Still have to take a picture, but let's see your halloween decorated houses!

A contest?? What do we win?

MoniGram said:

A big smile:

i don't like smiles; i like money.

Anxiety said:

I will have to take pics of my decorations today.

I would have won this contest a couple years ago.

Our house has an attached garage with a porte cache (hope I spelled that right). So, it is a 20' X 20' area with a roof and two sides.

We ran a black tarp down the far side of the garage, and built a haunted house facade for the front. Presto! Instant haunted house!

Inside, we built a wall that divided the area, and put different displays on each side of the wall. We had stations where kids could put their hands in guts, eyeballs and brains (or Spaghetti-O's, marshamllows and Jell-O, if the truth be known). We had a coffin with a ghoul in it (keeping the dry ice wet was a chore). We had "The Kid Who Didn't Do His Homework" - he had lost a few limbs to the madman's chainsaw. Black lights made everything eerie, and scary music capped off the vibe.

The kids loved it. My two favorites were: (1) the 11-year-old who bad-mouthed the quality of our scares while inside the house, but then told his Dad outside that it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen (typical boy, huh?); and (2) the 8-year-old who freaked out over the ghoul in the coffin and took off running. He may STILL be running - I never saw him stop!

It was a blast, but really, it was too much work. We spent about 10 days on it, and it was only good for 5 hours' worth of trick-or-treating.

2Jay said:

juuust kidding...mostly.

we decorated the house for halloween, but we didn't go overboard.

Mach said:

Nice decorations

i just have a purple neon kitty that i put in the upper stairwell window of my house. I got it at target a few years ago.

nurse said:

Thanx Just a small start - by Samhain ( pronounced sow-wen ) the whole house will have honouring alters and decorations We have a large gathering at out house for Samhian ( Halloween )

These are only a few pics of things I have around the house...I love the front yard, because at night all those pumpkins glow.

MoniGram said:

I am coming to trick or treat at Moni's house!!!! I love it!!

Mach said:

I have a feeling I would be scared at Mach's house, is Samhain like trying to reach the dead and that sorta thing?

PaisleyPark5083 said:

Thank you! I will be waiting for you!

PaisleyPark5083 said:[quote]

Mach said:

I have a feeling I would be scared at Mach's house, is Samhain like trying to reach the dead and that sorta thing?[/quote]


If it is...I am going to Mach's house!

MoniGram said:[quote]

PaisleyPark5083 said:

I think we're looking at a top 5 member or possibly a winner. Keep it up, people!

Wow only Mach and I have posted pics.... more pics people!

oh man... i won't be decorating till a couple of days before halloween!
all i have outside so far is my thanksgiving scarecrow


i was going to get the little tombstones at walmart
and make mounds of dirt with little bits of fur like rabbit ears
or cat's tail protruding out from underneath for the front yard
but it's hitting a little too close to home at the moment

PaisleyPark5083 said:

