Ya know, one thing I’ve never quite understood about the more normal Halloween traditions, is the inclusion of a Cemetery into the decoration.
They have never been a place of fright or danger to me. Perhaps that has to do with vacations that sought out strange cemeteries, or wandering them in search of names for my mom’s writing. Taking rubbings for fun…
I understand the history of Halloween with the stories of the spirits returning and dressing up to hide from them. I also understand this tradition still exists in some cultures, where the spirits of the dead can cause harm to the living, if not properly cared for. Project Nightfall even bases it’s construction on such a belief.
And yet, I’ve always personally felt it much closer to the Dia De Los Muertes tradition where the spirits come back to visit, and should be welcomed. And, there is something in the air around the equinox that makes feeling thos spirits a bit easier.
This morning, we took my mom and Grandma out to visit some graves that they did not get to see on memorial day.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |
I’ve always been open to feeling spirits, I believe, and it was nice to revisit family I had not been to see since my childhood. Plus, it helped my Mom and Grandma in the process.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |
We had so much fun there, we decided to head out to a more local cemetery this afternoon. Originally to get some pics of some more halloweenish tombstones.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |
This is a gorgeous new one. I love the ones that are all statuesque.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |
Then, you can’t take a trip to the cemetery here without noting some of the more prominent ghost stories. Here is the statue standing over the WWII memorial. Legend has it that if you drive your car around it a number of times (vary according to which version), the statue will begin to watch you.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |
And, as long as we were right there, Jen’s grandparents were buried near by. So, she went off looking while I got the picture of the statue. I got done with and went over to show her where the grave was after I finished, and she had still not found it. As I said, I’ve always been open, and I just KNEW where it was despite having never been there before.
Alec was rather interested to see family there.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |
And, with Alec being so interested, I figured we may as well go see my grandparents.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |
There is also a purported witch buried in the cemetery, and I’m certain I could have found it to get a picture, but with Talia off wandering and the shadows growing long, we didn’t have time to go looking before getting dinner.
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| From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween |