Cheap & Easy Samhain Decorations

Ok, I'm on a tight budget this year & can't spend a whole lot on Samhain decorations. I've been decorating my home, as well as my workplace. I've been re-using stuff from years gone by and I also came up with some new ideas from things around my house. For instance, you can take an ordinary black garbage bag and make a spooky entrance to you home (mine is on my patio).

Laying out a garbage bag with the open end facing you, cut into strips about 1" in width, without cutting all the way through to the other end. Leave about 1" at the top, as this is what holds it all together. When all the strips are cut, cut along both closed sides of the bag and along the top where the bag is joined. Pull & stretch the strips at varying lengths (careful not to stretch too much). Now this is ready to hang in your home or outside on a porch/patio.



Another thing I make is kitchen-catcher ghosts. These are made from those small Glad kitchen catcher garbage bags. I stuff the bag with crumpled up newspaper, about 1/4 the way up in the bag. Tie it off with some string. Then draw a spooky face on the front and cut strips down the length of the body. You can hang these on trees, from you patio railing, inside from the ceiling, etc. It's way cheaper than buying those ghosts at the store when you already have these in your kitchen drawers.

Here's something new for me this year. Get an old pair of white pantyhose, stuff it with a paper ball in the toe part. Drop in plastic spiders, cut to a desired length and hang from anywhere in the house. This looks like a huge spider's nest hanging around. Kinda gross. You can also make your own silhouettes for your windows. If you don't have any black bristol board, construction paper, use a black garbage bag. Tape the bag taut on a table, so it won't slip around on you. Use a spooky template or draw freehand a design. Using an Xacto knife, cut out the pattern and tape it to your window. For an extra creepy effect, use some green tissue paper as a backdrop. Just cover the whole window with it and voila!! Instant decoration.

These are some of the ideas I used this year to make Samhain a bit more "festive" in a sombre way. Happy decorating!!

Membertou 400 & Why This Makes Me Sad

So, I'm taking my son today to a celebration of First Nation culture. There is a huge gathering of First Nations (Canada's term for Native peoples) in one of the city's parks. A brief history of why there is a celebration: 400 years ago when European settlers were discovering the New World, they were having some trouble staying alive. The 1st winter spent here was brutal, but with help from the local Native tribe, the Mi' kmaq (meeg'mah), they did better the following year. There was peaceful communications between the Natives & the Europeans, which was rare because as the Europeans moved on throughout the New World, they didn't have good relations with other Natives (which happens when you try to tell them that they are savages, heathens & you steal their land). So, 400 years ago, Chief Membertou, a tribal Shaman, renounced his beliefs, took a French name & was baptized by the Catholic Church. This is a celebration of that decision he made. Yes, I do understand he did it for peaceful relations with the French (as they were the "1st" settlers to the New World) but I can't get my arm around the fact that he gave up his beliefs in the Great Mother, the animal spirits, they became myths to his people.

So, you're probably wondering why a Pagan, such as myself is going to this? Since I am taking my son, he has not really been exposed to this culture, like I was. I grew up in a rural town with a reservation, went to school with them. Here in Halifax, there's not that many First Nation peoples, ok, not close to where I live, just a cultural centre where we get ice cream cones in the summer. There will be a Pow Wow, drum making, dancing, etc. So, I hope things go good, in spite of it being a celebration of a fear tactic 400 years ago.