Autumn especially with the approaching Halloween.
Halloween is one of my favourite holiday and I have been excited about it since I was a child.
It’s a time to tell scary stories and light candles to ward off any unfriendly spirits who might cross the threshold on All Hallow’s Eve.
According to Celtic folklore the veil between the worlds (visible and invisible) opens Halloween. There may be an unexpected visit from a deceased friend or something from the other world out to frighten and prank.
it was a common practice for the ancients to leave a trail of lit candles leading to their doorway and in the window. This was to guide deceased relatives and friends who might pierce the veil and stop by for a visit this hallowed evening.
I edited this photo of the fire in the wood stove to show images related to Halloween.
Halloween Memories
Growing up, I lived on a farm half a mile outside a small village, where everyone knew everyone and all their business. Most residents were related or connected in some way.
The surrounding areas were peppered with small farms and families lived in close proximity to each other. Sadly it’s not like that today. Hardly anyone of my bloodline lives in that village nowadays. When I go back, it’s mainly graveyards of my ancestors I visit.
Getting back to Halloween night...
When a youngster or preteen, I would dress in something scary. Maybe just a sheet with holes cut for eyes or an old hat with sunglasses and scarf. It was certainly not anything like store-bought costumes you see on kids these days.
I remember going to the houses in the village with another young friend knocking on the doors and being handed a treat. Times were hard but folks were generous with what they had. There would be candies and home cooked goodies, such as fudge or cookies.
One kind lady handed out homemade popcorn balls, dipped in a sweet coating. It was always a beeline to her house before they were all gone.
My friend and I carried a bar of soap and rubbed the bar over one or two windows of any house that did not open the door to our cries of,
”Trick or Treat.”
I never thought of the window rub custom as a rude thing to do but it really was not nice. My mother would have been horrified to know how devilish we were dressed in disguise
I imagine the hard soap markings could be easily washed off but the weather is cooler by October 31 and not the best time to wash windows.
Another odd thing I remember from Halloween evening was a frightening looking old man who sat on the front porch of his shabby little house with a shotgun across his knees. His dog chained by the driveway.
Perley, who beared an older, striking resemblance to Freddie Kreuger of ‘The Nightmare On Elm Street,’ made sure everyone saw the gun and would be afraid to come onto his property. Out of respect for the gun, we kept a wide berth from his house on Halloween.
All n’all my Halloween ventures were all in fun except for the dear folks who had to wash their windows after a soaping.
A Halloween display made out of round hay bales I saw on my way to Charlottetown.
Another halloween display at a roadside pumpkin stand.
Season Challenge Info
