December: "I'm SO Goth..."

Have yourselves a wonderfully Gothy Holiday!!

  

(If I can find this card for sale, I'm definitely buying it in bulk! In the meantime, you can find more of Aly Fell's work here.)

Lest We Forget: Memorial Day 2016

Thank you so much...  It's not really enough, but it's all we can do now. 


  

I'm sure (I hope) most countries have a day of commemoration for those who have fallen protecting it.  For those unfamiliar with ours who would like to know more, here is a link to some information:


U.S. Memorial Day

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 13

On the thirteenth day of Creepmas, my true love came to me...some creepy Christmas trees!

Actually, I think these should be called Creepmas trees...




  

 


Have a wonderful, joyous Creepmas, one and all!!!

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 12

On the twelfth day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... some creepy little stories!

Yes, I'm running out of creepy things to post about, so I'm taking shortcuts when I find them.  But I would have shared this website with you, anyway, so here it is:  Creepy Little Stories

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 11

On the eleventh day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... One Hour of Creepy Doll Music!!

 

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 10

On the tenth day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... ten creepy books!


Here is my Top Ten Creepy Books List:

1.  The Shining by Stephen King -- This is THE CREEPIEST BOOK I've ever read.  Forget the movie, read the book!  If you can ignore the excessive F-bombs, this book will have your hair standing on end long before you finish it.

2. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill -- This book scared the holy crap out of me, but I couldn't put it down.

3. The Bride of Kilkerran by Kathleen Westcott -- Published in 1972, this was one of my very first 'mystery romance' books, and I still have my original paperback copy.  Lots of creepy plot twists, and a VERY satisfying ending!

4. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie -- I'm a HUGE Christie fan, and this is one of my favorites!  Ten dead bodies on an island, and all of them were murdered.  But where is the killer?

5. Animal Farm by George Orwell -- The message of this book is terrifying, and the story carries some very creepy messages, like "Four legs good, two legs bad!"  (Do you know what your animals are thinking?)

6. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde -- Another oldie but goodie. 

7. Misery by Stephen King -- This was so creepy that I couldn't finish reading it.

8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier -- How creepy is it when the storyteller has no name, and the main character is dead...?

9. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist -- Couldn't put this one down, but had to get rid of it after I'd finished it.  Too creepy to keep.

10. Hell by Kathryn Davis -- I actually haven't read this one (yet), but just reading the description creeped me out:  "Three homes exist in the same house simultaneously, each one haunting the other two equally."  Alternate realities with a vengance!!

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 9

On the ninth day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... some creepy garden decorations!


 

   

 
   

 

   

   

 

   


I think I'll stick with my feline memorials, thank you!  They may creep some people out, but at least they aren't weird like this stuff... 

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 8

I was out of town for the last three days, so I'm catching up with this now!

On the eighth day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me...some creepy holiday cards!

(I somehow doubt most of these are actually available for purchase, but you never know...)


   Possibly the original holiday greeting???


  

I think this may have been WHY Grandma got run over by a reindeer.  Remember, we only heard ONE side of that story...


 

I think I might have seen this one in the Victorian Trading Co. catalog.


  

Looks like this one was actually a real card.  I think it's from Australia, and that's an emu stalking the little girl.  Could this have been the beginning of "emo"????  Inquiring minds want to know...


 

I'm not sure just WHERE this idea came from... 


 
 Yes, I think this was actually a Victorian Christmas card.  Go figure...

Had enough yet?  Me, too!!  ;-)

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 7

On the seventh day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... some creepy Christmas ornaments!

(I've never seen any of these in real life, and I hope I never do...)

 

   

      

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 6

On the sixth day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... some creepy clothing!!  Especially that last one, yyuuuuukkkkk!!!!

(Fortunately, there is December 26th, otherwise known as "Return It/Exchange It" Day...)










 


 

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 5

On the fifth day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me...  five creepy zombie fingers!!

(If you look closely, you can see what it really is...)

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 4

On the fourth day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... four creepy tombstones!

Yes, these are REAL ones:

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 3

On the third day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... some creepy party foods!

(Seriously, could you actually EAT any of this stuff???)

 

 

And the piece de resistance!!



YUMMMM!!!

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 2

WHOOPS, I got a bit behind, sorry!!  Here is Day 2, and Day 3 will follow shortly.

On the second day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me... a creepy cemetery angel!
(She actually resembles Hel, the Norse goddess of the dead).

The Thirteen Days of Creepmas -- Day 1

This year I decided to do the 13 Days of Creepmas again, but starting on the 13th and ending on the 25th. 

On the First day of Creepmas, my true love gave to me...  a black cat gothic Christmas tree!
(Not really 'creepy', purrrhaps, but purrrfect for the season!!)

