Happy Samhain/Halloween

 

Halloween in Japan

Over the past ten years, Japan has shown more interest in Halloween, with all the scenery, visuals and costumes that you'll see in the video below.

Trick or treating isn't big in Japan, but the appeal of Halloween in Japan is the fun and costumes, so the holiday ends up being mostly for adults who want to dress-up. Costume parties become a focus for many establishments or in private homes.

Halloween Activities in Japan 

Halloween celebrations are often held in September and October. Tokyo, Osaka, and Kanagawa are the most popular destinations for costumed fun, but more cities across the country are embracing the holiday each year.

Events usually take place in shopping malls and amusement parks and include street parties, parades, flash mobs, zombie runs, and costume parties at bars. However, the Japanese celebrate their spooky season in August, which is when they usually enjoy telling ghost stories and visiting haunted attractions.

Theme parks around Japan bring in some of the biggest crowds for Halloween thanks to their many diverse events:

• Tokyo Disneyland: Events include a massive parade with more than 100 floats and performers, haunted attractions and performances, and dance parties with ghosts and goblins. At sundown, the parks' many characters transform into ghostly versions of themselves to haunt the streets.
• Universal Studios Japan: Halloween Horror Nights features haunted houses and other scary activities, including a special holiday-themed movie ride. Like at Disneyland, characters at Universal will transform at sundown.
• Shibuya Hikarie Retail Complex: The International Costume Contest invites guests to compete in a variety of categories including scariest costume and best cosplay. 

• Sanrio Puroland: The costumed characters at this indoor theme park known for its Hello Kitty-themed area will transform into spooky ghosts and goblins at night. You can also expect to find themed parties and celebrations throughout the month.

Halloween is Almost Here

 

We’ve been getting ready for Halloween since the beginning of the year because we love the atmosphere, excitement and emotions created by this special holiday.

We honor Samhain for the special Pagan day that it is.

Having said that, we also love the season of Halloween.

For all the people who love cheesy horror movies, fake cobwebs, and the endless supply of cupcakes, we are among and with you.

Halloween, with all its tacky, silly goulishness, is the best holiday. We salute the people who love it, we have a commonality with you.

Halloween is the only Holiday where grown adults can be silly and get away with it.

To enjoy Halloween all you need is bad wig, fake blood on a T-shirt and you're all set.

It's a holiday that is actually fun for kids and adults, at the same time, imagine that.

Other holidays are fun for kids and adults as well, but the money, the cost of some of these holidays put people in debt all year round.

Because of the expense the stress levels go through the roof.

On the other hand, carving a pumpkin, bobbing for apples, going a hayride or experiencing a corn maze are inexpensive Halloween ways to have, a lot of fun.

 

Trick or Treat

 

Historians trace trick-or-treating to a few different ancestors. 

One is the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the transition to the new year, and the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter. 

The ancient Celts believed that during this night, the realms of the living and the dead overlapped and that spirits both good and bad could walk among the living. 

To confuse and ward off the evil spirits, the Celts would sometimes impersonate them with costumes of white clothing and masks or blackface. 

If they encountered a spirit during the feast, the costumed Celts would be mistaken for spirits and left alone.

As Christianity began to influence in the British, the old Pagan customs were Christianized and adapted to help sooth the Celts’ conversion. 

Three Christian holidays—All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, together known as Hallowmas—were placed on the same days as Samhain. 

All Hallow’s Eve eventually got shortened to Hallowe'en, and then Halloween, in conversation.

 

Going around the neighborhood for treats is most likely a form of souling, which started in the Middle Ages, also in the British Isles. 

Soulers, mostly children and some poor adults, would go to door to door during Hallowmas and collect food or money in return for prayers said for the dead on All Souls’ Day. 

A secular version of souling, called guising, eventually sprang up and is first recorded in Scotland in the 19th century. 

Guisers went door to door and earned food treats or money by offering a small performance, like telling a joke or singing a song. 

