Welcome, October!

Today, I am welcoming the month of October with two of my favorite things:  ~ Poetry and PreRaphaelite art ~

There is something so fleetingly beautiful about this month to which I have always been drawn... the reds, orange, yellows and green.

And, there is a feeling that creeps into me and I cannot help but wonder if I have always felt the veil between the worlds thinning, for my thoughts often travel to those loved ones who have gone before me.  I cannot help but drink in every color and absorb the wild emotion of this season; for soon, we shall be blanketed in white for months.  The last hurrah of nature never fails to deliver....

 Wild roses burst from their hips one last time.  

Goldenrod and purple asters are sprinkled along the roadside. 

 Mums stand guard on every doorstep.  

Apples and pumpkins are abundant at every farm stand.

The smell of the crisp Autumn air with the scent of wood burning from afar. Leave it to Robert Frost to describe it so perfectly....

"O hushed October morning mild, 

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; 

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all. 

The crows above the forest call; 

Tomorrow they may form and go. 

O hushed October morning mild, 

Begin the hours of this day slow. 

Make the day seem to us less brief. 

Hearts not averse to being beguiled, 

Beguile us in the way you know. 

Release one leaf at break of day; 

At noon release another leaf; 

One from our trees, one far away."

-   Robert Frost, October

"Listen!  the wind is rising,

and the air is wild with leaves,

We have had our summer evenings,

now for October eves!"

-  Humbert Wolfe 

"The clump of maples on the hill,

And this one near the door,

Seem redder, quite a lot, this year

Than last, or year before;

I wonder if it's jest because

I Love the Old State more!"

-   David L. Cady, October in Vermont  

"O suns and skies and clouds of June,

And flowers of June together,

Ye cannot rival for one hour

October's bright blue weather."

"Colors burst in wild explosions

Fiery, flaming shades of fall

All in accord with my pounding heart

Behold the autumn-weaver

In bronze and yellow dying

Colors unfold into dreams

In hordes of a thousand and one

The bleeding

Unwearing their masks to the last notes of summer

Their flutes and horns in nightly swarming

Colors burst within

Spare me those unending fires

Bestowed upon the flaming shades of fall."

-   Dark Tranquility:  With the Flaming Shades of Fall  

"Just before the death of flowers,

And before they are buried in snow,

There comes a festival season

When nature is all aglow."

-   Author Unknown

"The sweet calm sunshine of October, now

    Warms the low spot; upon its grassy mold

The purple oak-leaf falls; the birch bough

    drops its bright spoil like arrow-heads of gold."

-   William Cullen Bryant

"Between the heavens and the earth

The way now opens to bring forth

The Hosts of those who went on before;

Hail!  We see them now come through the Open Door.

Now the veils of worlds are thin; 

To move out you must move in.

Let the Balefires now be made, 

Mine the spark within them laid.

Move beyond the fiery screen, 

Between the seen and the unseen;

Shed your anger and your fear, 

Live anew in a new year!"

-   Lore of the Door  

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." 

-  Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes.  

Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits."

-   Samuel Butler

"The stillness of October gold

Went out like beauty from a face."

-   E. A. Robinson

The Veil Thins

Fall has arrived and is now waning.  I had anxiously awaited to embrace the height of the season, when all of the leaves had piqued in their full splendor.  I wanted to drive the back roads to absorb all of the glory of the season, where every road seems to have turned into a tunnel of fire, ablaze with orange, red, and yellow.   I wanted to walk in the woods and hear the leaves, and dried pine needles crackle underfoot; and, to breathe the cool crisp air, so welcome after the long, humid summer.  Unfortunately, the rain has arrived, and I did not afford the opportunity this year, and it has left me a disappointed.  

I can't help but think, however, that this is exactly what makes our beloved little state so special.  Each season is defined, but none more glorious than autumn. It has always been my favorite time of year.    

Something inside me changes, too.  There is a feeling, that occurs within me that I've never put into words until now, and for some reason, it occurred to me that it is definitely seasonal, and it is definitely there as we grow closer to Halloween, a.k.a. Samhain.  

I will try to explain it.  And, I am curious if others experience this, too? 

There is something innately within me that begins to shift after the Autumnal Equinox [Mabon].  Perhaps it could be described as a "creepy feeling".  It is as if something is following me, and I find myself looking out of the corner of my eye, or observing a dark corner as if I am waiting for something - or some one - to appear from it's depths.   I feel as if someone is behind me, lurking - only to turn around and find there is nothing there, but a presence seems to linger.  I have thought of someone from long ago, only to have them appear.  

Recently, I began to consider the "Thinning of the Veil" which is mainly of Celtic phenomena or legend, that occurs at Halloween.  

The belief is that the Veil begins to thin after the Autumn Equinox.  It is a time of dark mysteries and magical traditions where the "veil" between our world and the Underworld (also known as the "Otherworld") is lifted (and is the thinnest) between October 31st and November 1st, allowing the dead to convene with the living. 

In ancient times, during Halloween (which was known as "The Feast of the Dead";  or "Old Hallowmas"; or "Shadowfest" ; or "All Hallow's Eve"), the Celts would open all of their doors and windows open to both allow spirits to enter - and more importantly, -  to leave their households. 

Food was left on doorsteps for the wandering dead, apples were buried along roadsides and paths for spirits who had no descendants to provide for them or who were lost; and, candles were lit and left in windows to help guide the dead home.  All of this, and more, was an attempt to communicate with those departed and a way to guide them into Summerland.

Recently I have discovered that many, like me, also feel this "Thinning of the Veil".  Senses are heightened, we are very much in tune with nature, and our extrasensory perception is in over-drive. 

I found the following online, and it best explains what is happening to us, as the Veil "thins".  I loved how this person described the natural shift that occurs within many of us:

"The ability to feel Spirit is called clairsentience.  This ability, naturally inherent in all of us, is the ability to clearly sense the energy of those around you - both those living and those deceased. If you have the ability to sense emotions, thoughts and intentions of others or have the ability to connect and bond closely with animals by anticipating their needs, it’s likely you have high natural clear-sensing skills.

By detecting the emotions, thoughts and then using this sensory information to connect with others in empathy and compassion, you are connecting with the Spirit of another living being. And if you can connect with the Spirit of someone currently with a physical body, you can communicate and connect with the Spirit of someone currently without a physical world house - someone on the Other Side of the veil. This is because you are connecting with the Spirit of a person - not the body of a person - in almost all forms of true connection.

A veil,  a sheer and thin layer, is all that that separates the physical and the Spiritual worlds. Two very similar worlds, but based within different in levels of energy (one higher, one lower) are separated by only the types of individuals that can reside there. In the Spiritual realm, there are non-physical beings like Spirit Guides, Angels and Deceased Loved Ones and in the Physical realm, there physical beings, like humans, plants and animals. 

The human realm and the Spirit realm are essentially 'ecosystems' that live side by side, on top of each other.  An ecosystem, is a certain community of beings that are linked together through certain processes - and differences physical, energetic and environmental conditions of an area.

When two ecosystems come together, there is an invisible, yet distinct line that separates the two different habitats. In nature, this line is seen in shorelines, edges of forests, cliffs, tree layers of a rain forest, etc. These are all examples of locations where a thin wall of separation exists - where a veil is located. These are all places where a distinct line in two world meet can meet.

And these are all places where you can identify where that line is located. In the world of Spirit, the thin, yet distinct separating line, is also identifiable, except it's not always visible. Most of the time though, you can feel it. 

When you stand on the edge of this forest, right at tree line, you can start to sense what the forest might be like, even before you step into it - even when you still standing just on the edge of the meadow. You can feel the cool breeze coming out from under the shady canopy, your eyes start adjusting to the lower light in the understory of the forest. You can even begin to feel a temperature change on your skin. When you stand on the line between the two worlds, you can begin to sense properties of both.

On the edge of the veil, between the Spirit World and the Human world, you might start to sense properties of what the veil might be like, and as you walk through it, you may begin to feel physical sensations -  changes within or on your body - indicating that your body is adjusting to an ‘environmental’ change. On the edge of a veil and as you begin to walk past it, it's possible to begin to sense and interact with those on the other Side - Spirit." 

Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.

Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness- for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still.

The night, though clear, shall frown,
And the stars shall not look down
From their high thrones in the Heaven
With light like hope to mortals given,
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever.

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish,
Now are visions ne'er to vanish;
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more, like dew-drop from the grass.

The breeze, the breath of God, is still,
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token.
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries! 

~Edgar Allan Poe

Home Decor for Dark Souls

This is another pictorial post for Halloween and for those of you who enjoy a dark or "Goth" style.  Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead, decorating with skulls.... no pun intended... LOL

For those of you who have been to my house or who read the post From Our Home To Yours, you know that I love antiques and Baroque furniture and such; and the fact that I love to decorate.  Though our house has gone through a few changes with fresh paint and a few new pieces of furniture (and out with the old) it is essentially the same.  I am on a major hunt for new curtains in the living room and really want velvet, but they are damned expensive (me with Champagne taste on a beer budget mentality).... I digress.

The following post is pretty much the polar opposite of  How To Live Like a Fairy; but, Hey! it's almost Halloween and I found these pics online - mostly on Pinterest - I must confess that I love the rose doorknobs the most...