Happy Halloween!
And Dia de los Muertos!
Well, here it is, one of my favorite holidays each year!
The really little kids are cute in their costumes. Sometimes the young mothers with those kids are mighty cute in their slutty nurse - witch - vampire costumes. 🤠
And the candy, so much candy!
We used to, and all of this is true, live in our little city’s very best neighborhood. And that’s where all the Trick or Treater’s came. Because the kids figured the people who lived there would have the best candy, and the parents figured that it was the safest place for them to be.
So, we would give out thousands of pieces of candy. It was actually a pretty large hit to our budget each October. And, it was an ungodly amount of work. Kids would be standing in line waiting their turn to get up to our door. For hours. We used to ask people from our work to come over on Halloween night so that they could take turns giving out candy.
Now, we live in a normal neighborhood, so everything is much more manageable.
Plus, I get to take the grandkid out Trick or Treating, so we get our share of the loot!
I’m costume free this year, which is OK. I figure I’m goofy enough looking to pass as an ogre or something.
But, one thing I really want, and I’ve been looking for, is a good Witches hat!
Alas, so far, the search has been to no avail.
The thing is though, it shouldn’t be hard to get a good Witches hat. Hat Bodies (what a hat is before it is made into a hat) are actually cone shaped. So, it should just be a matter of getting a high quality hat body, blocking it to size while leaving the cone, and then defining the brim.
But, no. All one finds are either costume witch hats, or frilly feminine looking things made by crafty ladies. Me, I want a nice rabbit felt, in black of course, with a big ol’ point on top! I may have to get something custom made someday.
Me, I think I’d look awesome! Everyone else, well, they’d think I was nuts. But such is the life of a strange hat collecting guy.
I think I need an antique vampire killing kit too. I saw one for sale in an antique store once. Should have bought it!
Of course, it would just be for looks. Unless our Grand Secretary turns into a vampire. We’d certainly have to stake him if he did.
On a serious note though, I do spend quite a lot of time with Tarot, and I suppose that lots of people see Tarot as kind of halloweeny-witchy. And, some of the cards can be kind of spooky, so I imagine that I’ll have to come up with a cool Halloween spread!
But more seriously, on Monday I’ll be hosting a Dia de los Muertos party for our Lodge.
We first attended Dia de los Muertos many years ago, in Mexico, and found it to be a profoundly moving experience.
From our Lodge publicity:
Dia de los Muertos isn’t Halloween, although it shares similarities in look with Halloween. It is a holiday in which the dead, particularly those closest to us can be honored. It is a celebration of those who have gone before us, not a sad occasion.
This is a massive occasion in Mexico each year, and Melinda and I have found it to be profoundly moving when we have participated in it there, and when we have done it here. Indeed our Lodge has celebrated Dia de los Muertos in the past, but it has been a long time.
We will set up an altar as a place to honor our loved ones, with candles, marigolds, and treats. The idea is for everyone participating to bring appropriate treats for whomever they want to honor. Just as an example, when we have honored my father we placed his prefered cigarettes and gin on the Altar. When we’ve honored Melinda’s mother it was with a Margarita on that same altar. And of course the sharings of stories, memories about our departed loved ones. This sharing is a powerful way to transmute grief and remember those we held so dear.
I hope that you’ll join us, and honor those loved ones you have lost.
We’ll bring a snack or two, and hope that you do as well. We’ll also, of course, bring a wee bit of tequila and beer.
This isn’t a Mason’s only event. It is an event for the entire family, so bring everyone and anyone. All we truly ask is that the spiritual nature of the celebration be respected. But, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have fun!
Will your Lodge be doing something cool for Halloween?
MWB Bailey, this comment leads me to believe you have something brewing…
We look forward to joining the celebrations, honoring those who came before, and considering those to come.
“The thing is though, it shouldn’t be hard to get a good Witches hat. Hat Bodies (what a hat is before it is made into a hat) are actually cone shaped. So, it should just be a matter of getting a high quality hat body, blocking it to size while leaving the cone, and then defining the brim.”
So in other words, you can obtain a cone-shaped item in your house, then take one of your Stetson hats, steam it up well, then run it on the cone until it forms a nice cone shape. But like you say, you’d better make sure a proper brim is made, otherwise it’ll look like a dunce cap. I don’t think that’s what you want. Also, you’ll want to take several pictures of your hat before you cone-ize it, so that way you can steam it up and return it to its original shape on November first.
Or you could just go with the straight-up cone shape, but to prevent the dunce cap look, you can dress up like Beldar, but you’d need to use a tan Stetson hat to pull it off.
You can thank me later for the excellent ideas I come up with.