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14. The Samhain Special
29 Plays16 days ago
We’re rawdogging the spirit world.
It’s another Sabbat episode, and this time it’s the long-anticipated Big O! Join us as we reminisce on the Halloween costumes of our youth, formulate our ideal Samhain day, and rant about why October is the absolute worst time to visit Salem. And, as usual, we get distracted talking about food.
Headphone warning at 1:40:08!
Disclaimer: this episode discusses a couple costumes from the 80’s and 90’s that were culturally insensitive. We kept those conversations in this episode because it’s important to us that we don’t edit the past, while recognizing the harm such things cause to marginalized communities. We are here to learn and grow. <3
We're grateful you're here! If you like what you’re hearing, you can follow us on Instagram: @soulpodthepodcast. You can also email us directly at [email protected].
Molly does tarot readings online and locally in Massachusetts: https://www.thehighpriestesscoaching.com/
Christina sells delicious microgreens in the greater Detroit area: https://www.christinasgreens.com/
Hosts: Christina Bell & Molly Wilde
Music: The Confrontation, by Jonathan Boyle, licensed from Premium Beats by Shutterstock
Editing: Molly Wilde
Disclaimer: The purpose of this podcast is for entertainment and enjoyment. We are not professionals in any regard. We do not have professional knowledge, training, or education in physical health, mental health, or spiritual matters. Any suggestions or recommendations made during our episodes should be independently researched by the listener before considering implementation, or better yet, listeners should ignore everything we say. We cannot be held responsible or liable for anything we say, or any actions taken by any persons as a result of listening to our podcast episodes. Stay safe, stay informed, stay smart.
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Transcript
Aloof Behavior Explained
00:00:25
Speaker
Oh, nothing. How's your day been? It's been good. You have been aloof all day. I've been what? Aloof all day. Aloof? Yeah. That doesn't make sense. What are you talking about? I picked up some vibes that you kind of just wanted to be like not but not bothered.
00:00:50
Speaker
I've been very busy. o I've been running around a lot and it's not that I've not been wanting to not be bothered, but like once I got home, I did kind of want to just chill because it's been nice to be alone. Yeah, totally.
Weekend Alone
00:01:07
Speaker
So for the listeners, just so you know, FYI, my husband and my son, uh, went on a camping trip on the west side of Michigan. So they left yesterday, which was a Friday. And, um, I worked of course, till normal working times. And, but I went to have dinner with some friends yeah and talk about it.
00:01:35
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I want to talk about it. Hell yeah. So, um, two old friends of mine from work who've been retired for a few years, like eight or nine at least, I think they said actually like 10 and 11 or something years. I don't remember for sure.
Unresponsive Friend Mystery
00:01:51
Speaker
They are like my mother's age, just to put it in context, but they're very good friends. They're excellent people and amazing, I don't know, beings. yeah yeah They're just awesome people and I'm glad to have them in my life. And and then I have had Julie with me. A couple other friends were supposed to show up, but one backed out because of health issues, physical problems. And another one flaked out. and then go like now I won't say ghosted me, but like literally blocked me. What? Yeah, I guess I didn't tell you. No, I thought like last we talked about it, like everybody except for your friend with the health issues was still planning on coming. Right. So there was a friend of mine who I used to also work with who started around the same time as me.
00:02:45
Speaker
She's close to my age. She left probably 10 years ago. Maybe, I
Reconnecting with Friends
00:02:52
Speaker
don't know. i might my Time is not a thing anymore for me. and Time makes no sense whatsoever. Time isn't real. So, anyhow, yeah. like She came to my wedding and we've kept in touch off and on through social media or tech texting, whatever like that. A few months ago,
00:03:13
Speaker
I couldn't get ahold of her like her. Her cell phone, wasn't working her number wasn't working anymore. And then I was trying to get ahold of her through Facebook, but I knew that like her one Facebook account that I was friends with had been hacked. So she wasn't on that anymore. And then um finally I remembered that I was actually connected to her through Instagram. So I messaged her through there.
00:03:39
Speaker
and She was like, yeah, I'm around, you know, like whatever. And you know, she gave me her number and stuff. And we ended up talking on the phone for quite a while. ah We've never had any issues.
Halloween Adventures
00:03:51
Speaker
So a few years back, she had this idea to go to a thing that Wayne State University in Detroit was having. um It was like during Halloween time and they had like a tour.
00:04:06
Speaker
of their mortuary sciences department. And it was interesting, very very interesting. And we actually got to go through their lab, like where they embalmed. They don't embalm there. I don't think they actually do embalming there, but they have like bodies that you know that were What do you call? Given to science? Donated? Donated, that's the word. Sorry, my brain is out to lunch.
00:04:31
Speaker
yeah
00:04:34
Speaker
Donated to science, they have the bodies there, so the students could like study you know deceased bodies that had been embalmed, and there were some parts out that I think I can recall because I remember the smell of the formaldehyde and things.
