Wednesday, October 26, 2011

CELEBRATING SAMHAIN ?

                                                    SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO
 

- Dry herbs. Collect them from your garden or buy some from the supermarket. Make your own incense blends from them.
- Visit a cemetery, even if you don't know anyone buried there. Dust off some graves, bring some flowers to lay on them, read the headstones, take photos or do a grave rubbing.
- Watch a scary movie. Maybe not on Samhain night, but some time during the season watch a movie that really gives you the creeps with the lights out, so that-- even if only momentarily-- you can feel some of what our ancestors felt.
- Donate food to a pantry. This was a time for sharing the harvest; this would be our modern day equivalent.
- Pay attention to your dreams. If someone is trying to contact you, or if there is something you need to know, most likely it will first start to come through your subconscious. Tell yourself each night that you are going to remember your dreams, and write them down when you wake u






Tuesday, October 25, 2011

IF YOU WANT MORE...

WE CELEBRATE SAMHAIN

WHAT IS SAMHAIN?


Samhain (pronounced ‘sow-en’) is an ancient Celtic fire festival marking the final harvest and the end of the ‘light half’ of the year. Traditionally celebrated on October 31st, offerings of food were left for ancestors to partake of, and candles were placed in windows to welcome home the spirits of beloved relatives. Still celebrated by modern Pagans, the tradition of welcoming spirits at Samhain has inspired the latter-day holiday of Halloween
The following is from "The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows", by Jack Santino, from the archives of the US Library of Congress, American Folklore Center:

"Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favourite disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples and carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spiced cider associated with the day.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

RIDDLES

Games RIDDLES


Riddles are very useful to learn a language. Many of them are the same in other languages but others are specially British or American. Many of them play with words, meanings and similar sounds. Try to guess the answer to these riddles without translating them!


-What is the difference between a jeweller and a jailer?

One sells watches and the other one watches cells.
-What do you call a deer with no eyes?

No idea. (No-eye deer).

-What is at the end of everything?

The letter G.


-What starts with "t", ends with "t" and is full of "t"?

A teapot.

-What starts with "e", ends with "e" but only has one letter?

An envelope.
-What starts with "p", ends with "e" and has 10,000 letters?

Post office.

-If you drop a white hat into the Red Sea, what does it become?

Wet
-Why are pianos difficult to open?

Because the keys are inside.

-What bone will a dog never eat?

A trombone.
-What kind of animal can jump higher than a house?

                                                                                                                                                    All animals can jump. House cannot.

-What do you serve that you cannot eat?

A tennis ball.



-What do you call a great dog detective?

Sherlock Bones.

-How does Easter end?

                                                                                                                                                     With the letter .
-What do you call a fish without an eye?


                                                                                                                                            A fsh
-What do sea monsters eat?

Fish and ships.


-Why do white sheep eat more than black sheep?
.............................................................................................
                                                                                 
-What has two hands and a face, but no arms and legs?
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                          A clock.
-What Christmas carol is a favourite of parents?

                                                                                                                                                                                                Silent Night.
-What is in the middle of water but is not an island?
                                                                                                                             The letter T.
-I run all day but I'm always at the same place. What am I?


A clock.


-What does a cat have that no other animal has?

Kittens.



-What is as big as an elephant, but weighs nothing at all?

The shadow of an elephant.



-What belongs to you but others use it more than you do?

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Your name.