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!

Doppelgangers of Death

Doppelgangers

(Nicholas Cage / Civil War Gentleman)

Do you have a 'Doppelganger'?  And if so, do we all have one, and what the heck are they anyway....evil twins, mutated clones, body snatchers, shape shifters?  Well they're actually quite interesting; but that doesn't necessarily mean you want to have one!  'Doppelgangers' are said to be physical doubles of another living person, not unlike having a twin so to speak.  Only this is not a biological twin from your mama; but rather it's a twin in appearance, that you theoretically aren't related to. 'Doppelganger' is a German word for "Double Walker," a shadow self that is believed to accompany every person. What they truly are, no one can exactly say with definitive proof and evidence.  But many a folk among us, has had the eerie experience of finding theirs.  So is it just an uncanny coincidence that we may look identical to another? Or is there a more paranormal explanation for the resemblance?

(Maggie Gylenhall  /  Rose Wilder Lane, Historical Journalist, Women's Rights)

As interesting as it may appear on the surface, finding your twin or 'Doppelganger' may not be all it's cracked up to be.  In fact, the very thought of it is quite unnerving if the theories and rumors are true. They say that if you see the twin or 'doppelganger' of a friend or relative, it can signal that bad luck will imminently befall you.  But even worse, if you see a 'Doppelganger' of yourself...it can portend your death....YIKES!. Another less frightening theory floating around, says that it's possible you are viewing yourself in another dimension or point in time....either in the future or in the past.

(Justin Timberlake  /  Old Timey Criminal Mug Shot)

'Doppelgangers' have been noted throughout history.  They were known as 'spirit doubles' in ancient Egypt, often sharing the same attributes and feelings.  In Norse mythology they are ghostly spirits that precede a living person, performing their actions in advance. The Breton's viewed them as the personification of death itself.  Even Edgar Allen Poe is said to have described the double with demonic attributes.  But perhaps more frightening to consider if you are currently communing with your evil, or not so evil twin....is the psychiatric diagnosis that seeing one's twin is a hallucination indicating possible schizophrenia....eeegads, that means you're haunted and crazy!

(Hank Azaria  /  Rudolph Stein, Philospher)

Two interesting historical accounts of famous people seeing their 'Doppelgangers' were English poet Percy Blythe Shelley who encountered his 'Doppelganger' in Italy, silently pointing out to the Mediterranean Sea.  Not long after, shortly before Shelley's 30th birthday, he met his demise in a sailing accident....you guessed it, effectively drowning in the Mediterranean Sea!  Damn that cursed 'Doppelganger'!  And it's also rumored that none-other than Queen Elizabeth I of England was shocked to discover her own 'Doppelganger' sprawled out upon her bed.  And yet again....she too, died shorty thereafter!  (shudder)

(Ellen Degeneres  /  Henry David Thoreau)

So theoretically, it's recommended that one NOT make contact with their 'Doppelganger' or 'Double' in order to safeguard oneself from any malevolent outcomes.  But wouldn't it just be all too tempting to get a closer look, or just say hello?  So what's the consensus on 'Doppelgangers'....really creepy or kinda cool?  And have any of you ever chanced to spot your own body double....inquiring minds want to know! 

(Christopher Lloyd  /  John C. Calhoun)

(Alec Baldwin  /  Millard Fillmore)

 (Mark Zuckerberg  /  King Philip IV of Spain)

 (All Images above © Business Insider, YouTube, Puahate)

Must be the Season of the Witch!

Well it seems that Twilight has now finally faded away into the darkness...both literally and figuratively, and thank goodness for that!  Those pesky, angsty, sparkling wannabes they call 'Vampires' are finally out of our hair for good, and just in time for the 'Damsels of Darkness' to begin their reign.  Yep, there has most definitely been something brewin' the last few years with a noticeable increase this past year specifically....must be the 'Season of the Witch!  The last few years we've slowly witnessed a changing of the 'Occult Guard', so to speak.  Has anyone else noticed the unusual uptick in all things 'Witchy' this past year?  Well I have, and I do believe that Witches and Wizards are not only on trend this year specifically....but they are manifesting in the public psyche everywhere.  Yeah, Vampires are so yesterday....

