Day of the Dead - Animated Video

Happy Dia de los Muertos one and all!  There are many reasons to love this Mexican celebration....the color, the flowers, the candles, the sounds, the lights, the fiesta, the sugar skulls, the skeletons....need I go on??  It's a lovely heartfelt celebration of those family and friends that have passed on to the other side.  And although it's a celebration of the dead, it's also very much a celebration of life, a remembrance of those lives that touched ours.  This is how death should be celebrated if you ask me...piercing the veil through space and time to reunite with those whose lives touched yours!  Please enjoy the animated short "Dia De Los Muertos" from Whoo Kazoo!

The Dark Hedges - A Haunting

Well, it's the most spooky month of the year again....the perfect time for some of my favorite things like Jack O'Lanterns, Legends and Haints.  And truth be known some of the present day Hallowe'en customs that we celebrate here in America have their origins in the magical land of Ireland.  So I thought it was the perfect time to share a little story about an eerily beautiful location that comes with it's own 'Ghost'! It even has a sinister sounding name....The Dark Hedges!

The Dark Hedges are located in Northern Ireland in Ballymoney, near the village of Armoy, along a stretch of Bregagh Road.  What makes this stretch of road so unique is the picturesque Beech Tree Canopy that covers the stretch of road leading to what is was formerly known as Gracehill House. Gracehill House was a Georgian mansion belonging to the Stuart family in the 18th century.  The family planted the Beech trees that line both sides of the road, to serve as an impressive landscape feature for visitors coming up the long driveway to the mansion.  And there they've grown for over 300 years.

What makes The Dark Hedges so stunning,  is how they've grown across the drive towards each other,  and have entangled themselves in such a way to form a lovely Tim Burton-esque canopy over the road.  They form a long, naturally arched tunnel in which the light and shadows play in a most beautifully haunting way.  The gnarled branches seem to be a bit foreboding in appearance, while at the same time quite breath-taking to behold.  The old trees appear as though  they may come to life at any moment and pluck you right up with their gnarly branches.  So it's no wonder that a 'Ghost Story' is inevitably attached to this magical site.

Local legend speaks of a supernatural specter that haunts the hedges along the road.  She is known as "The Grey Lady".  She is rumored to be the restless spirit of a former maid that worked at the mansion who had died of mysterious circumstances centuries ago.  The apparition has been spotted gliding along the side of the road and vanishing as she turns the corner past the last beech tree.  Still others believe her to be a lost spirit from an abandoned graveyard rumored to lay hidden in the dank, dark earth of the nearby fields.  But the best tale is the one that takes place on All Hallow's Eve.

For on Hallowe'en night, when the veils between the spirit world and ours grows thin....it is said that the Grey Lady herself is joined on her nightly walk by the tormented souls of those other restless spirits buried beside her in the forgotten graveyard.  Nothing like a lil' Hallowe'en Awakening and Midnight Processional to get the blood racing and the heart pumping, eh?!  I don't know about you...but I don't think I'd be brave enough to venture down that spooky stretch of road alone at night, especially on All Hallow's Eve! 

Orange Tree Photo Wallpaper from Next Trip Tourism
Dark Tree Photo © Bob McCallion (all rights reserved)  Image can be purchased here!

Day of Dearly Departed Souls!

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.

~ George Eliot

So yesterday and today, November 1st & 2nd, is when Día de Los Muertos is traditionally celebrated.  And although I've never been to an event, I sure would LOVE to go.  So this year as I was lamenting my failed attempts at making Halloween happen to my liking...I decided to see if there were any Day of the Dead celebrations in our area that I could attend to appease my hurt feelings.  Well of course there's not...no surprise there, go figure!  There was one museum that had some small something or other, but that's pretty much all I could find.

Until.......I expanded my search to the entire state of Florida.  Then I found something that really caught my interest and looks like BIG fun.  Unfortunately, I discovered this on October 30th and that was just not enough time to get our ducks in a row to head down there today, October 2nd.  It's the South Florida, Day of the Dead Celebration in Ft. Lauderdale.  This is the event's 3rd year, and apparently it grows ever more popular each year.  There are all sorts of fun events going on in the City Arts District which has several streets blocked off for the event.  Here are some of the Fun & Fabulous Festival Offerings...

