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Hallow E’en
Behind the name... Halloween, or the Hallow E'en as they call it in Ireland , means All Hallows
Eve, or the night before the 'All Hallows', also called 'All Hallowmas', or 'All Saints', or 'All Souls' Day, observed on
November 1. In old English the word 'Hallow' meant 'sanctify'. Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherians used to observe
All Hallows Day to honor all Saints in heaven, known or unknown. They used to consider it with all solemnity as one of the
most significant observances of the Church year. And Catholics, all and sundry, was obliged to attend Mass. The Romans observed
the holiday of Feralia, intended to give rest and peace to the departed. Participants made sacrifices in honor of the dead,
offered up prayers for them, and made oblations to them. The festival was celebrated on February 21, the end of the Roman
year. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day to replace the pagan festival of the dead. It was observed
on May 13. Later, Gregory III changed the date to November 1. The Greek Orthodox Church observes it on the first Sunday after
Pentecost. Despite this connection with the Roman Church, the American version of Halloween Day celebration owes its origin
to the ancient (pre-Christian) Druidic fire festival called "Samhain", celebrated by the Celts in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Samhain is pronounced "sow-in", with "sow" rhyming with cow. In Ireland the festival was known as Samhein, or La Samon, the
Feast of the Sun. In Scotland, the celebration was known as Hallowe'en. In Welsh it's Nos Galen-gaeof (that is, the Night
of the Winter Calends. According to the Irish English dictionary
published by the Irish Texts Society: "Samhain, All Hallowtide, the feast of the dead in Pagan and Christian times, signalizing
the close of harvest and the initiation of the winter season, lasting till May, during which troops (esp. the Fiann)
were quartered.
Faeries were imagined as particularly active at
this season. From it the half year is reckoned. also called Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess).(1) The Scottish Gaelis Dictionary
defines it as "Hallowtide. The Feast of All Soula. Sam + Fuin = end of summer."(2) Contrary to the information published by
many organizations, there is no archaeological or literary evidence to indicate that Samhain was a deity. The Celtic Gods
of the dead were Gwynn ap Nudd for the British, and Arawn for the Welsh. The Irish did not have a "lord of death" as such.
Thus most of the customs connected with the Day are remnants of the ancient religious beliefs and rituals, first of the Druids
and then transcended amongst the Roman Christians who conquered them. Halloween, one
of the world's oldest holidays, is still celebrated today in several countries around the globe. The autumn rite is commemorated
in the United Kingdom, although with a surprising and distinctive British twist. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All
Souls' Day, the third day of the three-day Hallowmas observance, is the most important part of the celebration for many people.
In Ireland and Canada, Halloween, which was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, is celebrated much as it is
in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties, and fun for all ages.
The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted
corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor
of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain
(pronounced sow-in), which means "end of summer", the Celtic New year.
Trick for Treat
The custom of trick or treating probably has several origins.
During Samhain, the Druids believed that the dead would play tricks on mankind and cause panic and destruction. They had to
be appeased, so country folk would give the Druids food as they visited their homes.
An old Irish peasant practice
called for going door to door to collect money, breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, apples, etc., in preparation for the festival
of St. Columb Kill.
Also a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians
would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul
cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors.
At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could
expedite a soul's passage to heaven.
Did You Know...
- A traditional food eaten on Halloween is barnbrack,
a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it
is said, can foretell the eater's future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw
means that a prosperous year is on its way.
Bobbing for Apples:
When the Celts were absorbed by the Roman Empire, many rituals of Roman origin began. Among them was the worship
of Pomona, goddess of the harvest, often portrayed sitting on a basket of fruits and flowers. Apples were the sacred fruit
of the goddess, and many games of divination involving them entered the Samhain customs.
The Witch's Broomstick:
The witch is a central symbol of Halloween. The name comes from the Saxon wica, meaning
wise one. When setting out for a Sabbath, witches rubbed a sacred ointment onto their skin. This gave them a feeling of flying,
and if they had been fasting they felt even giddier. Some witches rode on horseback, but poor witches went on foot and carried
a broom or a pole to aid in vaulting over streams. In England when new witches were initiated they were often blindfolded,
smeared with flying ointment and placed on a broomstick. The ointment would confuse the mind, speed up the pulse and numb
the feet. When they were told "You are flying over land and sea," the witch took their word for it.
Jack-O-Lanterns:
Irish children used to carve out potatoes or turnips and light them for their Halloween
gatherings. They commemorated Jack, a shifty Irish villain so wicked that neither God nor the Devil wanted him. Rejected by
both the sacred and profane, he wandered the world endlessly looking for a place to rest, his only warmth a glittering candle
in a rotten turnip. Read about Jack in the 'Legend
of the Jack-O-Lantern' short story.
