Halloween Celebrations: England

In ancient times, pagan festivals were organized at the end of October in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. People dressed up and celebrated in the beautiful English nature. Nowadays, there are many people, especially young, that have popular Halloween costume parties; in  various cities you can also find fireworks, bonfires, and parades for the occasion; houses and shops are decorated with images of witches and carved pumpkins.

A very interesting fact about Halloween and this period in the UK is that on the 5^th of November there is a very important national celebration, Guy Fawkes Night, also called the Bonfire Night: in 1605 King James I, king of both Scotland and England at that time, had miraculously survived an attempt on his life in London; the aggressor was precisely Sir Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords.

People then celebrated the survived King with bonfires, and it is now an English State Commemoration. Many are a bit against Halloween, because during the last years it has eclipsed in a way the usual Guy Fawkes Night celebrated only some days after. They say that’s a US celebration that is now spreading around the world, but that’s a bit ironic because Halloween has its roots in England. I think that it’s a great thing to preserve both celebrations, and the fact that they are so close is only a good thing, because then they have two near celebrations to look forward to; it’s important to remember both. And I don’t think one can eclipse the other, that’s to different things and celebrations that will continue to be honored and remembered.

 

 

Halloween Must-See: The Addams Family

This is a brilliant show that can be considered a real classic Gothic Horror TV series. If you have not seen it yet, you just have to, and this is the perfect period; The Addams Family is an iconic TV show, and its enduring popularity had led to numerous references in popular culture, and has inspired artwork, music, films, games and musicals.

 

Charles Addams (1912 – 1988), has become one of the most popular American cartoonists after creating the first sketches of The Addams Family in 1938, that was published for the first time in the American magazine of reportage and satire The New Yorker. His idea was that of creating a satirical inversion of the classical American family, but with darkly humorous and macabre characters. The family lives near a graveyard in a Victorian mansion, sharing macabre interests. But, they are not depicted as an evil family, on the opposite, they are very kind with each other, and friendly with their visitors; the only thing is that they are very strange. And that’s the feature that makes this TV show so hilarious.

There have been several TV series productions during the years; the first of them was all shot in black and white and was produced in 1964 by the ABC TV network. The New Addams Family was filmed in 1998 in Canada. The original story was proposed, but with more modern elements and jokes.

 There have also been several film productions, as Halloween with The Addams Family, in 1977, where the family celebrates Halloween together.

The music is also a very important part of the show, and a CD compilation of The Addams Family TV series was released in 1981; there have been several musicals, and there will be more: in 2017 a brand new musical of the Addams Family will be played in the UK.

In 2010 it was announced that a film of The Addams Family would have been produced by the brilliant Tim Burton, a stop-motion animated film based on Charles Addams’s original drawings, but unfortunately, it has been cancelled. Let’s hope they will get again on this idea in the future because it would be awesome if Tim Burton directed a movie like this.

 

 

 

 

 

Ghosts Throughout the Centuries

The widespread believe in afterlife has supported the believe of the existence of the ghost, a soul or spirit of a dead person that can appear to the living. We have the first written proof of man that has seen a ghost already in very ancient literature, in particular in religious books and volumes; in fact, some practices of spiritualism and rituals, as funerals in the Christian religion (but also other celebrations in several other religions), are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the death.

 

A ghost can also be named poltergeist, and that’s a German word to indicate a very noisy ghost, and in particular one that manifests itself by moving objects, also violently.

The ghost is a very fascinating and mysterious figure and as such it has been analyzed in many human fields, like literature, religion, folklore, anthropology, science and mythology, to mention just a few of them.

In many cultures when you see a ghost it’s because it has some unresolved things on earth and it can’t rest in peace, or seeking revenge, so obviously most people would feel scared; many are both scared and fascinated, by something that is not known by mankind. Science try to explain the phenomena as light and air scientific phenomena, and optical illusions, but many of the proofs cannot be explained by science. So it’s a big mystery. As death itself; no one knows what’s going to come next, so the man is feeling helpless.

Ghosts are mostly seen as misty, white and transparent figures shaped in the air. But, there is a very important difference in sightseeing of ghost, because as they represent the good and the evil, there are ghosts seen considered “good souls”, but some not. In this case their names are demons.

Ghosts are often seen in ancient mansions or rural areas. A common legend is also that of the ghost ships, ships full of ghosts that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. These legends are both from the Pirate periods, but also from the period of the American Conquest.

Whatever you believe in ghosts or not, on Halloween night it’s a must to sit down with friends and tell spooky ghost stories in front of a bonfire and with a warm cup of tea.

Runes and Spells

There are two equinoxes every year, one in March and one right now, in September. When the sun shines directly on the Equator, the length of day and night is nearly equal. Ever since the birth of man, this period of transformation was celebrated with bonfires, rituals and particular pagan spells.

