#all hallows

[ad-crucem]

The Dance of the Beatified

Detail from The Last Judgement by Fra Angelico (c. 1425)

[sparkles-and-trash]

Started working on my embroidery again and made these lilies of the valley for my all hallows in honor of my grandmother (who died when my mom was 11 and I sadly didn’t get to meet), as they’re both of our favorite flower ♥️

[threadbareturnbacks]

[pagan-stitches]

All Soul’s Day (Dušičky) in the Czech Republic.

[the-trans-folk-witch]

The Red Devil Stirs The Boiling Pot: A Red Apple Turns Man Wicked

Autumn is in full swing as I write this. The fresh apples of September have become the yellow and red leaves of October. Soon they will become the woolen blanket of leaves on the cold earth in November.

My devil has shifted as the seasons have. From the Boogey man came the Foul One. The red devil of the west.

The devil wasnt always red. He was traditionally green, black, or blue in Europe. It wasn't until the protestant reformation that he became popularly known as red in the United States and soon the world over. The red devil was commonly depicted as a silly little thing who was quite imp like. He was said to stir the pot metaphorically and physically. As if the souls of the damned were boiling in his cauldron of torture. It was his job to take his staff (wand?) and stir, whip, beat, and prod condemned souls. Just as one stirs, whips, beats, and prods in the kitchen.

His imagery is toted in the west during the fall and he remains somewhat a god of Halloween, the dead, hell on earth, and wicked celebrations of the veil thinning. He is the apple bobber, the bonfire, the hard cider, and the fornication of lovers in this romantic and chilly time. He is the suffering we endure when white girls tout their pumpkin spice lattes. He is the cause of the season. The Great Pumpkin if you will. He is the flame of hell made man and stored within the jack-o-lantern. He is the commander of demons and unruly spirits. He is the butchered face of a gutted pumpkin. His seed is toasted and eaten warm with spices of cinnamon and nutmeg. He beckons the witch to bake poisoned apple cobbler or pumpkin pie filled with urine. He is the altering of foods for blessing or bane. The great chef, the burning man, the roasted imp. The season is fully his as are all who celebrate it. Halloween is truly a demonic holiday.

[photozoi]

Well, it is that time of the year again, and the Brother is Not Thrilled.

He is not a Costume Guy. We have given him the minimalist outfit.

He is still displeased. Not minimalist enough apparently.

"Get it off now!" (Some days he is more tolerant.)

The Imp is incensed to see that his Brother is in his posing seat. He likes to play dress up. He does not like to see His Special Clothes on his Unappreciative Brother.

The Professional.

"I gets to be the Alien! I am the One who Poses! Only Imp!"

And then, a surprise! When the Imp was done with his photo session and had vacated the Posing Chair, Mr Mung, who had been observing all of this very closely, hopped up. A Volunteer!

Looks like the Imp has a stand in! Mr Mung has not worked his way into full regalia yet, but he definitely has potential.

The Imp has not yet decided how he feels about this development.

Silken Windhounds, 'Tis the Season

[thedestinysunknown]

Tomb Raider 3 Remastered - All Hallows:

"Last level in the game and if you've collected every secret in the game, then you unlock this level. Is it worth it? HELL NO. This is one of the worst levels in the game. It's a short but not sweet level at all. Annoying traps and gimmicks."

PS: the gameplay used for this gifset is not mine. The original video belongs to the user: Shirrako, on Youtube.

[octobermourning31]

Oct 31st by Matthew Paoletti

[allhallowsthemepark]

Hm. Should Puck's Labyrinth (the Goblin Woods maze attraction) be called Pooka's Labyrinth instead?

[yoga-onion]

[Photo above: Samhain, courtesy of Beltane Fire Society]

Legends and myths about trees

Legendary tree deities (22)

Hyldemoer – 'the Elder Mother’, the guardian of the elder trees

“If you stand beneath an elder tree on midsummer eve you will see the King of the faeries and his entourage but be careful that you do not get swept away to faerieland.

The tree and the wood is greatly prized by the fae folk, so it must not be used to make mundane household objects, especially not a cradle or the baby will be pinched black and blue.

Do burn the wood or bring it into the house as this is very unlucky and will bring the devil in.

The Elder Mother guards the tree and although she is usually kind she can become dangerous, if her trees are harmed so you must always ask permission before cutting an elder tree.

