The Witch At Night She Comes

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The Witch

The witch, the witch,
At night she comes.
Shut out your light
Or she'll taste your thumb.

She'll smell it first,
She'll lick it next,
Then she'll decide
That you're the best.

She'll take you away
On her wicked broom,
She'll fly you around
The weird, weird moon.

She'll take you away
To her home,
And start fixin' – the chrome.

You'll try to stop her
But never win!
For she's got her mind
Set on you for din' ...


by Leslie Anneliese, age 10

Halloween And Witches

The Witch is a poem for Halloween written as a child from a long time ago.

Settling down in front of the black and white keyboard of our piano as a little girl, I would play spooky minor chords while chanting these “scary” words.

Everyone kindly feigned fright and due alarm at this story that predicted one’s demise by becoming a witch's dinner!

I wonder now how I learned that witches eat children for dinner. It's a theme also found in the Disney movie Hocus Pocus. I have a fun blog post about that movie entitled Hocus Pocus Halloween.

Apparently, there's an archetype in our society where witches are wicked and we worry about being consumed for dinner like in the story of Hansel and Gretel.

Even Shakespeare includes a cautionary tale about witches in Macbeth:

“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.”
 
“We see the evil queen carrying her basket of poisoned apples to innocent Snow White.
We see the Wicked Witch of the West flying on her broomstick, with her winged monkeys, chasing Dorothy and her friends.
We see the squinty-eyed old woman of Hansel and Gretel heating up her black oven, preparing to eat the candy-fattened children.”
— Selene Grace Silver

Perhaps the notion that everything seems to be food for something else lurks beneath our awareness and is expressed in these stories.

Yet, stories of good witches are also to be found with the television show Bewitched and there is a good witch in The Wizard of Oz. The theatrical play Wicked also takes a look at our witches in the land of Oz from another perspective.

 

Hocus Pocus Halloween

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Magic And Halloween

Halloween draws near. It's time to bask in the spells of magic and make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

Getting in the mood for Halloween demands a viewing of the movie Hocus Pocus. It has become a Halloween tradition. It’s time to curl up with warm drinks and popcorn in front of the wide screen to watch this classic movie.

Hocus Pocus

Disney's 1993 movie, Hocus Pocus, is a light-hearted show the whole family can enjoy. True to Disney style, there's just enough play on words to keep the adults entertained too.

Get ready for magic and time travel.

“Hocus Pocus revolves around the Sanderson Sisters, a trio of witches, played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, who are resurrected inadvertently, 300 years after their deaths, on the eve of Halloween in 1993.

Hanged as witches those many years past, they live up to their reputations and wreak havoc across Salem. Only a teenage boy (Omri Katz), his girlfriend (Vinessa Shaw), his little sister (Thora Birch) and a talking cat (Sean Murray) are able to stop them. ”

I Put A Spell On You

In Hocus Pocus the witches cast a magic spell over the entire town. 

However, apparently a magical spell was also cast so the movie wouldn't disappear into obscurity. The film has developed a loyal cult following.

“Critics tore apart the horror comedy, but it then went on to establish a cult audience thanks to its release on home video. ”

Who says magic's not real?

The Sanderson Sisters – Three Witches

“Bette Midler as Winifred “Winnie” Sanderson, the buck-toothed leader of the Sanderson sisters. She is the eldest and the wickedest of the sisters, as well as the most intelligent. She has a great knowledge of dark magic. Her robes are green.

Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson, the second witch sister. Often complimenting and comforting her domineering older sister Winnie, she likes to eat children. Her powers are smelling children. Her color is red.

Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson, the youngest and most beautiful witch sister; she also is ditzy and vague. Her powers are mesmerism (by singing a siren song), which she uses to lure children to feed upon their life force. Her somewhat revealing robes are purple.”
— Wikipedia

Wicked And Delightful

Listen to the resonant ring of Winifred's voice, "SISTAHS !!!" as she calls to her beloved sisters. They are bonded in a coven as sisters and witches, even if she does call them idiots at one point.

The three sister-witches are a goofy bunch (after all, it's a horror comedy) and while they’re pretty silly, their magic is certainly wicked enough. Sucking the life out of young children qualifies, don't you think?

Sarah's Enchanted Song

As the witches fly on their broomsticks, Winifred calls forth to Sarah:

“Use thy voice, Sarah,
Fill the sky!
Bring the little brats to die!
Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha...”

Sarah sings a melodious song as she weaves a thread of magic to lure the children of the town to the witches' lair. Perched on her flying broomstick, Sarah coos her lullaby into the night sky. Her dulcet tones melt onto the children, mesmerizing them into obedience.