* Giant Skeleton Puppet Processional and Parade 
* Day of the Dead Art Exhibitions and Market 
* Community Ofrendas and Calaveras Skull Mask exhibits 
* Day of the Dead Film Festival 
* Hearse/Art Car/ LowRider Auto Show
* World’s Tiniest Skeleton Parade Floats & Kazoo Band
* Landscapes of the Dead Exhibition  
* Live Music at the Bone Yard Bandstand
* Circus Bizarra Side Show, Midway and Funhouse
* Memento Mori-Go-Round
* Great & Prescient Fortune Tellers Vladmir Plotzsky & Madame Glo
* Cupcake Burlesque
* South Florida Pirates & Ghost Ship
* Animale Mexotica
* Skeleton Street Circus: Trapeze, Stilt Performers & Cirque Performances  
* Mr. Bones Heckle Puppet Show
* Calaveras Mask Making
* Live Skeleton Body Art and Face Painting
* Kid Zone and Petting Zoo
* Calaveras Cantina Food Trucks (Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Peru and others)
* Day of the Dead Crafters Market
* Costume Photo Booth
* Exotica a Go Go Day of the Dead After Party at the Mai Kai Restaurant
* Day of the Dead Shimmy Shake Review at the Green Room Nightclub


I don't know about you...but I REALLY want to hit this up next year.  The only I'd like better is if it were being held in a Cemetery...but beggars can't be choosers.  So I'm going to plan for it in advance for next year.  And I think it will fall on a Saturday next year too, so that would be even better.  My only decision is do I want to take the kids to let them experience something cool from another culture, or do I want to go with just the hubby or some friends and really let loose...ha!  I need to start looking for Day of the Dead make-up tutorials on You Tube!

So today on Día de Los Muertos, don't forget to light some candles and honor your relatives and ancestors who have passed on to the other side!  They may be gone, but they are never dead until they're forgotten....so don't forget to remember them today!  After all, the veils are thin and maybe their spirits will see fit to drop in and celebrate the day with you!   
Happy Día de Los Muertos!
(All artwork © South Florida Day of the Dead Celebration)

Sleepy Hollow

 So as you all know, we try our best to get to New England in the Autumn because Florida has no such thing as an Autumn season.  Well, a few years ago, I got a wild hair to add Sleepy Hollow to my list of places to visit on our trip.  Since we stay in Vermont usually, and hit Salem each visit as well...it required a bit of a drive and a change in hotels to make it happen.  It's about 3 hours west from Vermont.  And we were going to see the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze, (which is incredible and totally worth doing if you get to Sleepy Hollow in October!).  We also planned on checking out the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery so we could see the actual bridge where the Headless Horseman rode across in Washington Irving's classic haunted tale.

The cemetery was beautiful and I took lots of photos...but sadly, I lost them all, as they somehow got erased from my compact flash card.  I can't tell you how sick I still am about that!  The town, originally Tarrytown, is a very quaint town in the Fall.  The colored leaves blowing by, the shops with their Halloween wares on display, and streets decorated for the season...all collaborate to add to the magic of the legend itself. 

During the month of October there are a variety of activities to enjoy like the Jack O'Lantern Blaze in nearby Croton-on-Hudson, the Haunt Attraction, Horseman's Hollow, Irving's Legend, a master storytelling performance complete with organ music, the Haunted Hayride, Lyndhurst Mansion After Dark, site of the first two Dark Shadows movies, family fun at the Legend Weekends Event, the spectral tales of The Ghosts of TarryHollow and of course, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Tours where you can enter the crypt of Barnabas Collins and find the graves of Brom Bones and Katrina Van Tassel.  I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to live in this town...what a spooktacular October we would have!
 

As for the infamous bridge where the Headless Horseman chased ole' Ichabod Crane....well, you can find the bridge, and it is pretty....but it was a bit anticlimactic due to the fact that the bridge you see now, is not the 'real' bridge, and is not actually standing in the exact same place it was back in the day.  But it was all still a heap of fun, very cool....and absolutely perfect for a Fall vacation!

