I thought I would re-share some Autumn freebies from posts past...
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VICKI ROMAINE
has created this wonderful card celebrating nature in Autumn
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| MICHELE STORMS created this gorgeous tag that uses a elements from three different Lunagirl collage sheets: a Nature background plus Autumn Leaves and an Autumn Girl! |
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| MANDY CHILVERS submits this delightful card featuring brightly colored Fall leaves and a little forest bird from the collage sheet Autumn Leaves! |
Can you believe it's October? It is hard for me to fathom. It seems like Summer was just here; where did she go? Here are some beautiful illustrations appropriate for October, for you to use in your projects:
 | Cats have long been the objects of much superstition, and they are frequently associated with Halloween. Cats were sacred to the Druids; it was believed that they had once been human beings. Perhaps the cat had magical power because it was supposedly the most common "familiar" of witches (probably just the favorite companion of old ladies living alone). Feline behavior towards a person on Halloween was often taken as an omen. For example, if a cat jumps into your lap on this night, good luck is foretold. Probably more prevalent is the belief that cats, particularly black cats, can be ill omens. Everyone in the U.S. has heard that a black cat crossing your path means bad luck ahead. The bad reputation of the cat may have been a medieval Christian reaction against the honor given them by the pre-Christian Druids. Medieval Christians burned cats along with accused "witches" (leading to an overpopulation of rats, which bred fleas, which carried the bubonic plague...now that's bad luck). |
The Real Witches - Wise Old Ladies in the Woods? Some today regard the so-called witches of old Europe as simply survivors from the pre-Christian, nature-focused religions of the ancients. In other words, pagans who revered nature (not Satan). The idea of older, traditional folks living off in the woods, continuing their seasonal celebrations, magical beliefs, and herbal medicine, is not far from our image of the witch. As Christianity gained ascendancy in Europe, witches were reinterpreted through Church dogma and came to be viewed (incorrectly) as Satan-worshippers. Many of the popular (and often incorrect) notions about witchcraft derived from "confessions" extracted by torture from the accused "witches" of earlier centuries. Most who were executed as witches during the "burning times" were most likely "strange" old ladies living alone in the woods, the mentally ill, midwives and herbalists, people who followed the "old ways" of the Celts, women whose remarkable ugliness or beauty brought attention.....those whose "difference" aroused suspicion in a fearful, ignorant, and tumultuous age. |  |
The witch's cauldron may represent the "cauldron of Cerridwen" of Celtic myth, source of wisdom and rebirth -- and the direct symbolic predecessor of the Holy Grail. In myth often one was cut up and boiled in the cauldron, to emerge again reborn in wholeness, health & wisdom The cauldron and later the Grail were believed to be guarded by a hideous woman-beast. In many Celtic stories it is through this terrifying creature that the magic vessel is finally encountered, and only the person who can accept and kiss her can gain access to the wisdom and renewal she guards. By embracing the pain and struggle of life we gain wisdom and greater strength. |
 | Behind our holiday called Halloween lies the eerie, magical mood of the ancient festival of Samhain and All Hallow's Eve. Perhaps we would do well to remember some of its original meaning -- not to conjure up real fears again, but rather to rekindle a feeling of wonder toward the great cycle of death and rebirth in nature and in our lives. |