Some accounts of both these traditions make note of “fantastic costumes” that borrowed both from Samhain and British mummery. 

(They also mention soulers and guisers carrying vegetable lanterns, precursors to the jack-o’-lantern.)

Halloween Samhain Two Weeks Away

Regardless of what you call this day, we offer our greetings...

We love Halloween/Samhain for all the obvious reasons that Pagans and non Pagans celebrate. We also love it because it brings the best out of us. 

Fewer people worry about being lonely, abandoned, heartbroken, or alienated on Halloween. 

There isn't as much emotional tension surrounding Halloween that surrounds other holidays.

On Halloween you don’t have to wear the emotional mask one many people put on for other holidays.

Along with the traditions of Halloween, Samhain is the night when the old God dies, and is mourned by the Crone Goddess for the next six weeks until he is reborn at Yule.

The popular image of her as the old Halloween hag menacingly stirring her cauldron comes from the Celtic belief that all dead souls return to her cauldron of  life, death, and rebirth to await reincarnation.

Protect Your Pets This Halloween

Vintage Halloween Costumes

As Halloween/Samhain approaches,

let’s look at the vintage costumes from years past.

Halloween Jello Shots

1. Ready to party with Jello Shots?
2. From Delish.com
3. 2 cups tonic water
4. 2 packages Jell-O (two flavors; pineapple and orange)
5. 1 cup water
6. 1 cup vodka
7. Make the first layer: Pour one cup of tonic water into a pot over high heat. 
8. Once it comes to a boil, add the pineapple Jell-O mix. 
9. Whisk until the mix has dissolved, then pour in half a cup of water and half a cup of vodka. 
10. Stir to combine.
11. Pour the Jell-O into shot glasses, filling them about 2/3s of the way up. 
12. Place them in the refrigerator to chill for about 30-35 minutes.
13. Make the second layer: As they set, start making the Orange Jell-O, following the same process used for the Pineapple Jell-O.
14. Top each of the pineapple Jell-O shot glasses with the orange Jell-O mixture. 
15. Return the shots to the fridge to set, about 2-3 hours.

I Put a Spell on You by Kris and Julie Andrews

Kris and Julie Alberts honoring the movie "Hocus Pocus 20th Anniversary" and Halloween coming up, decided to feature this video to a medley of "Come Little Children" and 

"I Put A Spell On you."

We think the video is great, hope you enjoy it.

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU

" Hocus Pocus " Medley

Performed by Kris and Julie Alberts

Music Arranged and Produced by their dad Albert Asriyan.

This is Halloween by Broken Peach

 

Bobbing for Apples

The tradition of bobbing for apples dates back to the Roman invasion of Britain, when the conquering army merged their own celebrations with traditional Celtic festivals.

The Romans brought with them the apple tree, a representation of the goddess of fruit trees, Pomona.

 

When an apple is sliced in half, the seeds form a pentagram-like shape, and it is thought that the manifestation of such a symbol meant that the apple could be used to determine marriages during this time of year. From this belief comes the game bobbing for apples. 

 

During the annual celebration, young unmarried people try to bite into an apple floating in water or hanging from a string; the first person to bite into the apple would be the next one to be allowed to marry.

 

Spooky Black Candy Apples

We tried making these and they were great.

Spooky Black Caramel Apples from bakedbyrachel.com

Spooky homemade black caramel apples, a fun treat perfect for Halloween parties!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/2C granulated sugar
• 1/4C heavy cream
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 tsp McCormick black food coloring
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. Prepare apples: wash, dry and remove stems. Insert sticks or popsicle/craft sticks. Set aside.
3. In a medium heat proof bowl, add corn syrup, water and granulated sugar. Microwave for 5-7 minutes until mixture boils and turns a light amber color. Watch closely and remove immediately after it has reached ideal shade.
4. Stir in heavy cream, followed by salt, vanilla and food coloring. Mix until well incorporated. Finally stir in butter until smooth.
5. Immediately dip and coat one apple at a time. Tilt and rotate to coat completely. Hold over bowl with stick up, allowing excess to drip off or 10-15 seconds. Flip upside down, with stick down, letting caramel set for 15-20 seconds. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining apples.
6. Chill for at least 30-60 minutes to completely set caramel.
7. Can be made up to a day ahead.