                                    

Thank You for Your Service

Today I'd like to thank some of the veterans in my life for their service in defending our nation:

 


George Arthur Simpson - U.S. Army, World War II  (grandfather)

George Allen Gustafson - U.S. Navy, World War II  (father)

Roger William Simpson - U.S. Navy  (uncle)

Elvis "Pete" Simpson - U.S. Coast Guard  (uncle)

Janice Foreman Whitener - U.S. Navy  (mother-in-law)

Robert Wayne Whitener - U.S. Air Force  (father-in-law)

Paul Belanger - U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy Seals  (friend)

It's Not JUST "the Fourth of July"...

Today is Independence Day in the United States of America.  I'm not sure I've ever called it 'Independence Day' before; usually we all just refer to it as 'the fourth of July' or 'July 4th'.  But the date has little to do with what should be THE most important holiday in this country.  Just like calling Christmas "X-mas", calling Independence Day by its calendar date takes the whole point of its existence away.  And to be honest, how many of us celebrate, or even think about, the point of this holiday's existence?

Here is the preamble (first two paragraphs) of the Declaration of Independence in its entirety:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world."

Have you ever actually read the entire thing?  I hadn't, until today.  And I had no idea that the next part of the Declaration goes on to list very specifically the "repeated injuries and usurpations" that King George had inflicted on the colonies.  (It's far worse then just taxation without representation; if our government tried pulling that crap on us today, we'd be impeaching them at this moment.)

Finally, this paragraph declares that we are no longer subject to England's rule, but are now a free and independent people:

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

 It would have taken guts to sign this document; if they had lost the war, those men would all have been hanged for treason from the highest point King George could find.

Now, here is my real reason for this post.  How many of us actually THINK about why we celebrate this day?  How important is this country's independence to you?  Here are some of the things that are important to me for which I am grateful for on this day:

~Freedom of speech, both oral and written - We can say and print pretty much anything we want in this country, other than inciting to riot or threatening people's lives; I understand they still can't do that in Britain.

~Freedom of (and from) religion - We don't have a state religion, and we can choose to join any religion we wish; we can also choose to leave a church, and to not be affiliated with any religion, if we wish.  (There are those who would like to change this, but so far they have not succeeded.)

~We are not and cannot be forced to join the military, unless Congress votes to open the draft, which would only happen in a wartime situation, and perhaps not even then.

~ALL citizens 18 years and older have the right to vote for our political leaders.  We also have the right to refuse to vote without penalty.

~We have the right to join (or not join) any political party.

~We elect most of our nation's leaders, including the president, and no one person is allowed to lead this country for more than eight consecutive years.  We can also move to have them removed from office earlier if we feel it in the country's best interests to do so.

~While our justice system is by no means perfect, we do have the right to be presumed innocent unless proven guilty by a jury of our peers, and we cannot be imprisoned without legal representation or held without trial.

~For those of us who choose to follow alternative lifestyles, we have the right to do so without being harassed or arrested, and if we are fired from our jobs or otherwise assaulted because of it, we have the right to seek justice and restitution in the courts.  (Again, it's not a perfect system, but it's better than most.)

Too many of us have forgotten what Independence Day represents for our country.  It's not just about picnics and store sales and fireworks and a day off from work.  A lot of people fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy today, including women, children, and men not enlisted in the military, and we should NEVER take those freedoms for granted.  If they were ever taken away from us, this would no longer be a country worth living in.

Happy Independence Day!!!  

My New Gothic/Shadow Sabbats

One of the difficult things about being a pagan goth, at least for me, is celebrating the Sabbats in the traditional manner.  I have no problem with late summer and fall harvest festivals, like Lammas (aka Lughnassagh),  the Autumn Equinox (Mabon), or Samhain/Hallowe'en, or with deep winter celebrations like the Winter Solstice (Yule).  But somehow, I just cannot get excited about rituals involving standing out in the sun for any period of time, let alone being HAPPY about it!  So Sabbats such as Imbolc/Candlemas, the Spring Equinox (Ostara), Beltane/May Day, and especially the Summer Solstice (Litha) can be a real problem for me.  However, I have found a few "darker" ways to get around this dilemma.

Frankly, a couple of these Sabbats have absolutely NO meaning for me.  Beltane (May Day) was originally a fertility festival, which is fine if you are trying to have children, grow crops or a garden, raise animals, or "birth" something in your life.  And although I've always enjoyed rituals for Lammas, the August festival of "first fruits", again, there isn't any real meaning for that in my life.  So I decided to remove these from my calendar entirely, unless and until I can find some good reason to celebrate them.  However, I added the Mexican Days of the Dead in November ("Dias de los Muertos") because four days of celebrating and honoring the dead just seem SO appropriate, especially right after Samhain!

