Category: A Dance Out of Time

Total 3 Posts

All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween, a Time of Remembrances

Halloween, a Time of Remembrances

 

The leaves become a patchwork of green, crimson, orange, yellow, and brown; a brisk breeze stirs a few to the ground to be crunched under foot as I traverse through the park with my dog.  

 

 

Grinning pumpkins line porches, nearby potted mums shimmer gold or orange, and towering plastic skeletons hover over lawns. There’s always that one neighbor who competes for the gaudiest or most gruesome display with several skeletal creatures, some even dressed up or black robed mechanical witches with pointy hats and brooms, and cloth ghosts suspended from the branches of trees.

Night time brings out the vibes of the season. As darkness descends, orange, green, and yellow lights flash on. So does ephemeral  music. Electronically created howls, shrieks, cackling, or disembodied whispers break the silence. 

Ancient Tradition of All Hallow’s Eve

Halloween, a time of pretending, a time of remembering other times, and a time that has an interesting history, one not far removed from today’s traditions of wearing costumes, trick-or-treating, and telling spooky or horrific stories.

It echoes back to centuries ago with Celtic roots coming from the ancient  Irish and Scottish spiritual tradition called Samhain, pronounced sow-win, which for an agricultural society meant to welcome in the harvest and mark the start of the dark days of winter.  Generally Samhain is celebrated from October 31 to November 1. 

Trick-o-Treating

The tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween comes from the Irish tradition of mumming where participants put on costumes and went door-to-door singing songs of the dead.. There’d been the belief that faeries could play tricks on the unwary so it was best to provide the treat or you might be tricked. Treats were given in the form of cakes, also called soul-cakes which are like cookies. The notion of trick-or-treating stems from these earlier traditions, but today we hand out candy instead of soul cakes, and the tricks which might be played could include smashed pumpkins, toilet paper on one’s lawn, raw eggs thrown, or other nasty tricks. 

Pumpkins

Pumpkins are a symbol for Halloween which stems from the earlier Celts. In Ireland, for example, it was common to carve turnips and put candles into them to ward off evil spirits. The legend of Jack-o-Lantern comes from the Irish story of a man named Stingy Jack who tricked the devil. The devil had given Jack a burning coal which Jack put into a carved-up turnip. The Irish called it the Jack O’Lantern, and when both the Irish and the Scottish immigrated to America they brought this tradition with them. However, they switched to pumpkins because it was easier to carve up than a turnip.

Ghosts 

In the spiritual tradition of the ancient Celts there is the belief that the barriers between the physical world and the spiritual world break down. The notion of ghostly apparitions and contact with the departed is supposed to be strongest at this time of year. Hence, the use of divination in the form of card reading, seances, and spirit contact of some form.

In earlier times and still today in parts of Great Britain and Ireland, bonfires are lit and there’s the belief of communion with the dead on October 31.

Witches

Wicca, a pagan religion,celebrates Samhain as the passing of the old year and beginning of the new. It is a celebration of the harvest and is considered one of the most important Sabbats for Wicca. A few ways that this is celebrated is by lighting bonfires or candles if you can’t build  a bonfire and calling out to the dead, telling stories about departed loved ones or spooky stories, a silent supper with an empty chair left out for the spirit of the departed, and placing apples and pomegranates before the photos of the departed loved ones.

Apples are associated with death, and pomegranates with life. That’s interesting in several ways. We’re often told that an apple a day keeps the doctor away; the apple is considered the forbidden fruit as it represented wisdom in the Book of Genesis and has been given to teachers who impart wisdom. Some mythologies interpret apples as life giving. The pomegranate is considered the fruit of life because of its many seeds, and in ancient Greek mythology it represents eternal life. An interesting connection to Halloween is the use of apples at the party game of bobbing for apples. Candied apples, cider donuts, and apple cider are found at a lot of farm stands and in grocery stores during the autumn season. 

Wearing Orange and Black?

