Wordplay Wednesday™ September 23, 2015 – HALLOWMAS Saints-Spirits

Six Weeks of Weird Halloween Words ~ Week #1

“Christmas” is preceded by “Hallowmas”?

HALLOWMAS (halʹō mɘs, -masʹ) n. former name for All Saints’ Day. [Think celebrating sainted spirits …if you lived through the night before hell.]

Painting by Guido di Pietro, 15^th century.

How former, you ask? It reaches back to somewhere between 731-741. And of course, All Saints’ Day is November 1, to honor … well … all saints. [Clever.]

Want to get in the mood? Melanie Rigney’s new book, Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration from the Stories of the Women Saints is especially appropriate; religious or not, Catholic or not, there is excellent life advice to be gleaned from it.

How does Hallowmas make the Weird Halloween Words list? It’s preceded by All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween) on October 31, a night on which the veil between us and the afterlife is particularly thin.

 

Of course, we don masks so the menacing souls on “the other side,” won’t recognize us, as we feast in preparation for the next two celebratory days. Seriously – they won’t know it’s you under that Star Wars: the Force Awakens Kylo Ren helmet-head, or traditionally sexy Bat Girl mask. And then what happens ...?   

Wordplay Wednesday™ September 16, 2015 – Manitou Halloween

From ancient Indians, Celts, and Christians – Boo! 

Six Weeks of Weird Halloween Words ~ Introduction

Painting by Richard Hook

Halloween’s witching season is just around the next dark corner, as we peruse the discounted, mondo bags of candy in the stores, trying to ignore their enchanting aroma.

Much of Halloween’s mystique is fueled by folklore – which brings me to one of my Words With Friends entries to lead off the ghostly season.

MANITOU (manʹɘ tōōʹ; also manitu or manito): n. Folklore among the Algonquin Indians, any of various spirits or supernatural forces variously conceived of as nature spirits of both good and evil influence.

Spirits have influenced our cultures since the beginning of societies. The advent of storytelling fueled mesmerizing tales of life after death and exploration of the supernatural – and we still don’t know what, if any, is “real.” What should we believe?