But why Witches?  And why now?  In fact, all things of a supernatural bent seem to be gaining traction in America, and abroad.  But what of Witches in particular?  As an example of just how mainstream Witches and Wizards, (both good and bad) have become....
I present the sudden uptick of recent Witch/Wizard related TV programming:
1.)  Witches of East End
2.)  American Horror Story - Coven
3.)  Salem
4.)  Sleepy Hollow
5.)  The Originals
6.)  Vikings
7.)  The Good Witch's Charm (Hallmark Channel 2012)
8.)  The Good Witch's Destiny (Hallmark Channel 2013)
9.)  The Good Witch's Wonder (Hallmark Channel 2014)
10.)  The Good Witch Television Series (Hallmark Channel Debut 2015)

The Witches of Salem

American Horror Story - Coven

The Good Witch - Cassie Nightingale

The Beauchamp Family - The Witches of East End

And Witch themed Movies or Movies featuring Witches / Sorcery:
1.)  Harry Potter Series (Obviously, although not recent)
2.)  Oz the Great and Powerful - 2013
3.)  Brave (Disney - 2012)
4.)  Hansel and Gretel - Witch Hunters - 2013
5.)  The Lords of Salem (Rob Zombie - 2012)
6.)  Frozen (Disney - 2013)
7.)  Maleficent (Disney - 2014)
8.)  The Hobbit (2012, 2013, 2014)
9.)  The Conjuring - 2013
10.) Into the Woods - 2014
11.) The Bell Witch - 2013

Evanora, The Wicked Witch of the West - Oz the Great and Powerful

Maleficent

Gandalf the Grey - Lord of the Rings

And as if the Witches weren't already flying mainstream enough, it seems they've sparked a fashion trend as well. On the runways for 2014 you'll find a decidedly Witchy influence in the fashion offerings of designers such as:
1.)  Gareth Pugh
2.)  Anne Demeulemeester
3.)  Cushnie Et Ochs
4.)  Elie Saab
5.)  Yves St. Laurent

 

So what do you make of all of this Hocus Pocus? Do we find ourselves here in America, in the midst of a bonafide uprising of Witchcraft?  Or is the archetypal Witch just the Occult Symbol du Jour, destined to soon be replaced in the mainstream consciousness with the next Supernatural Superstar?  And if Vampires are just 'so yesterday', and Witches begin flying off our cultural radar again....what will be next to capture our fascination....could the 'Zombie Apocalypse' be just around the corner?
(Copyrights for all photos belong to their respective film studios, all rights reserved.)

Ghost Story - Island of Deadly Dolls

“He is the intermediary between us, his audience, the living, and they, the dolls, the undead, who cannot live at all and yet who mimic the living in every detail since, though they cannot speak or weep, still they project those signals of signification we instantly recognize as language.” 

~ Angela Carter "Wayward Girls and Wicked Women

Halloween is all about being spooked right?  And let's face it, there are a LOT of SPOOKY people, places and things in this world.  One such spooky place that I just learned of may be old news to some of you, but it was all new to me, so I thought the Halloween Countdown was a great place to share it.  I saw it on my homepage yesterday, and the image was so creepy that I had to investigate it further...

 

This is one of the creepiest Tourist Attractions in Mexico and it's called "The Island of the Dolls", or in Spanish, “La Isla de la Munecas”!  Creepy Dolls rank right up there with Creepy Clowns in my book.  I think there is something disconcerting about seemingly innocent, childlike things having a dark and sinister side to them, that really taps a nerve in our collective psyche!  So here is the bizarre tale....