The traditional colors worn on Halloween are orange and black. Orange is considered a Fall color and representative of the harvest, and it is the typical color of pumpkins. Black is typically symbolic of darkness and since Halloween celebrations generally commence at night, it has become a symbolic color for Halloween. The color purple, one of my favorite colors, is also symbolic of Halloween as purple represents mystery and magic.

Writing and Halloween

Two of my young adult novels, A Kiss Out of Time and its sequel A Dance Out of Time, are about hauntings in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, a place I love to visit.

My current fiction writing is a young adult paranormal with elements of magic as a teenage witch is learning how to responsibly use her powers in dealing with the trouble makers at school.

Halloween is my favorite holiday for many reasons, not the least of which is the storytelling and the dressing up. I think it goes back to my own Celtic roots.

 

Happy Halloween! Happy Samhain!

Reference Sources:

https://hero-magazine.com/article/159423/a-witchs-guide-to-celebrating-halloween

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain

 

Art and the Writer

Edouard Manet’s “Boating” featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
“Plum Brandy” by Edouard Manet featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that my earliest memory of art originated as a young child in New York’s Greenwich Village during the Sixties. I loved the scent of the Crayola crayons and paper my first grade teacher put out for us, and later on, I enjoyed working with poster paint on large sheets of paper. My father sometimes took me to the art show in Washington Square Park. Although I didn’t understand some of the pop art I viewed or the quick portraits in charcoal or pencil done by local artists, I felt the vibrancy. At age seven I attended a pottery school in the neighborhood. The moment I walked into the pottery studio, I inhaled the earthy smell of the clay and enjoyed using my hands to shape it into some object.

In high school, I took an art major elective when I was able to. My art teacher, Mrs. Rose, headed the art department and believed in my abilities. She even suggested that I attend an art school after graduation. However, I decided to go to St. John’s University where I majored in English and took classes in creative writing, literature, and communication. After graduation, I worked in advertising, public relations, and much later as an English teacher. I continued to enjoy viewing art and dabbling in creating it from time to time.

I also visit art museums when I travel. These included the Museo Nacional del Prada in Madrid, the Louvre in Paris, and both the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum  in Amsterdam. I’ve enjoyed viewing western art at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma (temporarily closed for construction), the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. However, my two favorite art museums remain New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art or MOMA.

As a hobby when I was a young mother, I created stained glass at the Glass Gallery Stained Glass Studio in Nutley, making stained glass panels, lamp shades, trinket boxes, and kitchen items. I used patterns and enjoyed picking out the various colors and textures of the glass for the creations.

 

I took art classes in drawing, pastels, and watercolor in the evening at the adult ed. program in a local high school. Pat, the instructor and a professional artist, taught me a great deal and provided a lot of information from the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. It’s all in how you look at things. Focus on the negative space, rather than the subject matter. She even invited some students to her home to do watercolor paintings and sketches of her garden. Unfortunately, the adult ed. program got cut along with other school programs because of budget cuts.

In the last few years, I returned to art classes at the Montclair Art Museum and at the Montclair Institute for Lifelong Learning and learned a lot more about how to see things as an artist, techniques for both drawing and painting, and learning to loosen up and enjoy the process. I’ve studied under an excellent instructor, Karen, who encouraged me and other students to keep on keeping on and learning. A couple of my art pieces even ended up in an art gallery and as postcards in a museum shop.

Chickadees in winter was made using watercolor, fine markers, and plastic wrap to create texture.
A collage for Fall which I made using Yupo paper and watercolor paint.

Art compliments my writing. In learning how to see things, taking note of details that I might have overlooked, such as the colors in the leaves, the patterns in a seashell, the reflection of the sun on water, I’m paying attention to a lot more. I can bring the visuals into my writing.

It’s no coincidence that in three of my five published books, A Kiss Out of Time, A Dance Out of Time, and Angels Among Us, my main character is an artist. Art provides what words cannot.