The Veils Grow Thin on All Hallow's Eve!

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN / SAMHAIN!“The Bat that flits at close of Eve
Has left the Brain that won't believe.
The Owl that calls upon the Night
Speaks the Unbeliever's fright."

~ William Blake

"Hark! Hark to the wind! 'Tis the night, they say,
When all souls come back from the far away-
The dead, forgotten this many a day!"

~ Virna Sheard

I heard a whisper whispering.

I heard a whisper whispering,

Upon this fine fall day...

As I went out walking this fall afternoon,

I heard a laugh a'laughing.

I heard a laugh a'laughing,

Upon this fine fall day...

I heard this whisper and I wondered,

I heard this laugh and then I knew.

The time is getting near my friends,

The time that I hold dear my friends,

The veil is getting thin my friends,

And strange things will pass through.

(Author unknown)

"Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,
Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"

~ Dexter Kozen

The Old Graveyard

By: Kurtis Primm

There is an old graveyard

I always walk by

Where others before me

Have died and now lie.

And when I walk by it

It gives me the creeps

To know that one day

It’s there that I’ll sleep.

Sometimes I see shadows

And I often hear sounds

Could it be coming from those

Buried deep underground?

I walked past one evening

It was quite late at night

I could see them there standing

A trick of the light?

I saw one approach

With it’s pale outstretched hand

And it beckoned to join it

So I turned and I ran.

Now I’ll never walk past

That old graveyard again

Cause I’m scared

I may never be heard from again.

The old graveyard’s still there

And I know in my mind

That the dead are there waiting

Just biding their time.

So if you walk past

And you hear the wind moan

It may not be the wind

But them calling you home.

Tis' Hallowe'en once again and I am a busy lil' witch preparing for all the evenings festivities. It has been raining all night and all morning, but the sun is now shining through and cold air is moving in. We will begin preparing the hot soup and bread, chips and dips, pumpkin bread and cookies, cupcakes and spiced apple cider. Friends and family will be here soon, and the house will be a buzz with activity as excited children (and even more excited Wendy) get dressed and ready to shuffle into the moonlit night breeze to get our fill of Trick or Treat!

Thank you all for joining me in the Countdown to Hallowe'en this year. You guys are what really make this season and this holiday such a treat for me. I'm very grateful to be able to share my time with other Autumn People and Hallowe'en Heads who love it as much as I do! May you all have a Magical All Hallow's Eve filled with scares and candy and fun! :o)

All Photos © 2011 Wendy A. (All Rights Reserved)

Tree Spirits in the Cemetery

These are photos I shot at West Wardsboro Cemetery in Vermont. I love the simplicity and slight spookiness of the old, small white picket pence and stone wall in front. It beckoned me inside. And the cemetery itself was quite lovely with stately trees and a backdrop of gorgeous fall foliage. But most instantly noticeable were two very stately, barren trees that seemed to stand guard in the middle. They seemed to give off their own aura, and what felt almost like a hushed distant warning. I can only describe it as a heightened sense of unease when walking too close to them. So what was it about these particular trees anyway?

I read somewhere that the Native Americans called Trees, the Ghosts of the Forest. And sometimes told tales of certain trees that were 'haunted' by evil spirits. The early settlers of course scoffed at the Indians' absurd beliefs, often taunting them and threatening to cut the trees down for firewood. That was until the fateful night that one over smug settler tried to chop into the tree with an axe, that promptly flew out of his hand, hit the tree and ricocheted back on top of the man himself.....severing an artery. The poor unfortunate man bled to death under those very trees he mocked. Guess that will teach him!
I like to think of Trees as Sentinels or Guardians over the land they oversee. Like the two large foreboding trees in the photo above that I took at that cemetery in Vermont. When I was walking through that graveyard, as I always do, shooting pictures and enjoying the reverence I feel there....it was those two trees that seemed to keep sending out a 'vibe', for lack of a better word. They just seemed to tower over their dominion in a somewhat unsettling manor. And I did give pause, as I thought that perhaps they may not appreciate strangers like myself encroaching on their sacred domain of the afterlife. But other than that slight uneasy feeling when venturing beneath them, I noticed nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. UNTIL...I returned home and viewed my photos! And sure enough, there were the tree spirits clear as day, scowling at me, warning me no doubt...to turn back while I still could, lest I join them there forever!