To cut elder wood you must say, three times, ‘Elder Mother, please give me some wood, and I’ll give you some of mine when I grow into a tree (Ourd gal, give me some of thy wood, an oi will give some of moine, when oi grows inter a tree)’.”

Faeries and Folklore from the British Isles

The Elder Mother is thought to be the guardian of the elder trees, and it was said, until recent times in various parts of England and Scandinavia that to take wood from the elder tree one would have to ask the Elder Mother first, or else ill luck would befall the woodsman. The spirit is said to haunt or torment people who build from elder wood unless they ask permission first.

In Denmark, the Hyldemoer (“Elder-mother”) or Hyldequinde (“Elder-woman”) is a spirit like a wood-nymph or dryad that lives in the elder tree.

Other similar and related beliefs have been handed down in various cultures.

In Denmark, an elder twig put in the mouth was traditionally thought to drive out evil spirits and thus could cure toothache. Also in Denmark, on Midsummer's Eve, if you were to stand under an elder, you could see the Elf-king and his host. A similar tradition existed in Scotland where it was said to happen on All Hallows or Samhain.

In England, it was thought that the elder tree could never be hit by lightning and that carrying the twigs of an elder could protect their bearer from rheumatism. Farmers used to protect their animals from evil by placing a cross made from elder on their cow-sheds and barns.

In some Slavic countries, such as Russia, it is thought that the tree had the power to ward off evil. In Sicily, it was claimed to have the power to ward off snakes, and so on.

Every summer, our neighbourhood had an elder hedge with divine, full blossoms, but it was completely cut down to develop a residential site. These days, they spray the stumps with powerful chemicals to prevent regrowth.

木にまつわる伝説・神話

伝説の樹木の神々 (22)

ヒルデモア-「エルダー・マザー」、ニワトコ (ｴﾙﾀﾞｰ) の木の守り神

“真夏の夜、ニワトコの木の下に立つと、妖精の王とその一行を見ることができる。でも、妖精の国に流されないように気をつけて。

この木と木材は、妖精たちにとても珍重されている。だから、ありふれた家庭用品を作るのに使ってはいけない、特にゆりかごは厳禁だ。さもないと、赤ん坊は青黒く痣が付くまでつまんで痛めつけられる。薪を燃やしたり、家の中に持ち込んだりし��はいけない。これは非常に不吉で、悪魔がやってくるからだ。

エルダー・マザーは木を守っている。彼女は普段は優しいが、ニワトコの木に危害を加えると危険な存在になる。だから、ニワトコの木を切る前には、必ず許可を得ること。

『ニワトコのお母さま、私にあなたの薪をちょうだい。私が木に成長したら、私の薪も差し上げます』と、３回唱えなければならない。”

ブリテン諸島の妖精と民間伝承より

エルダー・マザーはニワトコ(ｴﾙﾀﾞｰ)の木の守り神であると考えられており、イギリスやスカンジナビアの各地では最近まで、ニワトコの木から木材を取るにはまずエルダー・マザーに許可を得なければならず、さもなければ木こりに不運が降りかかると言われていた。その精霊は、まず許可を得なければ、ニワトコの木で建物を建てた人に取り憑いたり、苦しめたりすると言われている。

デンマークでは、ヒルデモア（「ニワトコの母」）またはヒルデキンデ（「ニワトコの女」）は、ニワトコ(ｴﾙﾀﾞｰ)の木に住む木の妖精やドライアドのような精霊である。

このほかにも、さまざまな文化圏で似たような信仰が受け継がれている:

デンマークでは伝統的に、ニワトコの小枝を口に入れると悪霊が追い出され、歯痛が治ると考えられてきた。またデンマークでは、夏至祭の夜にニワトコの下に立つと、エルフの王とその群れが見えるとされていた。スコットランドにも同様の伝統があり、万聖節（All Hallows）またはサウィン祭（Samhain）に起こると言われていた。

英国では、ニワトコの木は雷に打たれることがなく、ニワトコの小枝を持っているとリューマチから身を守れると考えられていた。農家では、ニワトコで作った十字架を牛小屋や納屋に置くことで、家畜を悪魔から守っていた。

ロシアなどのスラブ諸国では、この木には魔除けの力があると考えられていた。シチリアでは、蛇を追い払う力があるとされていたなどなど…。

毎年夏になると、近所にニワトコの生け垣があり、神々しいほどの満開の花を咲かせていたが、宅地開発のために完全に切り倒されてしまった。最近では、再生を防止するため、切り株に強力な化学薬品を撒くらしい。

[shaydystheshadowqueen]

All Hallows Map ARTISTIC EDITION

posting this before I forget due to work, but I made a lovely artistic version of the map for All Hallows theme park

I made sure that it matched the description of the park in @allhallowsthemepark 's descriptions to the best of my ability, along with some extra creativity on my end.