 

Before the conversion to Christianity, and consequently the adoption of Latin letters, both Germanic and Scandinavian populations used runic alphabets, a very controversial and mystic form of writing, in fact we don’t know the process of transmission of this script. What we know is that there are runic inscriptions and rune stones that are analyzed by linguists nowadays to find out more about them; Runology is a specialized branch of Germanic Linguistics. Runes were made on wood, stones and bone.

The fascinating mystery of the runes is that the first runes found were probably not used as a writing form for communication at the beginning; specialists claims they were mostly used as magical signs and for divination, in shamanic initial rituals in which the initiate underwent a physical trial in order to receive mystic wisdom. Strangely, the word “rune” means “something hidden”.

 

Also, many runes that have been deciphered by linguists contain solemn inscriptions of glorious people who died.

A long time ago, during this period of time, and during traditional harvest pagan festivals and feasts, runes have been fundamental to make spells preparing for winter.

Halloween Traditions: Scotland

Although Halloween is celebrated at his peak in the United States, it’s a very ancient celebration and there are several traditions related to this night wherever you go.

With its beautiful and mystic landscapes, dark castles, legends, and significant history, it’s not difficult to imagine that Scotland has several connections with Halloween.

In Edinburgh there is a spectacular festival that takes place every year at Halloween, the Samhuinn Fire Festival, organized by the Beltane Fire Society. A beautiful form of street theatre and performances, with music and dance, costumes and fire. The Celtic Festival mostly want to celebrate the changing of the seasons, the end of summer and the beginning of winter, with a very atmospheric event.

Obviously, another Halloween tradition also present in Scotland as well as all over the world, is pumpkin carving, and the creation of lanterns; following the tradition, this should send away negativity and demonic spirits.

 

Castle Haunted Tours are also celebrated during this period, and the guides often tells mystic stories and secrets of the fortress visited.

Scotland has a very ancient history, and a dark period that is often remembered in October is the Witch Trials in Early Modern Scotland.

In fact, in 1563, the Witchcraft Act made for the first time the use of witchcraft a real crime, and women supposed to be witches was persecuted and killed. It was a very dark and sad period of Scottish history and many innocent lives were sacrificed.

The King of Scotland James VI had an important role during this period; Agnes Sampson, a midwife considered to have healing powers, was convicted of using witchcraft to send storms against James’s ship. The king became obsessed with persecution of witches and insisted on torture for the suspects. He even wrote a book about how important it was to exterminate all the witches, the Daemonologie. Not everyone knows that this book was the background material of Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth.

Haunted House Tour: President Truman’s house, Missouri

A very huge part of Halloween and one of the most fascinating things to talk about in this period, is haunted houses you could visit. This is one of them.

President Harry Truman (1884 – 1972), the 33^rd President of the United States, spent most of his youth at his family’s farm in the city of Independence, Missouri. Truman’s home before, during and after his presidency, where he lived with his friend and wife Bess Wallace, is now a museum and you can get tours inside the beautiful mansion.

 

It’s all entirely Victorian Architecture, and very well preserved, surrounded by trees in a wonderful garden. Many visitors of the house claim to have seen a ghost very similar to the President on numerous occasions. The living room of the house is where he is often spotted (and that’s strange because he always said that that was his favorite place to be in the house); some people even claim to smell his favorite type of brandy walking around in the hallway of the mansion.

The site is now designated as National Historic Site. Harry was so happy to live in this house that, before the Truman Library was opened in 1957, the Truman Home served also as Harry’s personal office. Truman’s only child, Mary Margaret, was born in this house.

Something really interesting about the mansion and that not everyone knows is that the second floor of the house cannot be visited by the public; that’s because Bess wrote in her will that she didn’t desire to show that part of the house to anyone, until her daughter’s death. But, even if Mary Margaret died in 2008, the authorities have strangely decided to maintain the closure.

At the ground floor, however, you can find several interesting things that show more of Harry and Bess’s characters, as a piano Harry used to play on, a portrait of the First lady at the White House and several books of the Truman’s library.

Here is the link to the National Park Service of the United States, where you can find useful info if you decide to visit this mystic and interesting ancient mansion.

https://www.nps.gov/hstr/index.htm

Halloween and Poetry: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I think almost everyone with a passion with fantasy and horror related stuff is now looking forward to Halloween. I love Halloween and everything related to this day, so from now on I’ve planned a lot of articles Halloween related I want to share with you and talk about. Expect to read about Halloween traditions around the world, horror movie reviews and recommendations for this period, my favorite Halloween and dark related books, as well as decorations and recipes for a perfect Halloween night alone or with friends.

 

I’ll began by writing about something that is not so usual to analyze, but in my opinion it’s a very interesting field:  the correlation between Halloween and poetry.

There are so many amazing dark writers and so many beautiful works that I just had to pick one of my favorites. Every week I’ll write a different dark poem that in my opinion is a perfect reading for this period. Feel free to tell me about your favorite poem (and writer) in the comment section.

 

The first author I want to talk to you about is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), one of the most known New England poets. He was politically very active and a public supporter of abolitionism of slavery, as well as a professor and translator (he was the first man who translated the Divina Commedia of Dante Alighieri in American). He wrote several poems, but one of his most beautiful ones is “Haunted Houses”. Here it is.