Halloween to Build Bridges

Halloween is special, it originated as a Celtic pagan festival when the souls of the dead roamed their old homes and evil spirits played tricks on the living.

But it isn't Satanic and it doesn't mean it can't be fun...for everyone.

We think Pagans have a great opportunity to remove barriers and build bridges with the rest of the world by inviting friends and neighbors to join in on the fun.

The Pagan Kitchen celebrates Samhain with our own rituals, but we also have a good time with Halloween. 

We don’t know any Pagan who celebrates Halloween conjuring up evil spirits like the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus, you probably don't either.

Yes, Halloween has pagan roots, just like most holiday’s and we're proud of that.

But these holidays can be celebrated and enjoyed by all.

LifeWay Research conducted a survey and found that 59 percent of Americans think the dark day is “all in good fun.” 14 percent will celebrate but “try to avoid the pagan elements.” 

There are those who are concerned with the holiday’s pagan roots, where  21 percent of Americans and 23 percent of Christians “try to avoid Halloween completely.”

“As popular and pervasive as Halloween has become, there is still a sizeable minority that avoids at least some elements,” says Scott McConnell, vice president of Nashville-based LifeWay  courtesy of LifeWay Research

Maybe the activities below aren’t for everyone, pick and choose the ones that interest you and have fun.

Pumpkin Spiked Horchata

This is not only easy, it's delicious.

Let's get started.

Toss the rice and water in a blender, pulse it a few times, add a cinnamon stick in it, and let it soak overnight. 

Then mix the other ingredients over the stove to melt then stir everything together, and you’ve got yourself an outrageous beverage.

Spiked Pumpkin Horchata

Prep Time: 24 hours

Cook Time: 4 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

This is a classic Mexican Horchata recipe that is spiced up to include pumpkin, cinnamon sugar, and alcohol.

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 5 cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk (or milk of choice)
• 2/3 cup coconut sugar (or sweetener of choice)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 12 oz. spiced or vanilla rum
• cinnamon sugar for rimming glasses
• cinnamon sticks for garnish

Directions

1. Add rice and water to the pitcher of a blender and blend until the rice is chopped into small pieces. About 1-2 minutes.
2. Pop cinnamon stick into the pitcher, cover, and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, but overnight is best.
3. Once mixture has soaked, strain the rice milk through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth that's been placed over a pitcher.
4. While milk is straining, whisk together pumpkin puree, coconut milk and sugar in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. About 3-4 minutes.
5. Remove pumpkin mixture from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Stir the pumpkin mixture into strained rice milk until well mixed.
7. To serve, add ice and 1 1/2 ounces of rum to a glass rimmed in cinnamon sugar, top off with with the pumpkin spice horchata, and stir with a cinnamon stick.

Halloween/Samhain HAVE FUN

Halloween/Samhain is very close. 

The holidays are meaningful for Pagan families and it's also a lot of fun.  

Just because you’re Pagan, doesn’t mean that Samhain has to be solemn. 

All the fun of costumes and trick-or-treating are a big part of Samhain tradition. 

It's a great family activity to learn the meaning behind the masks, including the more somber aspects of the holiday, along with the fun, food and games.

This is a time for families to join together and celebrate with respect, having fun at the same time.

Together, families can watch scary movies, set up and decorate your family’s shrine along with the Halloween decorations.

For us, it's less about formality and more about being yourself and creating great energy.

Personal Jesus- Broken Peach

You can learn more about Broken Peach HERE

Halloween Is Coming

Pumpkin Ideas

Here are a few other ideas...