Did You Know...
- The Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) prompted
over 700,000 people to immigrate to the Americas. These immigrants brought with them their traditions of Halloween and Jack
o'Lanterns, but turnips were not as readily available as back home. They found the American pumpkin to be a more than an adequate
replacement. Today, the carved pumpkin is perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday.
Halloween Masquerade Mask:
From earliest times people wore masks when droughts or other disasters struck. They believed that the demons
who had brought their misfortune upon them would become frightened off by the hideous masks. Even after the festival of Samhain
had merged with Halloween, Europeans felt uneasy at this time of the year. Food was stored in preparation for the winter and
the house was snug and warm. The cold, envious ghosts were outside, and people who went out after dark often wore masks to
keep from being recognised.
Pumpkin Facts
- In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier
explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding "gros melons." The name was translated into English
as "pompions," which has since evolved into the modern "pumpkin."
- Pumpkins have been grown in North America
for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.
- Pumpkins are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of
squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which include squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.
- Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the
last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are
bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.
- 2007 New World Record! In what has become an
annual event, the world record has fallen once more. The largest pumpkin ever grown stands at 1,680 pounds. It was grown by
Joe Jutras of Rhode Island. It was weighed in on October 7, 2007 at the Rhode Island Weigh-off. Will the record fall again
in 2008? I will let you know!
Saturday Sept 19th, 2009
The Bennington Triangle
Many unexplained events have baffled and mystified
people throughout Vermont history, but none were as startling and publicized as the mysterious disappearances of ten people
in the Glastenbury Wilderness.
In his book, "Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls, and Unsolved Mysteries", Joe Citro calls
the area in Bennington near Glastenbury mountain, the "Bennington Triangle". It is similar to the more famous Bermuda Triangle
in that it has been a hotspot for UFO activity, strange lights, sounds, odors, specters, mysterious creatures...and more startling,
human disappearences.
American natives shunned the place, using it only for a burial ground. They believed the land
to be cursed because all four winds met in that spot. There is also mention in native American folklore of an enchanted stone
which is said to swallow anything that steps on it. Since then, numerous people have died mysteriously, suffered many hardships,
and have gone insane.
In 1892, a millworker named Henry MacDowell killed his co-worker, Jim Crowley in a drunken fight.
He was sentenced to life in an asylum, but escaped, never to be seen again.
On November 12, 1945, 75 year old Middie
Rivers led four hunters onto the mountain on an unseasonably mild day. When the group was returning to camp, near Long Trail
Road and Route 9, Rivers got ahead of the others and was never seen again. Police and many volunteers searched the area for
the experienced woodsman but never found him. The only clue was a single bullet which his friends speculated fell out of his
belt when Rivers took a drink of water.
A little over a year later, on December 1, 1946, an 18 year old sophomore at
Bennington College vanished without a trace. Paula Welden hitched a ride to the Long Trail to take a day hike. Several witnesses
confirmed seeing her on the trail after she hitched the ride, but when she did not return to school, a search team scoured
the area. Despite a 5,000 dollar reward and help from the FBI, Paula Welden was never seen again. Two unconfirmed rumors circulate
about her whereabouts. Some say Paula arranged her disappearance and moved to Canada with a lover; while others speculate
she still lives a reclusive life on the mountain.
Three years to the day after Paula Welden's disappearance, a James
E. Tetford vanished. Tetford boarded a bus in St. Albans after visiting relatives. He never got off the bus at the Bennington
Soldiers Home where he lived. His presence on the bus was confirmed at the stop before Bennington, buthe was not on the bus
when it reached Bennington. None of the passengers, including the driver, had any idea what happened to him.
On October
12, 1950, 8-year old Paul Jepson became another victim of the Bennington "black hole". His parents were caretakers for a dump.
His mother was tending to some pigs, leaving Paul unattended for no more than an hour, only to find him gone...without a trace.
According to Paul's father, the boy had a strange "yen" to go into the mountains. Although Paul was wearing a red jacket,
which would have made him more visible, intensive search parties found nothing. Blood hounds traced his scent to a highway
and suddenly lost it, suggesting that Paul was picked up, or maybe vanished into thin air.
Two weeks later on October
28, Freida Langer was hiking with her cousin Herbert Elsner. After falling in a stream, Freida told her cousin to wait there
while she ran a half mile back to camp to change clothes. When she didn't return, Elsner went back to camp only to discover
that she had never arrived, and nobody saw her leave the woods. Freida knew the area well and was unlikely to get lost, especially
since it was still broad daylight. Search teams scoured the area on foot, by plane, and hellicopter finding nothing. Another
search on November 5 and 7 turned up nothing at all. And on November 11 and 12, 300 military, police, firemen, sportsmen,
and volunteers also came up emptyhanded. On May 12, 1951, Langer's body did turn up, in an open area where she would not have
been missed during the search. The cause of death was unknown.