A hermit by the name of  Don Julian Santana, moved to the island.  Now he was married, but is rumored to have lived the last 50 years of his life alone on the island.  When he moved there he discovered a small girl drowning in the canal and was unable to save her.  He was understandably quite distraught by the events.  Later, Don Julian found a doll floating in the water, and he believed it had belonged to the drowned child.  So he fished it out of the water and hung it up in a nearby tree.  He did this to honor the young girl's spirit and to help protect the island from any further tragedy.

This marked the beginning of his obsession with collecting old, broken dolls and placing them all around the island and the waterways.  He was also said to have fished other old dolls from the waters believing them to be drowning children.  But other stories recount the man as being tormented by the spirits of the dolls, and his collection and placement of the creepy dollies was as a shrine to appease the spirit that was tormenting him.  He believed he could hear the dolls whispering and that the spirit was beckoning him to come into the water.

Now you may or may not think the man was just slowly succumbing to his own madness, and perhaps he was.  But there is one last chilling twist to this terrifying tale.   Apparently, in 2001, old Don Julian was discovered by his nephew, drowned in the very same canal, at the same place where he'd found the young girl.  Coincidence?  Or are there more malevolent forces at work on that island?

The island is now being operated by Santana's family, as one of the world's weirdest and creepiest tourist attractions.  But there have been many a visitor who has felt the unnerving sense that the dolls are watching them.  They've claimed to have witnessed the dolls moving their broken limbs, blinking their eyes, and whispering through the trees.  As such, it is now recommended that visitors offer the spirits a gift of appeasement upon first stepping foot on the island.

I've included a video below that has some good images of the very creepy mutilated dolls, along with a recounting of the tale.  So what do you think?  Do creepy dollies make your skin crawl?  Do you think there could really be discontented spirits on the island that drove Don Julian slowly mad, and eventually beckoned him to his own watery grave?  And would you dare go there for a visit?

Blue Moon Party This Weekend!

Image © Paying it Forward - One Day at a Time

Hooray! It's Friday and a long holiday weekend here in the states!

So surely everyone knows by now what tonight is....but, just in case you live under a rock and haven't heard....tonight is the Full Moon! But it's not just any ole' Full Moon mind you....no, tonight's Moon is special because it's a Blue Moon! Blue Moons infrequently occur when there are 2 Full Moons within the same calendar month. So my birth month of August seems to for once in my life, have something special associated with it this year....something even auspicious perhaps! The first Full Moon actually occurred the day before my birthday on August 1st, and now the second Full Moon will present tonight, August 31st.
So what is the scoop on the 'Blue Moon' from the astrological world? Well the overall vibe of this Blue Moon is said to be a good one that lends itself to the Unusual and the Eccentric! Apparently it has an 'aspect pattern' known as a 'streamer'.....(and no, I have no idea what that means either)! But the gist is that this Blue Moon's coordinates put it in the sign of Pieces on the fixed star 'Skat', in the constellation of Aquarius. And that star 'Skat' is considered a 'fortunate' star which gives "good fortune and lasting happiness". It also imbues us with 'psychic ability' and 'occult interests', so we should use this Blue Moon to plug into the 'stream of consciousness'. Additionally, there is some other planetary posturing that may allow us to "receive messages from other realms".Now I don't know what you guys are thinking.....but I'm thinking
BLUE MOON PARTY!! This sounds like an 'Unusually Eccentric' good time, just waiting to be had!

Head outdoors and find a good seat under the 'Starry Night Sky', throw back a few glasses of wine or beer, soak up some much needed 'Lunar Rays', maybe try to read each others minds for awhile, break out the Tarot Cards, do a little 'Moon Dancing', and then kick back on the lounge chair and await our 'Celestial Download' of messages to arrive from planets beyond! I even found some Blue Moon Treats to satisfy those late night munchies! (Recipe for Blue Moon Cupcakes). So what do you think? Anyone up for a Blue Moon Party tonight?!If not....no worries! This Blue Moon is still an auspicious one, so at least go outside and make a wish or two while you ponder the Cosmos, 'cause the next Blue Moon won't come 'round again until July, 2015! And don't forget to cue up King Harvest's "Dancing in the Moonlight" on your iPod while you're at it! Have a great weekend, and may the 'Good Fortune' of this Blue Moon be Yours!