“Come, Little Children, I’ll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, Little Children, the time’s come to play
Here in my garden of magic...”

Come Little Children

Sarah sings only one verse of the song, but its haunting melody enchanted people near and far.

Who is the author of the song's lyrics?

Some claim it was written by Edgar Allen Poe; that is simply not true. To add to the confusion, more verses were tacked on to create a longer version of the song.

It's our good fortune that author D. Melhoff launched an inquiry into the matter. Leaving no stone unturned, Melhoff's research on the topic provides the most satisfactory answers.

The first verse was written by Brock Walsh for the Disney movie Hocus Pocus and the music was composed by James Horner.

The origin of the added verses remains shrouded in mystery. Perhaps that's how it should be when you're dealing with a song that leads to the supernatural.

You can read all the circuitous details found by D. Melhoff in the post entitled: Who Really Wrote the Poem "Come Little Children"?

The singer, Erutan, also performs a full version of the song. She created a YouTube video with images from the movie Pan's Labyrinth as a cover.

Happy Halloween.

 

Halloween – A Magical Night Beckons

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History Of Halloween

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, as far back as 2,000 years ago. Samhain, (pronounced say-win or sow-in) means summer's end, and it was the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.

For people who survived on crops that grew in the fields and animals that were pastured, it was a significant cycle. 

Samhain started at sunset on 31 October and ran until sunset on 01 November.

All Saints Day, All Hallows Eve And Souling

All Hallows Eve is also the night before All Saints Day on 01 November which is celebrated by Christianity, particularly the Catholic Church.

All Saints Day is a time to honor all the saints and to offer prayers for the souls of the dead.

“In England, from the medieval period, up until the 1930s, people practiced the Christian custom of “souling” on Halloween.

This involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic, going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends.”
 

You could hear soulers singing: "a soul cake, a soul cake, have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake."

Or, how about this little refrain:

“Soul, soul, an apple or two,
If you haven’t an apple, a pear will do,
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for the Man Who made us all”
 

This is part of the history behind the custom we now have of trick-or-treating. Children go from door to door with the phrase "trick or treat" in hopes of a reward of candy.

Halloween In The United States

Halloween traditions in the United States include pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating and costume parties. Traditional colors are orange and black and link to the Samhain holiday. Orange symbolizes the colors of the crops and turning leaves, while black marks the 'death' of summer.

Decorations feature skulls, witches and bats, black cats, tombstones and ghosts. Candy corn is a not-to-be-missed Halloween candy. Costumes are to be as creative as possible.

It's a secular, but not a federal holiday which means we don't get the day off from work. Given all the activity around Halloween, it seems like we should have it off.

Artist, Robert Ingpen

What Are Your Plans For This Magical Night?

October 31 will be here in the blink of a black cat's eye.

Do you have children? Perhaps you are already head-to-toe in costume fabrics and materials, busy making outfits for your little ones. What's the costume flavor of the year?

Maybe you're picking out a costume for yourself – for your own Halloween festivities.

“In Scotland and Ireland, guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins – is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.

The practice of guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going “guising” around the neighborhood.”
 

Organizing a party for Halloween?

Pumpkins need carving, decorations need to be hung and caramel apples await a sticky demise.

Do your plans include a visit to a haunted house?  

Spooky delights are lurking in the cobwebs and hallways of darkness.

Veils Disappear Between Worlds On Halloween

As the warmth of summer fades away, darkness and cold prevail. Winter is a time of year often associated with human death as the earth also "dies" before the rebirth in spring. Druids believed that the spirits of those who died the preceding year roamed the earth during the night of Samhain.

“The Druids celebrated this holiday with a great fire festival to encourage the dimming Sun not to completely vanish. People danced around bonfires to keep evil spirits away. Doors were left open in hopes that the kind spirits of loved ones might join them at the hearth.

Spirits from the other side were either entertained by the living or they found a body to possess for the incoming year.

Dressing up like witches, ghosts and goblins protected the living from being possessed.”
 

Halloween is still considered to be a magical night when the veils between our worlds of the dead and the living become transparent. As the veils disappear, spirits who have passed to the other side can cross back over; the dead walk among the living.

The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year has ancient origins. It's found in many cultures throughout the world.

Even the most skeptical among us become just a little superstitious on this night of shadows and spirits.

Are you organizing little ones as they tap dance through Princess, Dinosaur, and Spider-Man costumes? Be sure to take a little time for yourself, too.

Happy Halloween.