Maybe next year I'll add my extra bits Midnight Midway, Croaker Creak, and Museum Of Horror, but for now this makes me happy.

Enjoy and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

[morellocheri]

A menace to society

And now the info dump section

This here is Mango, he's a sheep in my story All Hallows! He's cared for by an oc called Elijah, me and @pinkmuttonchops joke that Elijah is a single mum to Mango

If ya'll have any questions of Mango or the story All Hallows don't hesitate to ask!

[brokehorrorfan]

New York Times bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden (Ararat, All Hallows) will publish The House of Last Resort on January 30.

The 304-page horror novel will be available in hardcover and e-book via St. Martin's Press. Read the synopsis below.

Across Italy there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild―selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years. It’s a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy’s grandparents, his closest living relatives. It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy’s grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they’ve bought. There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years…and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina…something stirs.

Pre-order Christopher Golden's The House of Last Resort.

[mask131]

Autumn feasts of France: La Toussaint

Taken from "L'Inventaire des Fêtes de France, d'hier et d'aujourd'hui"

Toussaint, All Saints' Day, on the 1st of November, is the Christian holiday of "all the saints". It is often confused with the Day of the Dead, located on the following date (the 2nd of November). As a result, families gather on this day and go to cemeteries to place plants on their next of kin's graves - such as briar or chrysanthemum. In Eastern France, people also place candles on the graves.

All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead were always confused, since the cult of the martyrs was just a form of the cult of the defuncts. Created by Bonifacio IV in the ancient Pantheon of Rome in 610, it was originally a collective celebration on the 13th of May, in honor of "Saint Mary and all the martyr-saints". In this time, spring was a frightening season, because it was the time where nature woke up - and brought back to mind the memory of the buried dead. People thought, confusingly, that the souls would come out of the earth with the grain that had been planted in it.

In the Carolingian Empire, the Toussaint was celebrated on the 1st of November starting with the 9th century (the year 835 to be precise) - in imitation of England, which had places its own "All Hallows Day" upon this date, in the 8th century. This move by the English clergy was done in an attempt to erase the Celtic celebration of Samhain (that became Halloween), a celebration also tied to the remembrance of the dead. The date seems to have been perfectly chosen: as the days grow shorter, the darkness grows stronger - and the frightening darkness is an ally to all the powers of the afterlife and the world beyond.

Up to the begining of the 20th century, in the Bretagne region it was believed that the dead come back among the living during the night of the 31st of October, just like during the solstice nights. Before going to bed, the Bretagne folks left for these revenants food on a cloth-covered table, and they lit up a log in their chimney. In the isle of Sein, bells had to ring all throughout Toussaint's night, while adults armed with little bells ent door to door, saying "Christians, wake up!". The custom of using the funeral bell during this night is also attested in Normandie and in Brie : strong men relayed each other, while by duo they repeated the same words in front of every house "Do not forget the deceased!"

Given, on this day, the harvest was done and the food cellar was full, there was an habit of making "Toussaint auctons" - after the mass, or the vespers, auctions or sales were organized to gain enough money to take care of cemeteries, or to organize masses for the dead. In some places, these auctions rather happened on Saint Martin's day, on the 11th of November. One of these most unusual forms of auctions happened at Plougastel-Daoulas - it was the custom of the "apple tree". The apple tree was actually a long and strong rod covered in spikes, upon which twenty or so beautiful apples had been placed. The auction was about the apples on the tree - and it ended when someone bought the apple at the top of the tree (or "ripped it away", as people said). The one who earned the top apple also earned the tree, which they had to keep preciously in their house for next year's auction. It seems that this tradition is a remnant of an old Celtic ritual - since in Celtic beliefs, the apple was the fruit of immortality and the symbol of the Otherworld.

[pagan-stitches]

All Hallows (Dušičky, Dia de los muertos) is an important event in our house hold.

[telluriantimes]

You're in your kitchen, brewing some tea from herbs you've grown yourself. Your cat lies curled up at the end of the bed. The wind is howling outside. It's time for another day. Who knows what opportunity it might bring.