00:04:50
Speaker
Yeah. God. Anyhow, it was her idea to go down there around Halloween time and we went together. It was, you know, really interesting and, uh, you know, I like spooky shit and stuff. So it was all for it.
00:05:06
Speaker
But anyway, so we had chatted um the last week or so. And I was like, yeah, we're um you know i'm probably going to be getting together with some friends for my birthday, for a birthday dinner. Would you be interested in coming? And she was like, oh, for sure and stuff. And so you know she had a birthday near the end of September.
00:05:25
Speaker
And I think she had turned 50 this year. So I was like, hey, you just had a birthday. She was like, yeah, you're next. And I was like, yeah. So she remembered, you know. And anyway, I was like, well, I was thinking, you know, thinking of getting together with some friends for my birthday dinner and would you be up for it? And she was like, yeah, cool.
00:05:42
Speaker
So then Thursday I messaged her and I was like, here's the place that like, here's the, you know, I sent the Google link, the Google maps link to the place. So she could just click on it and said, we're going to meet there at like six because the parking is free after 6pm, Monday through Friday. So it was like, okay, you know, everyone just come around six and then you don't have to pay to park. And then I didn't hear anything back from her Thursday. And then earlier when it was getting close to time to go,
00:06:12
Speaker
I had still not heard from her.
Ghosting and Emotional Impact
00:06:15
Speaker
And I said, Hey, you still coming tonight? And then heard nothing. And then during dinner, like, like a little bit after six, I said, insert name here, comma, are you still coming? Question or no, I said, ah I said that earlier. Hey, are you still coming? And then I said, insert name here, comma,
00:06:37
Speaker
are you okay? And I didn't, and that message didn't get sent. It said, failed to send or something weird like that. Where so are you messaging her? On Instagram or via text? No, yeah, text to her phone.
00:06:52
Speaker
So I guess there's new there's new technology for texting, and the newest best one is RCS, not SMS. And so it said, message failed to send, and then it said, switch to SMS, because it made it sound like that might be more successful for some reason. Yeah, that sounds like when, because it's All those features are available for iPhones, texting iPhones. Okay, but like when somebody with an iPhone blocks somebody else with an iPhone, it goes through green instead of blue and you know makes it look like it had to be sent by SMS.
00:07:31
Speaker
no So I know exactly what you're talking about, basically. Yeah. So I'd never seen that before in texting. It was like tap to retry or something like that. And I tried and then it was like, you know, attempt to send through SMS, blah, blah. I was like, okay, I'll try that. And then I tried. So I switched it over and then I sent, tried to send another text.
00:07:54
Speaker
And it said, free message, receiver with her phone number, unable to receive message, message blocking is active. who And so then I sent another one and said, who else was with me that she would also be interested in seeing because we all worked together years ago, um blah, blah and blah, blah are here. And and then the same message came back again. It was message blocking is active.
00:08:22
Speaker
And I'm just like, what the frick? So then I tried to call her and as soon as I tried to call her, it was the same thing. This phone number is unable to or whatever. You know what I'm saying? It just said they're like, they weren't, they weren't accepting my phone calls. It's just so weird and random. And like last night I wasn't going to let it bother me. Right. And I was just like, okay, whatever. I know she has health issues.
00:08:47
Speaker
She's been probably not employed for a while and she probably has some monetary issues going on and it's like fine You know if she couldn't come she she could have said that to me and said, you know, I just can't afford it or whatever I would have been fine with it. You don't need to do this to me You know, we had no issues at all in the past. We got along so well and all of a sudden now I'm upset about it because it was so rare it's so random and weird and I'm just like I mean maybe it wasn't even her maybe maybe her boyfriend is weird and he got a hold of her phone and decided like you know maybe maybe he's just controlling jerk and I have no idea but I think it sucks but I also went to look for her Facebook and the one
00:09:37
Speaker
that didn't get hacked that I was still friends with, I can no longer see. So that makes me wonder. And and I don't- Did you check Instagram too? No, not yet, but just- You don't need to if you don't feel like you are up for it. I'm not gonna right now, but it just like- Or ever. I mean like you right you don't have to at all. I do want to. I thought about it, then I just didn't get around to doing it, but o It's just, this is just weird. So like, didn't we just go through a whole thing on our group on Marco Polo? Oh yeah. Were people were talking about random friends just ghosting you? Yeah. Well, that was, that was ah a couple of weeks ago, but yeah yeah, there was like a big lengthy discussion.
00:10:22
Speaker
people chiming in about their experiences of people just like either straight up ghosting or just like the weird falling outs that happened yeah between people. and like I've had you know countless stories of that happening, examples of that happening through my life. In various degrees, whether they like straight up blocked me or they simply like stopped responding for you know a long enough period of time that I stopped trying to reach out.
00:10:52
Speaker
Yeah. Like, it's so troubling. Yeah, it is. And there's no excuse for it. Right. Like, between friends who've known each other for a long time, there's no excuse for it. Right, right. Yeah, I won't get it. I'm quite confused.