(Images found on We Heart It, no copyright info)

Friday the 13th!

Well, it's Friday the 13th again! Are you shaking in your boots? Is anyone hiding out in fear, buried beneath their covers? Yeah....me neither! In fact, I think I'm going to go out and catch the newest Sherlock Homes movie tonight. I was just reading a few takes on why we harbor a fear of the number 13 in the human psyche and frankly...I still don't get it. Do these really seem like things that should make us scared of the number or the day?

I mean, I can see how it was a bad day for the Knights Templar....rounded up, tortured and executed on October 13th, 1307. And I understand how 13 got a bad rap in Christianity, as apparently the extra guy (#13) seated at the Last Supper was called out as a devil who would betray Jesus, which Judas did. Hmmm....that also sounds very similar to an even older Viking tale of 12 Gods being assembled at a banquet at Valhalla, where apparently, Loki, the Evil One, God of Mischief, crashed the party bringing the total to 13. He then invited Hod, the Blind God of Winter who proceed to use a spear of mistletoe to kill Balder the Good. Okay...so again, guy #13 is apparently a trouble maker. And yes, even the Hindus believe it unlucky for 13 people to gather in one place.

But the Egyptians saw 13 as lucky because it represented the 13th stage of life as the afterlife and beyond....hence, they felt 13 represented death as happy transformation. And in the Tarot Deck, #13 is the Death card, which actually has meanings that can be construed as positive....like regeneration, change, completion, transition and transformation! So why all the fear and loathing against the #13? I've never had anything bad occur on a Friday the 13th, have you?

Well, with the exception of one thing....

Love this image © Temple Illuminatus

I will confess....that I did sneak into the Friday the 13th movie when I was but a young tween, and it did scare the living daylights out of me. I laid in bed for about 2 hours, paralyzed with fear that Jason was standing outside my door just waiting for me to make a desperate run down the hall to my parents room, so that he could chop me up into pieces. So convinced was I that he was there....that I dared not move a muscle, for fear that if he new I was alive in my bed...he'd come in and kill me....ha! The mind is powerful thing, no? Eventually however, my human instinct of fight or flight kicked in, and I did indeed make a brave cowardly run for it, to the safety of my parents room. I spent the rest of the night, sleeping on the floor at the foot of their bed. Needless to say, the jig was up come morning....parents aren't stupid, and they knew just what I had done. They figured my sleepless night of fear and panic were punishment enough for sneaking into an R rated movie. They were SO right!

Happy Friday the 13th!

What Color Is A Vampire?

I've decided to interrupt my regularly scheduled programming of my 'RavenWood Apothecary' tour, to post my last Color Collage post for the month of October. I will resume with the Apothecary tour tomorrow if I can get out of my daughter's volleyball tournament at a decent time. So today I ask the COLOR question.....'What Color Is a Vampire?'

There is no denying the popularity of Vampires in today's 'blood thirsty' culture! We can't seem to get enough of these creatures of the dark. And that got me to pondering on COLOR, as things often do....specifically Red of course! I mean the Vampire has to be the Halloween icon most closely associated to blood, since it is their life force. So I asked myself....What Color Is A Vampire? Or more precisely, what color(s) do I associate with Vampires and what colors do you associate with them?

I seem to have a more 'Gothic' 'Romantic' notion to Vampires, which I realize is probably historically inaccurate since they have a villainous background. But the colors of Red, Black, Grey and White are what my mind's eye sees when I think about Vampires. I think of them as dark, refined perhaps, Gothic, formal and yes, maybe a bit romantic. That romantic part no doubt stems from Gary Oldham in "Bram Stoker's Dracula". (Which I know some of you loathe, sorry.) But I just totally dug his long hair, top hat and dark round sun glasses. I found it to be kinda sexy, and I probably would have let him bite me too in all honesty...ha! And it's also been a while since I've seen "Interview with a Vampire" ala Anne Rice...but I seem to recall Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt being somewhat pretty and refined in that version too. So maybe those commercial Hollywood images taint my vision somewhat.

