Hey Everyone, How are you all doing? I am ever so pleased with the crowd I have attracked, so many people have been adding me lately. There is nothing better than having a crowd to share your thoughts with... getting them out to that little crowd.. and than someday the world. So Thank you everyone!


Now than, This is a very special month. ^.^ For the general public who does not know me personally, I will let you in one something very dear to my heart- I am a practicing Neo-Pagan. This month, your halloween is our Samhain! So before I give you, your poet of the month, Im going to give a little about one of my favorite holidays. Since there is a lot to write, I am using passages from: [link]


Samhain - the origin of Halloween
October 31st
This is the beginning of the Celtic and Wiccan New Year.
Samhain is Irish-Gaelic for 'the Summer's end', and is pronounced 'sow-in'.
This festival celebrates Nature's cycle of death and renewal, a time when the Celts acknowledged the beginning and ending of all things in life and nature. Samhain marked the end of harvest and the beginning of the New Celtic Year. The first month of the Celtic year was Samonios - ‘Seed Fall’.
Samhain heralds the beginning of Winter when the world starts to darken and the days are getting shorter - the 'dark half' of the year and the demise of the power of the sun.

British Summer Time ends today with the clocks going back an hour - long, dark, velvety evenings arrive.
This festival welcomed the final harvest and the safe storage of crops for the coming Winter. Anything left on the trees, bushes or in the fields after this date was considered ruined by the 'puka', and unedible. The puka or pooka is a mischievous spirit or fairy from Celtic lore.

It is believed that the connection between the world of the living and the dead is thinner on this night - also known as 'Ancestor night' - so souls of the dead can enter the land of the living. The Celts looked to their ancestors to bring them guidance for the coming year and hoped to commune with the spirits at Samhain.
Samhain is considered a celebration of life over death, and a time to remember those who have left the world of the living. Candles would be lit at the graves of loved ones.

Halloween originates from the ancient Celts' celebrations and is based on their 'Feast of Samhain'. The Catholic church attempted to replace the Pagan festival with All Saints' or All Hallows' day, followed by All Souls' Day, on November 2nd. The eve became known as: All Saints' Eve, All Hallows' Eve, or Hallowe'en.

In order to protect themselves from any roaming evil spirits the Celts would appease them by offering them treats. The custom of wearing costumes on Halloween is thought to derive from the Celts disguising themselves at Samhain, so the spirits would think that they belonged to their own company. They could then communicate with the spirit world, known as 'souling'.




The Crone

The triple Goddess - worshipped by the Ancient Britons - is now in her third aspect of the Crone: the keeper of wisdom and mysteries.
In the Scottish Highlands the Crone was personified as the 'Cailleach Bheur' - the blue-faced hag - the Queen of the Winter. She was reborn on every All Hallows Eve, returning to bring the Winter and protect animals through the coldest months.
She turned to stone on Beltane Eve.

Fire festivals

Samhain is one of the four Celtic fire festivals marking the quarter points in the year - feasts were held and bonfires were lit throughout the countryside.
The bonfires were to warm friendly spirits and ward off evil spirits, and also represented the sun which they wished would return, bringing heat and growth.

It was custom to give an ember from the fires to attending families, who would then take it home to start a new cooking fire. These fires were believed to keep the homes happy and free from any lost evil spirits.

The name 'bonfire' is believed to be derived from the custom of burning the bones of the cattle which were slaughtered at this time - a 'bone fire'.

Samhain Traditions

Samhain is considered a time to eliminate weaknesses - our Celtic ancestors slaughtered weak animals that were not likely to survive the winter and their meat was salted and stored for the dark months, this has evolved into the custom of writing your own weaknesses onto a piece of paper then burning them.

Stones with a personal mark were thrown into the fire. These had to be retrieved from the ashes to ensure luck for the coming year, if your stone was missing or damaged it was considered a sign of forthcoming bad luck.

Also known as 'Nutcrack Night', because it was a popular custom at Samhain to throw nuts on the fire - if a nut burned brightly it meant that the thrower would be alive in twelve months time, and if it flared up brightly it meant marriage within twelve months.
To see if a relationship will last, place two hazelnuts side by side and burn them over a fire. If they stay together as they burn then the couple will last, but if the nuts burst apart the relationship will break up.