I have already replaced Imbolc with the Celebration of the Eternal Maidens/Youths I described in my previous post. Here is my projected list of 'new and improved' Sabbats:

February 1 or 2: Imbolc  "Celebration of the Eternal Maidens/Youths"

March/April:  Ostara (Spring Equinox)  "Celebration of Coming Forth by Day"

June:  Litha  "Welcoming the Waning Year"  (the day after the Summer Solstice)

September:  Mabon (Autumn Equinox)  "Into the Darkness"

October 31: Samhain/Hallowe'en  "Final Harvest: Honoring the Dead"
                    (similar to Samhain and Hallowe'en combined)

November 1-3:  "Days of the Dead  (Dias de los Muertos)"

December: Yule  "Winter Solstice: Night of Shadows"

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term "coming forth by day", the generic name of the so-called Egyptian Books of the Dead was "The Book of Going Forth by Day".  They were individual collections of various prayers, formulas, spells and information written for the dead to help them get past all the dangers of the Underworld so they could reach the Hall of Judgment in safety, and then telling them what declarations to make to the gods so they would hopefully be admitted into their version of the Afterlife. Each "book" (which might be written on papyrus scrolls, on the inside of the coffin, or even on the tomb walls) was specifically geared toward the individual who purchased it, so they are all somewhat different.  In creating this particular celebration (which is still a work in progress), I changed the word 'going' to 'coming' because I am building it around the idea of the dead 'coming' to us instead of us 'going' to them.  Well, it makes sense to ME, anyway...

So, what holidays do YOU really celebrate, and how do you celebrate them? 

My "Celebration of the Eternal Maidens/Youths"

For most pagans, February 1 is known as either Imbolc or Candlemas.  It is considered the actual beginning of spring, when the earth begins to awaken after her long winter sleep.  However, for the last few years I have been celebrating my own more goth version, which I call the Celebration of the Eternal Maidens/Youths. 

I began by going to my local grocery store and buying white flowers.  I try to find the less expensive ones that have many blooms on fewer stems; they don't have to be fancy, no need to spend a lot.  I cut the blooms off the long stems, leaving individual flowers with stems only a few inches long, and put them into a small basket.  Then I took them to the local cemetery, to the older section, which has an area dedicated to the graves of children.  I looked for the ones under 16 years old, with no flowers, toys or other signs that people are visiting them.  And on each lonely, untended grave, I placed a small white flower, then read the child's name out loud. 

These are the children who will never grow old, the Eternal Maidens and Eternal Youths.  May they dance forever in the sunshine.

"S/he who can be named is remembered.  S/he who is remembered lives."   

                 

Have a Very Batty Christmas!

Yes, I'm greedy...  GothGardening is having another contest, and I want to win!!  But really, that's just an excuse to write about one of my favorite things... BATS!

Even before I discovered the goth subculture, I've loved bats.  When I took my son, who was four at the time, to a Cub Scout weekend camp, there was a bat under the door flap of our tent, and when I opened the flap I accidentally flipped it inside.  Instead of screaming and/or running, I called to him, "Hey, Stuart, come quick, we've got a BAT in our tent!"  But it flew out before he could get there, so all he saw was this little black streak zipping away through the air.  Bummer, dude...  All the other kids around us thought it was cool, though.  :-)

Bats are not only CUTE, they're also ecologically awesome!  Did you know that:

~A single brown bat can catch around 1,200 mosquito-size insects in one hour; a small colony can eat over 6 million bugs in a year.

~An anticoagulant found in vampire bat saliva may soon be used to treat human cardiac patients. 

~Some seeds will not sprout unless they have passed through the digestive tracts of a bat. Additionally, bats spread millions of seeds every year from the ripe fruit they eat. Approximately 95% of the reforestation of the tropical rainforest is a result of seed dispersal from bats. 

~Bat dropping is called guano and is an important fertilizer in many tropical regions because of its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen.  During the Civil War, U.S. soldiers used bat guano to make gunpowder.   

~In China and Japan, bats are symbols of happiness. In Chinese, the words for “bat” and “good fortune” are both pronounced “fu.” 

 

~Bats make up a quarter of all mammals; there are over 1,100 species of bats in the world. 

BUT...

~More than 50 percent of bat species in the United States are either in severe decline or are listed as endangered.  

So you see, it's important to keep our bats happy and healthy!  We don't realize how much we need them.

Finally, here is a pic of the holiday cards I sent out to all my goth friends this year.  I actually bought them LAST year on Christmas Day, just to make sure I had them!

 

This card is currently available at Elipsis Design on Etsy.  Check it out, along with all the other awesome small businesses on Etsy!

And although it's a bit early yet, have a Very Batty Christmas, everyone!