“All houses wherein men have lived and died

Are haunted houses. Through the open doors

The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,

With feet that make no sound upon the floor.

We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,

Along the passages they come and go,

Impalpable impressions on the air,

A sense of something moving to and fro.

There are more guests at table than the hosts,

Invited; the illuminated hall

Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,

As silent as the pictures on the wall.

The stranger at my fireside cannot see

The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;

He but perceives what is; while unto me

All that has been is visible and clear.

We have no title-deeds to house or lands;

Owners and occupants of earlier dates

From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,

And hold in mortmain still their old estates.

The spirit world around this world of sense

Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere

Wafts through these earthly mists and vaporous dense

A vital breath of more ethereal air.

Our little lives are kept in equipoise

By opposite attractions and desires;

The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,

And the more noble instinct that aspires.

These perturbations, this perpetual jar

Of earthly wants and aspirations high,

Come from the influence of an unseen star

An undiscovered planet in our sky.

And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud

Throws o’er the sea a floating bridge of light,

Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd

Into the realm of mystery and night;

 So from the world of spirits there descends

A bridge of light, connecting it with this,

O’er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,

Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.”

 

 

How beautiful is this poem? He talks about ghosts, but he also talks about the correlation between life and death and he wonders on man’s life on the earth, and how he feels on being alive.

 

What’s your interpretation of the poem?

 

The History of Fantasy: when the genre arose

Fantasy is a very ancient art, and it has developed throughout the centuries in various subjects: cultural studies, history, literature, music, art, plays, music, cinema… and I could go on and on. But what are the elements that make a fantasy work? The predominant characteristics of Fantasy are tales or stories in which we have myths, imagination, supernatural, symbolism and surreal elements; but we can also have dark elements, magic castles and creatures, and most of the times, a really close correlation with nature. Fantasy has many subcategories.

 

We have the first written forms of the Fantasy genre in ancient Classic Latin, Egyptian and Greek mythology, but also in the Celtic and Scandinavian tradition.

The Medieval period played a very important role in the distribution of written Fantasy fairytales and stories; in fact, scribes used to spend years writing down several copies of ancient literature, so they would be transmitted to the future generations and their work is very precious today (despite many works was destroyed and burned by repressive censorship, if it was believed that the work was against the religion of the moment).

 

A fundamental role was played, as I already said, by J. J. R. Tolkien, from 1954 and until now. He is considered the “father” of Fantasy because he managed to take this genre at its peak and make it one of the most important and followed today, by young generations and old ones.

Some names of talented fantasy authors today are J. K. Rowling (how can we not mention her?), Stephen King, George Martin, and Christopher Paolini; these are some of the names that have greatly contributed to make the Fantasy genre successful today.

 

We also can’t forget that from the seventies the first Fantasy role plays was created, as Dungeons & Dragons. Nowadays there are fantastic role plays that you can physically play with, but with technology the development of computer and Play Station video games are real (as Final Fantasy or The Lord of the Rings).

Fantasy is wonder, imagination. You get to know new worlds and fantastic stories.

What’s your favorite Fantasy work?

Creatures into The Woods

 

The place of myths, magic and mystic stories, literature, movies and legends, a place of inspiration, and where beauty of nature is at its best: the woods. I always love films or books that have their set into the woods; so, I decided to do a list for you, of the most common mythological creatures that we think about if we imagine trees, rivers and nature.

 

Elves – The folkloristic supernatural being I’ve already talked about in this blog has always been connected with the woods; it is said that its home is in holes under particular giant pine trees.

Trolls – The giant Old Norse mythological creatures are always described living on isolated rocks into the woods especially on high mountains or caves; often in small family units and far from human habitations.

 

Fairies – The imaginary creatures with magic powers, usually represented as very small and with beautiful wings, live in the forest. They hide from humans with their green clothing and underground homes.

Tree Spirits – We refer to them also as Tree Deities, and they are a common figure in several cultures (like in Buddhist or Hindu mythology). Usually they are represented as young women and often related to ancient fertility believes.

Witches – This is I think one of the most fascinating figures, believed to live in little wooden houses into the woods, and collecting herbs to practice their magical skills and ability.

Nymphs – Divine spirits who animate nature in Greek and Latin Mythology, usually depicted as beautiful creatures living near or inside rivers or lakes in the forest. They are often associated with flowers and lilies.

 

These are only a few of the creatures often related with forest all over the world. The wonderful woods have always inspired authors and writers during the centuries.

Turning back to reality, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States reported that world pollution is, as it has been for several years now, a huge humanitarian problem and still continues at a high rate everywhere. The forest, as we all know, is vital for every form of human life. The main message I want to spread to everyone with this article is, respect nature and all forms of human creatures. Walk through the woods and have an unforgettable picnic near the river, but don’t throw away trash around you. That’s not respectful, not for yourself as a person, and not for everyone and everything around you.