No

Nothing scary really

~~~

What's the difference between the Festival of Samhain and that of Halloween?

One notable difference is that most people are not even aware of Samhain and only know the night to be called 'Halloween'.

So how do we know for sure what we are celebrating? Firstly, it's necessary to look back in time to see which came first!

Samhain pronounced 'sow en' reaches thousands of years back into early European Celtic roots. The Celtic culture, religion and beliefs were strongly tuned into the earth and sky around them, including the cycles of nature, the arrival of the different seasons & stages of the sun, moon and stars.

The important dates on their calendars were marked by these seasonal changes. They gave great respect to nature and knew that winter would be a harsh time for them and they must prepare well and work with the season in order to survive. They believed that they were part of this continuous regeneration of the earth - the sacred circle of life!

Samhain became the mark of the first day of winter and the start of the Celtic New Year. The ancient astrologers had calculated that November 1st was the exact half way point between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice (winter solstice was midwinter - the return of the sun).

There is some debate over whether the Celtic New Year started at Samhain or at winter solstice but, as their days always began at sunset, when darkness came, it seems significant that the New Year should start at Samhain, when the winter darkness begins

The astrologers also believed that this time was a kind of no-mans land and signified a thinning of the 'veil' between those who lived on the earthly plane and those on the spiritual and in other realms! Therefore, the doorways to and from these other worlds opened up for a time!

When Samhain was approaching, the earth was beginning to draw it's energy within, preparing for sleep and regeneration, the vegetation was dying and the cold, dark winter months and baron lands lay ahead. And so communities would work together harvesting and storing crops, berries and herbs, bringing cattle out of the open fields and into the sheltered barns & homes. They would sacrifice animals to their Gods, in order to give thanks for the food & to gain protection, then prepare and preserve the meats to sustain them through the long winter months.

The climax of the harvesting would be to hold a feast at the sunset of October the 31st, the first day of November - Samhain and the start of the New Year!

The feast was known as 'The Feast of the Dead' ('Fleadh nan Mairbh') and, in tune with the sleeping earth, it was a time for reflection of the year just passed, introspection & to commemorate those loved ones that had passed over and to welcome them back in through the 'open door' to share the feast.

A verse may have been chanted at the beginning of the feast and would have been similar to this known one:

"And so it is, we gather again, The feast of our dead to begin. Our Ancients, our Ancestors we invite, Come! And follow the setting of the sun. Whom do we call? We call them by name (Name your ancestors that you wish to welcome.) The Ancients have come! Here with us stand Where ever the country, where ever the land They leave us not, to travel alone; Flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone! Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Great be their Power! Past ones and present-at this very hour! Welcome within are the dead who are kin, Feast here with us and rest here within Our hearth is your hearth and welcome to thee; Old tales to tell and new visions to see!"

Not only this, but as the door was open to 'other realms', this would include the Lands of the Sidhe - pronounced 'shee' - or the Faery Realm! Gifts of food for these unseen ones was an intention to gain favour and avoid any ill fortune or mischief by these powerful beings - early Trick or Treat!!)

Samhain was said to be a very potent time for magic and divination. Druids would perform rituals for communicating with the dead and of divining the future.

Cakes were baked with hidden tokens of luck, promising fortune to those who found them.

It was custom to light a candle to signify the 'New Year' and a great bonfire was set by the chief Druid. On this, members of the communities would sacrifice animals and crops to the Celtic deities and the fire would become sacred.

Hearth fires would be extinguished only to be re-lit by family members lighting a torch from this great, sacred fire and carrying it all the way back to rekindle their own hearth fires. It was vital to them to keep the Hearth fires burning until the beginning of summertime - Bealtaine. It was extremely bad luck if the fire was left to go out before this!

The tradition of carving out turnips, beets and potatoes and lighting a candle inside was said to ward off evil spirits. This practice obviously led to the 'Jack-O-Lantern' fable about a damned soul, popular with the later Catholic religion, particularly in America where the turnip was replaced by the Pumpkin.

Winter apples were one of the main harvest fruits and therefore used prominently for the festivities. It is not true that the Roman influence of Pomona, the Goddess of the fruit tree, symbolized by the apple had anything to do with Samhain. They were celebrated on completely different dates and not merged as some may think

Christianity & Halloween

Several hundred years after the death of Christ, the Christian church had gathered enough influence within Celtic lands to establish a day of honoring the deaths of their Martyrs, it was on 609AD that Pope Boniface IV designated May 13th to remember all martyrs.

However this date was changed in 837AD, Pope Gregory IV extended the festival to include all of the saints and changed the date to November 1st, the day was called 'All Hallows Day'.

Moving the date was an attempt to Christianize the pagan festival of the dead. The evening of October 31st was changed to 'All Hallows Eve' - the evening before 'All Saints Day'. Or, as we call it today, Halloween - Hallow'en!

In A.D.1000 the church further made November 2nd 'All Souls Day' to include all those who had died in the name of Christianity, not just the Saints and Martyrs. It was celebrated similar to that of Samhain with big bonfires, parades and dressing up with Christian symbolism of devils, the bloodied & tortured Saints and biblical angels!

The combination of the three days was then called Hallowmass.

How Should We Celebrate Halloween Today!

The Christian festival of Halloween is ONLY about commemorating those who have died in the name of Christianity and perhaps a reminder about our own fragile mortality.

If you see those dressed as evil witches remember, it is Christianity and it's infamous witch hunts that originally portrayed witchcraft as evil. The Christian philosophy has always been to convert others to Christianity and it's damnation of paganism was (and still is) a mightily effective one!

The Celtic or Wiccan 'Witch' in fact, treasured the earth and it's sacred cycles. Rather than 'evildoers', they were the highly respected and important healers of the society. They had knowledge of herbal remedies and medicine and worked in tune with the forces of nature to help others. They did and still do believe in balance and harmony of the earth and all of the creatures upon it!

The modern Witch of our day will more likely spend the evening of Samhain meditating in quiet reflection. Remembering those that have passed over, the year just gone and all they have learned. Perhaps they will partake of 'the feast of the dead' and offer a plate for those missing at their table.

Perhaps, and let us hope so, they will perform their dignified ceremonies of thanks, forgiveness and hope for the future of ALL mankind!
[Edited 10/17/07 19:10pm]

Thanks for sharing that Mach! The org is filled with information, I love it!!
Sounds like a beautiful thing
I was scared it was about contacting old spirits and the such, that I could not do..I'd be having nightmares forever.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

NO attempts of "contact" are made here just an honouring of the passed

ok i can finally show you what my place looked like
even though i didn't have many kids
i just had one tell me mine was the best house

before it got dark



a last minute creation, flanked by a flying bat on the other side



livingroom window



remember those white pumpkins i grew?







flashing in the window on the other side of the house



under the black light

Wow emm, your house looks cool!

thanks schro but you would still have to sing "i'm a little teapot" before you got candy

emm said:

I dang sure would!

I got home about 7:30 tonight and had to improvise. We had strung some of that spiderweb across the front porch (like the purple stuff you have). I got my Duo-Moons light thingie and a CD player, and set them up on the porch.

I played my Halloween song CD, then the ever-popular "Frat Rock". The Duo-Moons kept time with the music and several kids said they liked my house best.

But the killer part was that I got bored, so I got my guitar and started playing to all the songs, using my best Bruce Springsteen God-of-Guitar moves. I made the kids dance with me to get candy.

this kind of duo moon thingy?? i had to google lol



you had a mini nightclub all set up!!
too cool. and i'm impressed it was all
done after 7:30 lol... i was already
whining that there were no kids.
(i've had 19 now, not so bad i guess)

i bet it wasn't hard to make them dance with that set up

emm said:

That's the Duo-Moon!

All I needed was a disco ball.

emm said:

A boo neon??? I want one!