The Haven

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain! ~ Heathen

To dress up or not to dress up; that is the question I struggle with every year.  As you all know by now, I LOVE Halloween.  But since I'm too old to go Trick or Treating, and I don't usually have a party or costume event to go to, I'm never sure how to answer this question.  Do I dress up to hand out candy?  Full costume or just a witchy hat or vampire teeth?  Maybe just a cool Halloween t-shirt?  I honestly have no idea!  Though I'm quickly running out of time so most likely dressing up in full costume is out this year. However, if I did have time to come up with a full costume I would have a full-on Masquerade Ball costume.  I just love everything about this theme, it's all so wonderfully over the top and decadent! ~ Heathen

Samhain, also know as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, and the Witch's New Year is the last of the harvest festivals and a time of dark mysteries. It's a time for new beginnings, reflection, and honoring the dead. In the tarot, the Death card represents change; an end to something which has served its purpose. While not all changes seem good in the moment, change is necessary in all things. This season is the beginning of the end of the Wheel of the Year. After Halloween we change our clocks back, bringing more of the dark to our days, and prepare for Winter. As anyone who lives in colder climates knows, Winter is the dead season when the landscape is bleak. All the plants and animals, even the Sun, go into hiding and wait to be renewed come Spring. This is the quiet time. On Halloween we carve and light Jack o' Lanterns as both protection for ourselves and guidance for the dead. We dress in costume in order to blend in with or ward off the roaming spirits. And we hand out f...

What do you get when you drop a pumpkin? Squash! ~ Heathen

It's October, the time of year to watch scary and Halloween type movies every chance you get right?  I know this, it is in fact my usual tradition.  However, instead of watching said movies I find myself obsessively re-watching the Charmed series!  I freely admit to loving this show, but why now during this spookiest of months?  I have every intention of popping in an appropriate October movie every night and yet...I can't stop watching this show!  "Just one more episode and then I'll watch a movie" I keep saying.  But do you think I ever get around to that movie?  Of course not, I'm obsessed.  And it's not like I haven't already seen the whole series, so again I ask you...why now?  I know it's magic and witches and the like, but still.  So I'm off to watch yet another episode of Charmed.  We've just finished season 4 and are about to start season 5, and I just can't get enough! ~ Heathen

Madness takes its toll, please have exact change. Happy Monday all! ~ Heathen

October is the perfect time to relate myths and superstitions.  Here are some of the ghoul superstitions I found: If a candle flame suddenly turns blue, there's a ghost nearby. In North America, a black cat crossing your path is bad luck; a white one is good luck.  In Britain and Ireland, it's exactly the opposite. Ring a bell on Halloween to scare evil spirits away. If you see a spider on Halloween, it could be the spirit of a dead loved one who is watching you. To prevent ghosts from coming in the house on Halloween, bury animal bones or a picture of an animal near the doorway. Knocking on wood keeps evil away. Before sunset on Halloween, walking around your home three times, backwards, counterclockwise, wards off evil spirits. A person born on Halloween can see and talk to spirits. I can't vouch for the truth of any of these, but I thought they were a fun thing to share! ~ Heathen

This past week we watched some werewolf movies in honor of Halloween: Skinwalkers Cursed American Werewolf in London Here are a few others that I like but haven't gotten around to watching yet this season: The Wolf Man (1941) The Underworld Trilogy Dog Soldiers The Ginger Snaps Trilogy What are some of your favorite werewolf movies? ~ Heathen

A little creepy Halloween spirit for you... ~ Heathen

So I thought I'd let you in on which spooky movies I watched this past weekend. The Lost Boys - not really spooky, but it's vampires and I love the movie Spellbinder - Kelly Preston as a witch Book of Blood - Clive Barker's story turned into a movie (medium gore factor here) Unfortunately this is all I got around to watching this weekend.  However, I will be trying to watch at least one spooky/scary/Halloween movie every night throughout the month of October.  I think I'll do a weekly list of what we've watched. In the meantime I have a question/challenge for you my pretties...list your favorite Halloween movies.  Not just scary, but movies that actually have something to do with Halloween.  This is not as easy as it sounds considering the sheer quantity of scary movies out there.  Here's my list... Halloween I and II (original of course) Trick 'r Treat Nightmare Before Christmas The Crow (first one only, anyone who lives near Detroit knows abo...

I'll be putting up a Halloween post later today, but right now one of our fellow bloggers needs all the positive energy and blessings we can send her way.  Danni over at the Whimsical Cottage is having a recurring health issue.  Please drop in and leave her some encouragement  here. Thank you all!