What colors do you associate with Vampires....anything dramatically different? And how about a Vampire Wedding? Would the phrase "Til Death Do Us Part" still apply at a Vampire wedding? Or should we say, "Immortally Ever After"?

Blue Moon on New Year's Eve

If they say the Moon is Blue

We must believe that it is true....

Just posting a quick note here to wish everyone of you a most Magical Blue Moon tonight on this last evening of 2009! It's a marvelous night for a MoonDance wouldn't you say? This is a rather rare celestial event and supposedly this won't happen again for about 20 years, so you better get out there and enjoy it! (Blue moons will happen of course, but it's not predicted to occur on a New Year's Eve again for another 20 years.)

I am still recovering from the holidays, but they were fabulous and I enjoyed the time with my family and friends. I hope to get back to posting more regularly once all the decorations are finally put away for another year. Then we can start our official countdown to Hallowe'en 2010!

Wishing each of you a fantabulously Happy New Year! See ya next year! :o)

My Art - Black Cats & Grinning Jacks

"Black Cats and Grinning Jacks
...make Hallowe'en Fun!
But if one dares to speak to you
....best turn around and run!"

Folklore and Tradition are part of what connects us to the spirit of Hallowe'en! Connecting with our past and sharing our beliefs and superstitions is all part of the fun of the holiday! Does your family hold any superstitious beliefs....do you refuse to stay on the 13th floor or fear black cats that cross your path? I think it's fair to say that many people hold superstitious beliefs about Hallowe'en itself....but are they founded in truth or myth?

(Click on the image to enlarge, if you can't see the words)

Artwork © Wendy A. (All Rights Reserved)

The Hook-Man

Have you ever heard the story of 'The Hook-Man'? Some say it's an urban legend that made it's first appearance in pop culture in 1960 in a Dear Abby column. The general story is about lovers parking on lover's lane and a radio announcement comes on about an escaped patient from a state asylum who has a hook in place of his right hand and is considered very dangerous. The girl gets spooked and wants to go home. The boy is frustrated and undaunted by the reports, but finally relents and drives her home in a huff. When he gets to her house to drop her off and goes to open her door, he finds a bloody hook hanging from the handle. Moral of the story...don't be naughty teenagers and go necking in a secluded area, lest you come face to face with the Hook-Man. Other versions have the boy getting out of the car to check things out and not returning, thereby prompting the girl to go looking for him where she discovers him hung over the car by a hook, sliced and bleeding. Does this story scare you?

Well it used to scare the dickens out of me. And it's no secret that I am easily spooked. I have a really over-active imagination, especially when it comes to scary things. But I can squarely lay all blame for that on my older brother of 6 years, for constantly seizing on that quality of mine as a child, and taking every opportunity he could find to scare the living daylights out of me. But it wasn't usually done in the physical, 'jump out of a closet' kind of way....although he did plenty of that too. But he rather preferred a psychological form of torment, telling me they were true stories, playing on my mind and unleashing all those hidden fears that lay inside a young girl. He'd spin terrifying tales of the Hook-Man, and other oddities like Cannibalistic Pygmy Indians. Once he even diligently made a tape recording of the Hook-Man's voice and put it on the window sill outside my bedroom, and cracked the window just a tad so I wouldn't notice. And while I was in my room alone...I began to hear the voice. When I became still to listen more closely, it was the 'Hook-Man' whispering that he was standing outside my window and had come to get me. At the same time, my brother was hiding out there in the bushes shaking the branches and clawing on the window screen with something that convincingly sounded like a HOOK to me. Needless to say, I ran screaming down the hall to my parents room, certain of my impending doom. In comes my brother, laughing in complete hysterics at his sinister accomplishment. I hate him!