So there is a moral to this story, and those cautionary tales of the Native Americans. Some forces and spirits in this world, be they evil or benign....aren't readily apparent to the casual observer. One must be open to the magical ways and always on high alert....as you never know when those entities may choose to show themselves for who or what they truly are! ;o)All Images © 2006 Wendy A. (All Rights Reserved)

My Autumn Place Pt. 2 - Golden Burial Grounds

"October is nature's funeral month.

Nature glories in death more than in life.

The month of departure,

is more beautiful than the month of coming… October than May.

Every green thing loves to die in bright colors."

~ Henry Ward Beecher

The second part of my Autumn Place post centers around the Graveyards in Peacham VT. Peacham only has one main intersection. That's were you see the sign in the first photo on my Part 1 post. At that intersection, sits a quaint red country store that usually has mums and pumpkins and a scarecrow or two adorning it's weathered steps. From there you can either go N, S, E or W! One of the two roads will either take you up a hill or down the hill, depending on which direction you choose to go. But either direction will take you to a cemetery.
If you drive up the hill...you will pass the tiny one door fire station on the right and the City Hall on the left, as well as a red barn where black and white spotted cows stare at you through soft brown eyes. I think to myself that they probably have some sort of 'cow dialogue' going on where they complain about the pesky tourists like me taking their picture as if we'd never seen cows before...ha! Then you come to a beautiful cemetery that sits majestically beneath a canopy of huge gold and orange maples. Some of the headstones are newer, but there are old ones there as well, and you can drive around the road that winds through them. It's breathtaking in there. The ground has an Autumn carpet of colored leaves that blanket the earth, almost as if Mother Nature is tucking in the deceased for their long winter's nap. We always seem to arrive around twilight (because we always get lost and it takes us that long to find the place). But the light at that time of day is divine and magical, perfect for taking photos. And the sense of calm and peacefulness that comes over me is hard to describe but it makes me feel very connected to those buried around me, to the vibration of the trees and to the cycle of life.
The whole place is stunning, with a HUGE line of stately maples that command your attention. I think of them as the sentinels or guardians of this sacred spot. I feel as though I must confirm to them that my intentions there are honorable and that I will show the living and the dead all due respect. Then if you make it past them, you are rewarded with one of the most incredible views in Vermont. The back of the graveyard sits high on a hill and overlooks the valley below. And on the horizon, just past the quintessential red barn, on the other side of the vale....are the glorious hills, dotted with a kaleidoscope of colors that signal the reign of the Autumn Queen.
The day I took this photo....the sun had already begun it's descent for the day, as dusk came calling....and you can see the last bastion of sun rays hitting the top of the hill, illuminating the brilliant fall foliage. It was really an incredible display, and I was grateful to be there to capture it on film. This is indeed my Autumn Place, and I should very much like to be the resident caretaker of these Golden Burial Grounds.
Now the first time we arrived in Peacham, we chose to go down the hill first, and as the road wound around the bend, it delivered us to a very small, but very old graveyard. I hopped out to get a better look at the headstones that were old, weathered and in varying states of disrepair. That's when I saw the one below....1796! Wow...that's pretty darn old. And it got me to thinking on the fact that this Autumn Place here where I now stand in awe....was inhabited over 2oo years ago, that is 'recorded' via grave marker....and doubtlessly long before that by other indigenous folks.

But this is New England, and it's the beginning of October, absolutely stunningly gorgeous with the trees ablaze with color....but the air is cold already. My fingers are freezing and stiff as I grapple with my heavy camera, the shrill wind is causing my eyes to water and this lil' Florida girl is freezing her butt off and it's only October. No snow yet. No Northeastern snow storm blowing through and banking up against the houses and snowing in these tiny little roads.