A 13-year-old boy named Melvin Hills disappeared in
the Bennington area around October 11, 1942, and in 1949, three hunters mysteriously vanished as well in the Glastenbury area.
The
disappearences stopped after 1950, and to my knowlege, no one else has vanished in the area since then.
Many theories
attempt to explain the strange phenomenon of the Glastenbury area vanishings. One paranormal-based theory speculates that
their are interdimensional horizons in which people step into, leaving this world. Some speculated that they were abducted
by aliens, while others suggest the Bennington Monster (a large creature said to lurk in the woods of the area) carried them
off. Another, more logical theory is that perhaps a serial killer was responsible. However, their was no pattern to the killings.
Serial killers usually target a certain type of individual, and the Bennington victims ranged in sex and age. The only pattern
was that all disappearences occured during the months of October, November, and December. And one final theory, but no closer
to an answer, is that perhaps the victims fell into abandoned wells.
Despite these many disappearances, many people
including camp owner Larry Lauzon, who appeared in a Burlington Free Press article, says he spends much time in the Glastenbury
wilderness and has yet to encounter anything strange. Whatever happened to the 9 or 10 people who vanished in the wilderness
is still a mystery.
SOURCES OF INFO:
"Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls & Unsolved Mysteries" by Joe Citro
"Into Thin Air" by Paul Begg
The Burlington Free Press
Saturday Sept 12th, 2009
Encounters With Green Children
There are two different yet similar reports of strange green-skinned children found abandoned near
villages in Europe. The first account dates back to the 12th century near Suffolk, England.
Local farmers found a boy
and a girl weeping in a field. They brought the children to the home of Sir Richard de Calne in the village of Woolpit.
The
children spoke no English and refused to eat food. They both wore oddly-coloured clothing of unknown materials. Eventually
they began to eat beans exclusively after going without food for several days, but only after they were shown how to open
the stalks.
Both children were soon baptized. The boy grew weak shortly after and eventually died. The girl survived,
learned to speak English, and eat other food. Her skin turned to a normal color.
When asked about her origins, the
girl described a place with no sun where all the inhabitants were of green color. She claimed that she and the boy were separated
from their people as they wandered in a large cavern and, upon exiting, were "struck sensless by the excessive light of the
sun and the unusual temperature of the air." A separate recorded account states that the girl said she came from a place called
St. Martin's Land where the people were all Christian.
Despite the bizarre accounts of the children's origins, some
suggest that the children were lost and had wandered from the nearby village of Fordham St. Martin. Malnourishment gave their
skin a greenish color.
The second account of green children comes from Banjos, Spain in August of 1887. A boy and a
girl of greenish colour were found abandoned near a cave. They did not speak Spanish and wore unfamiliar clothing. Their eyes
were described as Oriental in appearance.
As with the first account from England, both children refused to eat at first.
The boy grew weak and died, but the girl survived, learned Spanish, and explained that she and her companion came from a sunless
land. The account differes from the first as the girl was reported to have claimed they had been caught up in a whirlwind
and found themselves in the cave. The girl died in 1892.
Neither of these reports describe any other strange activity
in the area such as UFOs. The children's true origins were never discovered. While some suggest the green children were aliens
from another world or dimension, the rational explanation would be that the children were lost and undernourished. In any
case, these events still remain a mystery. What is odd is that both accounts, although happening hundreds of years appart,
are strikingly similar. Perhaps they are a retelling of the same story.
PARANORMAL NEWS
Saturday Sept 5th, 2009
John Lennon's Face Appears On Gate Post
Keith Andrews of Wavertree,
Liverpool (England) was one of the first people to notice a strange simulacrum of John Lennon's face on a stone gatepost in
Newcastle Road - the road where John Lennon
was born in 1940. The gatepost was being stripped of its 40-year-layer of paint when the image of the trademark NHS specs and the face were uncovered. John Lennon's birthplace is less than 50 yards from
the post. Mr Andrews, 61, was a childhood friend of the murdered Beatle,
and often visited John's home at Number 9 Newcastle Road.
Saturday August 29,2009
Astrology vs. Astromancy
Astrology was once part of astronomy, with astrology being the practical use of the data given by
astronomers. Several hundred years ago, the 2 fields split. Studies have shown that now days, those who practice astronomy
know very little about astrology, and vice versa. Astronomers consider astrology a superstitious myth, using todays definition
of the word, when in fact, the 2 sciences coincide more than one might think. Astrology is not, and was never meant to be,
a device for fortune telling. So what is the correct term to use for palm reading, tarot, and the idea that the stars tell
the future? Little known today, astromancy is the belief that an individual's destiny can be determined by reading a star
chart. Astrology can only predict trends and probabilities, usually promoting the idea that the person has the ability to
change their path. Astromancy enforces these predictions as destiny or fate, unchangeable by will or action.
