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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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!