My birds on a bough is unrealistic but was fun to paint in watercolor.
This is a watercolor I painted based on a photo. I enjoyed using napkins and cotton balls for texture.
My still life in watercolor based on a photo of jars of jam and jelly.

Halloween: Pumpkins and Ghost Stories

Last month I traveled to Maine to visit relatives and do a little hiking.  While there I stopped at a gardening shop which sold souvenirs, local produce including maple syrup, blackberry and blueberry jams, and pumpkins. So, I walked about looking for the best pumpkin to bring home. I found a nice, round one with a strong stem. Thus, I bought my first pumpkin of the season before heading back to New Jersey.

Then I volunteered at a thrift store and food pantry in Montclair, New Jersey.

Hundreds of pumpkins in all sizes amassed together on the lawn outside the church. Proceeds from their sale were to help provide services for Navajo. So, I bought another pumpkin, another medium sized one with a nice, round head for carving and lighting up.

I prefer to go to those pick-your-own pumpkins and apples places, but I took the easier route by buying off the lawn.  

 

 

Why are pumpkins used on Halloween?

Long ago in Ireland, people took turnips or other root vegetables, hollowed them out, and carved hideous faces on them to frighten away evil spirits. When Irish immigrants came to America in the early 1800’s, they used pumpkins to create jack-o-lanterns. The name Jack came from an Irish folktale about a stingy man named Jack. The tradition of carving faces on pumpkins, or painting them was born.

Where did Halloween come from?

Halloween, itself, has its roots in the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain which marked the end of the harvest season in Ireland. Bonfires were lit, and people dressed in costumes. Today, Samhain is still celebrated all over Ireland. Some of the rituals associated with it include dancing, feasting, taking nature walks, and building altars to honor one’s ancestors.

How come ghosts are associated with Halloween?

There is an ancient belief that the veil between the living and those who have gone to spirit, is thinnest during Halloween. It is also felt that this is a good time for divination, or fortune telling. Halloween is “All Hallow’s Eve”, the day before the Christian remembrance and holy day of obligation of All Saint’s Day, which is November 1. In Mexico, the celebration of The Day of the Dead or El Dia del Muerto, is November 1 to November 2, which are recognized as All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day in Christian beliefs. Tales about ghosts have been around for thousands of years and have come from all parts of the world.

I have had a few paranormal experiences, which are experiences which are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. I stayed overnight at a haunted inn in Sweden. Although nothing very unusual happened, there were some strange occurrences, like water dripping from a faucet at odd times and what seemed like a shadow passing the doorway. The room had witnessed the tragic suicide of a young man who’d been jilted a century earlier by a former inn owner’s daughter. During an overnight stay years ago at the Parador de Carmona, a lovely and ancient castle near Seville, Spain. A gust of wind blew in despite the windows being shut, and I thought that I heard sounds of an army charging outside the castle walls. Vivid imagination? Maybe or maybe not. I’ve spoken to people who claim to have had similar experiences and have sensed the presence of departed loved ones or had premonitions which later happened.

Ghosts are considered to be the soul or the spirit of a human or a non-human animal, who has died but has not gone to an eternal rest. In 2018, a yearly survey asking people in the United States about their belief in the paranormal, found that 58 percent of those polled believed in “haunted places”. In addition, “one in five people in another survey conducted by Pew Research Center, in Washington, D.C., said that “they’ve seen or been in the presence of a ghost”.

A Kiss Out of Time book coverMy young adult books, A Kiss Out of Time and the sequel A Dance Out of Time features ghosts, a fortune teller, and a psychic teenager who tries to help troubled ghosts cross over to the Other Side and find eternal peace. 

So, do you have a favorite Halloween tradition? Do you believe in ghosts? Write a comment, and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

In the spirit of Halloween, I will be treating the first three who respond with an appropriate comment to a copy of each of these books. 

Thank you. — Cathy G.