Baked cakes were offered up for the souls of the dead. All the family would eat the festival Soul cakes - known as 'barm brack' cakes in Ireland - which often contained lucky or unlucky tokens : a coin for fortune, a button for remaining unwed, a ring for marriage, a wishbone for your heart's desire, a pea for poverty.

It was customary at Samhain to leave an empty chair and a plate of food for any dead guests, so that they would not be offended.
At the stroke of midnight - believed to be the hour the dead visited - all remained silent in respect.

The custom of trick-or-treating may have originated from an old Irish custom of going door-to-door to collect bread, cheese, nuts and apples in preparation for the feasting at Samhain.

When a candle flame flickers on Halloween night it is being touched by the spirits of dead ancestors.

In Scotland the fishermen would wade into the sea at Samhain and pour out a bowl of ale into the waves for the 'Shoney' - a sea serpent-like being, to ensure a good catch for the coming year.

At Balmoral on Halloween night, during Queen Victoria's time a bonfire was lit and an effigy of an old woman called the Shandy Dann was indicted with witchcraft, then thrown onto the fire.

At the Forest of Pendle in North Lancashire, at Samhain a ceremony called the 'Lating the Witches' took place. Locals believed witches gathered here on this auspicious night, so lit candles were carried over the hills between 11 p.m and midnight - lighting the witches or 'lating' them. If a candle stayed lit then the witches' power was broken, but if it went out - blown out by a witch - bad luck may follow.

Those born on All Hallows Eve are believed to have the gift of second sight.

If you catch a falling leaf on Samhain before it touches the ground it will bring you good luck and health for the coming winter..

On the morning of November 1st a silver coin was thrown through the front door of the house. The coin had to remain where it had fallen in order to bring financial luck.

Halloween lanterns

The tradition of face-carved pumpkin lanterns is thought to be derived from the Celts' placing of ancestors' skulls outside their doors at this time. Others see it as originating from using lanterns to ward off any evil spirits, which may be wandering through the thin veil into the living world on this All Hallows Eve.
The lit pumpkins also symbolise that in the darkness of winter the light continues within the seeds, tubers and bulbs dormant under the earth - they are still full of life and glowing like the candles within the pumpkins.

The name Jack O'Lantern derive[link] from an old Irish tale of a villain who could not enter heaven or hell, so was condemned to wander the land with only a candle to see his way. Others believe Jack-O-Lantern was a mischievous spirit who carried a light at night and lures night travellers into bogs or marshes, which were the dwelling places of fairies.

The Jack O' Lantern used to be made from a turnip, but Irish emigrants to America adopted the plentiful pumpkin since it is much easier to carve.

Divining

Samhain was a time for divination and magic, the Druids would foretell the future on this powerful night.

Many of the customs were performed by young people divining for their future husbands and wives - apples often figured; their connection with fertility is widely recognised :

An old belief is that by peeling an apple on Hallowe'en and keeping the peel in one piece, then throwing it over your shoulder you will discover the initials of a future lover.

By candlelight go alone to a mirror and eat an apple before it, whilst combing your hair. Your future love will be seen in the glass over your shoulder.

Ducking for apples was a marriage divination. The first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry in the coming year. 'Dookin’ for apples' is thought to have originated from a Druidical rite associated with water.

Young girls would stick apple pips to the outside of her cheek, with each one standing for her sweethearts. The last pip that stayed stuck was her true love.

In Ireland a blindfolded person would sit at a table on which were placed several saucers. They choose one by touch, after they have been shuffled about the table. The contents of the saucer foretell the person's fate for the following year :
water means the person will travel, a coin means wealth, earth means someone known to the player will die next year, a bean predicts poverty.


Behind the Name:

Samhain or Samhuin stands between the worlds of the living and dead and outside of ordinary time. It's the day that past memories meet the hopes of the future. It is death that gives life its purpose and decay that fertilises new growth.
It is a time to plant the seeds of new projects, allowing them to germinate over the winter months. It is also considered the time to end old projects and to generally take stock of one's life.

Use the magic of this time to say good-bye to a bad habit or addiction, an old relationship, or anything else negative in your life - Samhain is the night to leave it all behind.





