ALL HALLOWS' EVE

BOO!

With Halloween only a short time away, the design team thought to share some fun facts on the “spookies” that accompany the fanfare of this favorite Kirks Folly Holiday.

BLACK CATS, WITCH’S, AND SKELETONS, OH MY!

Painting by Chrissie Snelling

Black cats are a familiar sight on Halloween decorations and have been ascribed a variety of myths, most pertaining to bad luck. A  customary belief is that a witch can transform into a black cat. Or in the case where the two are seen together, a cat is witch’s familiar: a second skin the witch can slip into when stealth is needed. 

There are a lot of superstitions surrounding black cats but did you know that animal shelters refuse to allow black cats to be adopted around Halloween? They try to protect the cats from being used as a novelty or abused.
Black cats are also the last cats to be adopted from shelters as a result of the superstition surrounding them. We hope anyone considering picking up a kitten or cat from a shelter will consider the beautiful and much maligned black cat. On a good note, according to Scottish lore, a black cat on your porch brings prosperity.

Witches are depicted in many mythologies and are rarely seen without at least one of their magical tools: the broom and the cauldron.

A witches broom is called a bessom. It is used in ritual to sweep out the negative energy and bring in good energy.

During the Middle Ages, most witch rituals included the use of hallucinogenic herbs, with which they anointed themselves or imbibed. Under the influence of these herbs… well lets just say the bessom wasn’t needed to keep the witches flying high during their rituals. 

Cauldrons of iron graced with three legs  are used even by today’s Wicca practitioners.
Incantations are chanted as herbs and berries are stirred and boiled in the cauldron and in this way the practitioners connect with their Goddess

Skulls and Skelton’s are part of Halloween because the holiday was once a solemn day to remember all those whom had passed.

Much in the way Christmas Eve is celebrated with Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve precedes New Year’s Day, All Hallows’ Eve is a vigil to All Soul’s Day or All Saint’s Day.

Lighting candles for the dead and visiting  graveyards to place the candles upon the grave with prayer of celebration slowly transformed into the festive holiday we now experience. Skeletons and skulls also represent the Grim Reaper.

Trick or Trick? The practice of going door to door and asking this question came from the ancient practice of “souling”.
Originating in the Middle Ages, in Britain and Ireland, “soul cakes,” a sort of round scone with currents, were traditionally set out with wine as an offering for the dead on All Hallows’ Eve.
On All Saint’s Day groups of adults and children would make the rounds asking for the treats by way of song.
 Receive a soul cake, pray for the soul and consume the treat. To consume a soul cake was to ensure a soul was freed from Purgatory to find its proper home.

Taren S. Black/ Olso & Alfred card

It later became the norm for groups of children to dress up in disguise, go to richer neighborhoods and offer a “trick” for a treat. Each child would perform a trick: a song, acrobatic, magic trick or the like. No matter how small the trick,  the child would receive a treat in return: soul cakes, cookies or often coins.

Orange and Black, the traditional colors of Halloween have their roots in Celtic lore. Black is the symbol for death, while orange is a reflection of the autumn harvest.

So there you have it, just a few of the many things the design team learned over the years as they researched this wonderful holiday to create the Kirks Folly Halloween designs.

We want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who gave us so many great ideas that were far off our radar, but we really enjoyed rising to the challenge to design. One of our favorites was creating Halloween mermaids! We even ended up creating a mermaid witch one year!

And on another strange note, one design team member has a tradition of watching The Wizard of Oz on Halloween Eve. 

Maybe not so weird,  the Wicked Witch of the West certainly had it going on, a bike that turned into a flying broom, ruby slippers and flying monkeys that did her bidding!!



Have a wonderful Halloween and remember to:

 SPARKLE THE WORLD!

Enjoy this wee bit of film introducing the Wicked Witch!

CONGRATULATIONS TO 

THE BLUE FAIRY 

 WINNER of our OCTOBER 2014 Drawing!

Blue Fairy, Please email us @236helenjane@gmail.com, 

so that we can get your beautiful Magical Dragonfly Necklace to you.

AUTUMN IS COMING: PUMPKINS!

One of our design team’s favorite times of the year is coming ... Autumn! 

Harvest season is a truly magical time. Nature’s amazing colors stimulate fashion changes and excitement abounds as we anticipate the beauty of multicolored leaves and the thrilling arrival of Halloween.

In designing our Autumn Harvest  and Halloween accessories, our research has gifted us with some surprising information about the elements that make up this fabulous season.

This week we share some fun facts and helpful tips about those mysterious, magical orbs…

“PUMPKINS!”

Indigenous to the western hemisphere and first discovered in Central America, pumpkins are now grown on six continents. French explorer, Jacques Cartier is responsible for the name “pumpkin”.

"Prize" by artist Greg Newbold

While he called them “gros melons,” the English translated this as “pompions” which later evolved to ‘pumpkins’.

Pumpkins are members of the gourd family, which make them a squash. A squash belongs to the fruit family, so a pumpkin is both a squash and a fruit. 

Low in fat and sodium, they are excellent source of Vitamins A, B, potassium, protein and fiber.

As of 2010, the biggest pumpkin grown weighed in at 1810 pounds, 8 ounces. 

In 2005 the largest pumpkin pie ever  baked weighed in at 2020 pounds.

Turnip Jack 'o lantern!

A common sight on Halloween, Jack o’ lanterns originated in Ireland for the holiday, Samhain and were initially carved out of turnips, beets and potatoes.

Samhain is the predecessor to the American holiday, Halloween and marks the passage from summer harvest to the dark of winter. 

During Samhain, huge bonfires were lit in the fields and it was believed that fairies lurked in the shadows.

To prevent the fairies from entering their homes, as fairies tend to be mischievous beings, one carved a face in a turnip.

A candle was put inside inside and lit. Then the Jack 'o lantern was placed in the area to be protected.

It wasn’t until the Irish arrived in America and discovered the pumpkin that a new Halloween tradition of "pumpkin carving" began.

Sculptor Ray Villafone is famous for his amazing pumpkin carvings! Click & see.

As pumpkin carving grew in popularity, American farmers started creating new breeds of the squash specifically for carving. Today there are now over fifty varieties of pumpkin.

In the 1960’s, John Howden developed the Howden pumpkin, which today is still considered the best pumpkin for carving.

Our Seaview Moon Petite Pumpkin!

Check out this link to learn how to choose a pumpkin and keep it fresh throughout the harvest season.

In design room one of the things we love about the pumpkin is it’s amazing color. Who doesn’t feel better wearing a bright bit of pumpkin orange come harvest season? Dusky, intense and cheery in equal measure the color improves the mood and is easy on the eyes.

But pumpkins come in a variety of colors: red, yellow, blue, tan, white, green, and yes pink! Some green pumpkins can be so dark, they are close to black. And the shades, shapes and textures are many.

Click here for more beautiful, Sparkly Pumpkin decor!

Before you complete your Harvest décor, check out our Colored Pumpkins page to see some of the more

compelling and colorful  pumpkin varieties and this coming Autumn…

“SPARKLE THE WORLD!”

CONGRATULATIONS 

  BONNIE SILVERCATE

 WINNER of our SEPTEMBER 2014 Drawing!

BONNIE, Please email us @236helenjane@gmail.com, 

so that we can get your beautiful THANKSGIVING DAY CHARM BRACELET to you.

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