Ghosties, Ghosties everywhere... ghosties, ghosties in my-

Daughters room!?

I should start by saying that I've known for some time that there are ghosts in this house... in fact, there is a tree in our back yard, as well as an attic/crawlspace opening in Jaelynn's room that they frequent. The "older" ghosts tend to use the tree, and the "younger" ones, attracted by a child and toys I'm sure, love Jae's room. It's quite amusing to sit down stairs at any point during the day or night and listen to foot steps patter across her floor upstairs when you know that the room, and sometimes house (aside from me), is unoccupied. I've warded the house in a way that will always let the kind spirits passage, but block those that have negativity to them, and I always know when a new young one joins us, as they inevitably will wake Jaelynn up at night on accident. So, when that happens, and after she goes back to sleep, I will go upstairs and have a moment to lay down the house rules, no harm and no waking up the kid. Seems fair to me. In fact, I will forever remember the first child ghost, who has passed beyond now and is also the only one I have had close contact with- his name is Gabriel. My daughter was still in her crib at the time he showed up... in fact it was about two years ago that that happened. When we (my friend Jen and I) "discovered" him, we decided to lay down the law, then we made up the twin bed that was also in Jae's room, and set out a basket of NON noisy toys for him to play with. After that night, I would often hear Jae talking to him or ear footsteps when I knew Jae was asleep. I could often go into her room the next morning and find a toy that had been in the basket, out of it, and it was usually the horse toy that we put in there. I was sad to feel him leave, but happy that he had finally found the strength to move on.
This brings me to the present...
After Gabriel, I stopped actively looking for the ghosts and decided to just settle on knowing of their presence. Let me tell you that I was startled into full awareness this morning when I got up to go get Jae ready for school and opened her bedroom door to find a ghost standing just inside her door. My eye's saw, and my spirit recognized, but in a sleep haze still it took a second longer for my mind to consciously catch up, and by then, she had disappeared from my normal sight and through the crawlspace door. I struck me as funny when I went back to tell my hubby what had happened, as Jaelynn had just told me a few night ago that there was a ghost in her room. With all the Halloween displays at every corner, I chalked it up to the possibility that she was being a normal three year and seeing Casper... After this morning, there is no doubt in my mind that she was referring to the ghost I saw this morning. She was about three feet tall and looking nothing more than a cylinder of white light, but she was clearly female in presence and mind. It was a strange experience and my first of actually TRULY seeing a ghost instead of just feeling and knowing.

Wicked cool... =)

Then, to top all this off, this afternoon Jae decided to put on my slippers and this gaudy pink hat I have. She looked at me while wearing this and said, "Ok mommy, I'm going to be Grandma now." Wouldn't you know that both the slippers and hat had belonged to my grandmother who passed away a year ago last October 1st. See this entry for more info... A Discovery of Death

Now how is that for some crazy pre-Samhain veil thinning?

Halloween Superstitions

I know there is a lot I could write on when it comes to Halloween and Samhain.... However, I was spurred to write on the superstitions based on a little article written in our local "paper" (as a two page print job isn't a real paper) on said superstitions. Hopefully you'll at least get a chuckle and maybe learn something new! And, you never know just how close to the truth some of these may really be...

1.) If a candle goes out on its own on Halloween, it is thought that a ghost has come to call.
2.) A burning candle inside of a jack-o-lantern on Halloween keeps evil spirits away.
3.) You invite bad luck into your home if you allow a fire to burn out on Halloween.
4.) A person born on Halloween can both see and talk to spirits. (Any Halloween birthday readers out there?? I would be curious on your view of this one!)
5.) Seeing a spider on Halloween could be the spirit of a dead loved one that is watching over you.
6.) If you hear footsteps behind you on Halloween, don't look back because it could be the dead following.
7.) Carry a lump of bread in your pocket when walking in the dark to serve as an offering to ghosts.
8.) Don't look at your shadow in the moonlight on Halloween night. If you do, you will die within a short period of time.
9.) When a person lived a good life, flowers will grow on their grave. If they were evil, weeds will grow.
10.) Never slam a door; otherwise, you could hurt a ghost and risk a haunting.
11.) Holding your breath while driving by a cemetery keeps evil spirits from entering your body. (I actually heard this one as a child!)
12.) If a bat flies around a house three times, it is a death omen.
13.) Ringing a bell on Halloween will scar evil spirits away. (not far off on that!)
14.) Knock on wood to keep bad luck away.
15.) A bat that enters a home may have been let in by a ghost.

What superstitions have you heard? Do you know any that are so steeped in truth that you can't help but laugh?

Black cat AND a ladder? Damn we're in trouble! LOL!