Paranormal News
Sunday August 23, 2009
Alps and Mares
The alp is a demonic being which presses upon sleeping people so that they cannot utter a sound. These attacks
are called Alpdrücke (nightmares).
The mare in nightmare is not a female horse, but a mara, an Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse term
for a demon that sat on sleepers' chests, causing them to have bad dreams.
Dialect variants, as explained below, include the forms mara, mahr, mahrt, mårt, and others.
In High German, the demon who causes bad dreams is most often called an Alp, a word that is etymologically
related to elf.
A mare-induced bad dream is called a nightmare in English, martröð (mare-ride) in Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic,
mareridt (mare-ride) in Danish, mareritt (mare-ride) in Norwegian, and Alpdruck (alp-pressure)
or Alptraum (alp-dream) in German.
A trud or an alp often travels a great
distance to make his nighttime visits.
 Paranormal News
Sunday August 16th 2009
"Like the sad-presaging raven that tolls the
sick man's passport in her hollow beak. And in the shadow of the silent night Doth shake contagion from her sable wing." --
Christopher Marlow, "The Jew of Malta"
Crows, ravens, magpies and other birds of the Corvidae family have played
a significant role in the folklore, superstition, and mythology of humankind. Native American cultures believed in Raven the
Great Trickster; a mischievious being that was said to have created people and aided their survival. In Europe, the birds
had a darker association, seen as malevolent harbingers of impending doom or messagers of Satan.
Prophetic Birds:
It
is believed that among the early Celtic people, ravens, crows, and magpies were seen as ominous creatures that foretold things
to come. Crow (or magpie) augury was and is still practiced in the UK. According to the number of birds seen, they predicted
everything from a new birth, prosperity, or death. In Scotland, a raven circling a house foretold a death in the family. In
Wales, however, a raven perched on a house brought prosperty to those living within. The prophetic abilities of the raven
were believed in Arab countries as well where the dark bird is called Abu Zajir or "Father of Omens".
Supernatural
Birds:
In Norse mythology, the god Odin kept two ravens, Hugnin (Thought) and Munin (Memory). The ravens would fly
throughout the world and return to Odin informing him of everything that happened.
In North American, the native people
of the Pacific Northwest credited the Raven with the creation of humankind; and said that Raven brought them fire and created
salmon for them to eat. Raven the Great Trickster was a mischievious entity and was associated with humor and the love of
life.
In Celtic mythology, the goddess(es), Morrigan, would take the form of a raven during battle and lead those
on her side to a savage victory. When the fighting finished she would descend to feed upon the dead.
Superstition of
Corvids:
There are a number of superstitions involving ravens, crows, and magpies. Among the many sayings that associate
corvids with evil, Satan, and general ill luck is a superstition that is practiced even to this day in England. It is tradition
to keep ravens at the Tower of London for it is said that if the ravens ever leave, the tower will crumble and England with
it. In fact, the flight feathers of the ravens have been clipped to prevent them from flying away and testing the truthfulnes
of the legend.
Sunday August 9th 2009
HEREDITARY PARANORMAL PHENOMENA
Gentics determine what traits will
be passed down through a family line. Hair color, eye color, height and weight are all determined by the DNA and are transferred
from parent to child. Certain medical conditions and allergies can also be hereditary. With so much of our own genetic make
up coming from our parents, the question has been asked:
Can one’s sensitivity to paranormal
events also be transferred through DNA?
Prism Paranormal Investigators, a
paranormal investigation team, recently produced a survey asking why people think some are more sensitive to the paranormal
than others. Their results showed 26% of the responses indicating that they believed paranormal sensitivity is passed down
from the parent to the child. Shaman legends indicate that the abilities are passed down from generation to generation, usually
through the male gene. Likewise, the ancient witches and druids believed their children would also possess the powers they
possessed.
Another question raised by these findings
is, why does it appear that women experience more paranormal phenomena than males? It is not that men cannot experience the
unknown, but it less common. Some people believe that women are generally more sensitive to feelings and emotions than men,
and therefore are more apt to know when something is wrong. Intuition and the "mother’s instincts" already exist very
strongly in the female make up, so therefore, women have a heightened sensivity toward paranormal occurances. Others believe
that males and females all have the ability to experience these occurances, but women tend to use the part of the brain where
this ability lies more than men do.
Have a beautiful New week everyone~Teri
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