And what's so bad is that my Mother in all of her un-infinite wisdom, would let my tormentor babysit me. So he had a captive audience for every demented story he could come up with. My dear older brother would cut off the electricity in the garage and bang on the windows outside, while we screamed in the dark. He would chase me around the house with his huge pet tarantula spider, threatening to put it on me as I ran and screamed at the top of my lungs. (To this day, I have arachnophobia.) Once he even boiled spaghetti noodles, peeled the skins off the grapes and made bowls of ketchup and put them all in boxes with holes for your hand. And he made my cousin and I stick our hands in there to feel what we were told was brains, eye of newt and blood! I guess it does seem a bit funny now in retrospect. But he is the reason my mind begins to imagine all sorts of scary things when I hear a noise outside my window. And why I have never really enjoyed the sensation of being scared. I'm curious if anyone else remembers any Urban Legends or tales of horror inflicted on them by their siblings. Below is a short video I found on the 'Hook-Man'....enjoy!

Urban Legend - The Hook

Mid Autumn Festival

"When the Moon is full,
Mankind is One!"

I have forever been enchanted by the magickal moon, and I am always eager for any reason to bask in its moonbeams. So l found a perfect reason to celebrate it tonight. For tonight in China, they will celebrate their Mid Autumn Festival. The origin of this 'celestial' festival dates back thousands of years and is derived from the tradition of worshiping the Goddess of the Moon. The festival also celebrates a bountiful Autumn Harvest as farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season. Traditionally, this a day for Chinese families and friends to gather together in scenic locations to admire the Mid Autumn Harvest Moon, light lanterns and feast on Mooncakes.

"Chinese people believe that on this day, the moon is the roundest and brightest, signaling a time of completeness and abundance. During the festival, children are delighted to stay up past midnight, parading multi-colored lantens into the wee hours, as families take to the street to moon-gaze. It is also a romantic night for lovers, who sit holding hands on hilltops, riverbanks and park benches...captivated by the brightest moon of the year!" Now THIS is my kind of festival, celebrating two of my favorite things,,,Moonlight and Autumn! Why can't we celebrate this here?

Witch Balls

While in Salem, one can find a wide variety of beautiful hand blown glass orbs in the many 'Witch Shoppes' around town. If you've seen those big 'Gazing Balls' that are in many a garden, then you are already vaguely familiar with their ancestor...the Witch Ball. Witch's Balls were very popular in 18th century England, but their actual origin is thought to be much older. For well over 300 years, hollow glass spheres have been hung in windows to ward off witch's spells, evil spirits and ill fortune. However, the Witch's Ball actually originated among cultures where witches were considered a blessing and these witches would usually "enchant" the balls to enhance their potency against evils. Hanging these decorative balls in the window is thought to tantalize evil spirits which may be threatening a home's tranquility. The evil spirit is mesmerized by the ball's reflective beauty. When the spirit touches the DreamCatcher type threads inside the sphere, it is absorbed and trapped in the web-like strands of the glass inside. The Witch Balls trap the negative energy and prevent it from affecting the work or home environment. Because they're similar to the glass balls used by fishermen on nets, witch's balls are also associated with many sea superstitions and legends. I can't help but wonder what happens to all those negative spirits if you accidentally break the ball though. Especially if it happens after you've had it for 20 years. That's a LOT of pent up bad energy...ha!

Another artistic take on the Witch Ball is the beautiful 'Tree of Life' Inspiration Ball. I love this one because it looks like a changing tree in Autumn. It says, "Like each leaf of a tree, our life is full of colorful and unique moments that define us as individuals. Similarly, the changes a tree endures throughout the seasons illustrate to us the circle of life. The Tree of Life reminds us to live every day of our lives with compassion, integrity and gratitude." A profoundly true statement indeed. You can find a large selection of stunning Witch Balls to choose from on-line at Quantum Alchemy.