Alrightly, and there you go for your infomation about such a lovely time of year with so very much history!


NOW! Poet of the Month is.......: KARL PILKINGTON





September 23, 1972 in Manchester) is an English radio producer previously best known for producing The Ricky Gervais Show on the radio station Xfm. After leaving Xfm, Pilkington has reached an international audience through his appearances with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on The Ricky Gervais Show podcast. Now in its third season, the show features Pilkington in the role of a comedic foil, playing a dope opposite his more intelligent co-hosts.


Adolescence

Pilkington left school without collecting his exam results. According to Gervais, Pilkington attained a single "E" GCSE grade in History, which surprised him as he had no recollection of actually taking the exam. The excitement of this news was tempered somewhat by the discovery that he had not received grades for any of the GCSEs he actually does remember sitting as unfortunately he never registered for the exams, such as his Art GCSE where he recalls making a "little clay man with his arms in a car".

Pilkington spent many weeks of each year living with his mother in a caravan in Porthmadog, Wales, missing several weeks of school as a result. His father, who worked as a taxi driver (on a four-days-on, four-days-off shift pattern) would join them when he could. Karl is surprised he's "not Welsh" given the amount of time he spent there.

Pilkington went through a number of jobs, his favourite being his paper round. Karl's school and its catchment area were near a power plant. This could explain his inherent fascination with freaks ("I just like odd stuff"), as the school contained a couple of (unrelated) pupils who had "big heads", webbed hands and feet (both of whom would not befriend each other because it would be "too obvious"), together with a boy with a pigeon chest and a boy with a father with "big eyelids". Karl left school when he was 15, and began work as a printer.
[edit]

Adulthood

Pilkington was initially an off-air producer of the show, which was broadcast on Xfm, but his antics and opinions soon led to him joining Merchant and Gervais on-air. Some of Pilkington's most popular contributions to the show include "Monkey News" (news which is supposed to be about monkeys, but is almost always about chimpanzees), "Rockbusters" (which is nothing like 1980s game show Blockbusters, despite punning on its title) and "Knob News" (a spin off of Monkey News, with the feature containing "knob-related news", such as "a man who grew a knob on his arm"). Other features normally tie in with Karl's eccentric interests and theories, such as "Do We Need Them?", normally about Karl's dislike of animals deemed to be irrelevant; "Cheeky Freak of the Week", (a rundown of Karl's favourite freaks); and "Songs With A Story" (Karl only likes songs "with a little story goin' on and that", such as Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight," which is supposedly about "a little fella in a wheelchair"), to name a few. The evidence that "Wonderful Tonight" is about a "little fella in a wheelchair" according to Karl is because of the lyrics "We go to a party/and everyone turns to see/this beautiful lady/walking around with me" meaning that "she's walking 'round pushing him". Also the line about "She helps me to bed" meaning that she is helping him get out the wheelchair.

During his stint at Xfm, both Gervais and Merchant mocked his professionalism, due to the fact that the prizes and the quizzes themselves were poorly made, albeit because Karl made them during his few days present at the station. This was also pointed out by Gervais, who claimed that Karl had ruined a man's career due to his laziness. Despite these criticisms, Karl continued to work for Xfm despite the fact he had left for a four-week hiatus.

Pilkington's baldness is a regular comic theme in his dialogues with Gervais and Merchant. He attributes this to the stress of living in London, knowing too much (Pilkington is notable for denouncing knowledge as "hassle") and putting up with Gervais' constant bullying, which involved constant berating and unstoppable head-squeezing. Gervais claims that he cannot help squeezing Pilkington's head, as it is "perfectly spherical" – however, Pilkington insists that he doesn't like having his head squeezed.

Aside from his apparent stressed out status, Pilkington also claims that he suffers from a bad back that – it was revealed in a recent podcast diary entry – was a consequence of trying to kick his height (Pilkington landed on his back, damaging it).



A Poem by Karl:

Poem One

If moths had eyes,
Would they be happier?
How do they know they're not dead?

Cave men hunting for food,
But not before,
They style the hair on their head

What would last longer,
in dinosaur times?

A blind man didn't stand a chance,
Not with all them rocks about.

I'd rather be a blind moth.



Thank you everyone, and have a wonderful, October!