How on earth did these early settlers survive up here without heaters and automobiles and snowplows? My mind wanders aimlessly trying to imagine them bunked up in their houses that are surely cold everywhere except in front of the hearth. What did they do to keep themselves busy without electricity and computers and automobiles and a camera?! As much as I love it here....and I do SO much.....I decide that being locked indoors for months at a time might very well drive me stark raving mad. Actually, an artist probably would fare better than most in that situation....he/she could at least draw, write, sing and create. But still....I cannot even fathom that way of life in today's age of technology and 24/7 communication. How long did they go before even seeing another neighbor? And with so few people in a place as far out as this....how did they even find mates back then? I have to assume the pickin's were rather slim...ha!

Graveyards do this to me...they take me on a journey of inquiries into another time, trying to understand the lives of those people who lie buried beneath the headstones. People that maybe no one else even remembers now. Time may have forgotten them....but not me! When I see their final resting place, I am reverent and I remember them, even if only in my imagination.

Flight of the Soul From Mortal Man

The spiked iron gate
Grasps feebly at darkened trees -
Graveyard moon rises
~ Morpheus

It's no secret that I love graveyards, as I've posted on them multiple times in the past and I will continue to do so today and in the future. I love to photograph in them...especially if they are a.) Old and b.) Atmospheric.

One of the more infamous cemeteries in New England is The Old Burying Point in Salem, Massachusetts. Also known as the Charter Street Cemetery, it is Salem's oldest resting place, started in 1637. Although there are some notable historical figures buried here, you will not find the final resting places of many of the notorious Witches who were executed during Salem's Witch Trials. This is because many were buried not far from the site of their hangings, and sadly without headstones.

Now although this cemetery does meet the criteria of OLD...I don't personally find it to be very atmospheric at all. Well actually, the first time I ever saw it, was at night about 5 years or so ago, while on a walking 'Ghost Tour' around Salem. It was later in the evening and the sky was dark, but lit ominously by a big full moon and it was quite cold outside. I remember viewing the moon through the stark branches of a bare tree, and clouds were covering the moon just perfectly to look like the best ones you've seen in any good horror movie. And the fallen leaves were being blown about on the blustery wind, whipping around our ankles as we stood there on this hallowed ground. It was very atmospheric at first, in the dark...so much so that I was certain a ghost would want to come forth on a night like that. Then reality reared its ugly head.

For you see, our 'tour guide' that evening quickly squelched any remaining fragments of delusion by the mere fact that he was the WORST tour guide in the history of the planet. In fact, bestowing the title of 'Tour Guide' on that guy should be an arrestable offense. He may have worn a top hat, and at first looked the part...but as soon as he opened his mouth we realized that we'd just been robbed. He was just some young punk collecting a paycheck to walk around with a bunch of goofy tourists for the night. He couldn't remember where the places were to visit, he got us lost, he would start telling an account and then forget the majority of the facts and just skim over it. The guy couldn't field any questions because he didn't know any answers, and he'd just stop in mid sentence and say in a Jeff Spicoli voice, "yeah, so like I think that's it for this spot unless any of you like, know of anything else to add." Uh...NO! If we already knew the story we wouldn't have just paid that moron good money to tell us. Aaarrggh!

But the cemetery also lacks atmosphere because it's located right next to these buildings where the 'Haunted Happenings' take place. In this little section of Salem, frequented by teenagers, you will find such cheesy things as women in witch get-ups trying to sell you tickets to a spell casting, a really bad museum and a haunted house that I can't vouch for. Here you can also get your fill of 'fair food' like funnel cakes and cotton candy etc. It has a definite 'carnival' vibe and you can literally see the backside of it all while you're standing in this very small cemetery. It doesn't have a lot of stately trees, or moss hanging down, so photographically speaking, it does nothing for me, except.....

It is old, and as such, it has some really awesome headstones. I loved the art on the headstones so much that I photographed them, but I really would have loved to have paper and graphite so I could sit there and make rubbings from them. The Frog Queen had posted a series of posts during the summer, about the meaning of these images on the graves and it's really interesting. Personally I think my favorite is a Winged Skull. This is obvious because most of these shots are of stones with a winged skull on them, each having a slight variation. But also note that these are all different headstones, so I think it's safe to say that the winged skull was a popular motif of the time as well. I looked up the meaning and it means "Flight of the Soul from Mortal Man"! I think that sums it up quite well. So what image would you choose to be on your tombstone?
All Images © 2006 Wendy A.