00:11:14
Speaker
Yeah, and it's terribly confusing. Yeah, but tis the season. It's called ghosting and here we are, bitch. It's Halloween. So let's just move on, we shall we? Anyway, yeah yeah, it's weird. I have known her fur i've known her for well over 25 years, so it just is strange. I don't get it.
00:11:40
Speaker
So let's move on from that, as I tried to do just a minute ago. Sorry.
Halloween Excitement
00:11:45
Speaker
No, you're good. of It reminds me, that reminds me, I don't think we actually settled on what we're talking about tonight. Oh, oh, let's talk about Samhain, please. Good. I was hoping you would say that. i that's right I'm so prepared. Yay. For some reason, I just said I am Pretty, but OK. You are very Pretty.
00:12:10
Speaker
Oh my God. Okay. So after I figured out that I was blocked, I just didn't let it bother me. And I was just gonna like, okay, let's move on from that and have dinner with my friends who are there, you know? And we're just having a good time and things are cool. And our waitress came around and oh, I should say, Julie made me wear my witch hat to dinner.
00:12:36
Speaker
oh And ah she also got me this. It is a purple cat witch. That's a squishmallow and it has muffs. So I probably talked about it in our last recording. Okay. So she said to bring it. So I brought it to dinner last night with me.
00:12:58
Speaker
Um, and it sat in and one of the chairs that one of my other two friends could have ah occupied. but
00:13:06
Speaker
Anyhow. ah um So one of the like the waitress that we had a couple of different waitresses in the past at this place that we really liked that are sweet. And I had one of them was our waitress last night. And um she was like, Oh yeah, like you should check out next week. We're having like a, a witch's night out thing. And she goes, we actually had a lady's night out thing like ah last month and it went really well. The vibes here were really good and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, sweet. And she goes, yeah, and there's going to be a tarot reader. Oh my God. And I was like, oh, oh cool. And then I go, I read tarot.
00:13:51
Speaker
And so I was like, I just was trying to like, you know, correct her without being an asshole about it. I was like, oh, I read tarot. I said, I love to read tarot, blah, blah, whatever.
00:14:05
Speaker
Anyway, and then so Camille is sitting there next to me, and she's like, you read Tarot? And I was like, yeah. I said, I'm a witch.
00:14:17
Speaker
Because Camille didn't really know. I haven't really talked to her. Oh, wow. Vicky knows because I talked to her a few, you know, handful of years ago when I was kind of new, newer into it. so So, they both got, or at least Camille got really interested and then I got all excited and I'm thinking, oh cool, let's go back to Julie's house and I'll read Tarot, right? Oh my God. It was so fun.
00:14:45
Speaker
and um So, we ended up going back to Julie's and they hung out for like another hour, or an hour and a half or something. um So, that went really well. But it was funny because when when I first mentioned that I was a witch out loud, because like I said it to the waitress, I was just like, I'm a witch. I was like, I would love to come to the witches later.
00:15:06
Speaker
you know in ah anyhow camille when she just kind of looked at me and I was like, yeah, I don't even remember how, but I just said, you know, yeah, i I started looking into witchcraft and stuff. A few years ago, I said, Molly opened my eyes to it. And when I found out that it's absolutely nothing to be afraid of, it's not scary and weird or whatever.
00:15:29
Speaker
I got really interested in it. And um so yeah, I started to you know learn a little bit about Tarot. And I said, of course, my very first card decks were like Oracle cards and things. And then I mentioned how you had told me about these psychic classes on Udemy. And I did a ah class and I said how I felt like my psychic abilities literally started to get better after that. I mean, I had had some psychic Tendencies, kind of. Or like moments. Moments, like situations or whatever. yeah In the past, but like it felt like since that class. And it's always some dumb thing. It's some, you know.
00:16:13
Speaker
Random dumb thing that isn't really important at all So it's not like i'm predicting like when someone's gonna die or the end of the world, you know, it's not like that And it's always very random and I wish that I had more control over that but anyhow It's something that like a thought occurs to me about something and then I end up finding out shortly after that that exact thing happened or that exact person did the thing the or, you know, the whatever. Yeah. And I i fully have that too.
00:16:46
Speaker
Yeah. So we know it's hereditary. Yeah, and potentially, yes. yeah I don't know if my mother- I'm calling it. I say it that it is. I don't remember. I think your mom's not self-aware enough. Maybe not. Yeah.
Cultural Heritage Discussion
00:16:59
Speaker
That, and I don't know about my grandma. I don't know about anybody in on her side of the family. I mean, they're from app Appalachia, right? They are. Yeah, so like- They didn't call themselves Appalachians, but No, but like they were from the area. Tennessee, central, north central Tennessee. And there are mountains around there, but I don't know if they, if that's considered the Appalachian mountain range or not. i mean it's such a massive range It's all blended together. Right. But like point being, like your grandmother and your mother, they had their problems, and but like probably they're descended from, you know,
00:17:37
Speaker
Appalachian Conjurefolk. Oh yeah. So yeah, I just, holy shit. Um, yeah, I just like went on Google maps and searched Appalachian mountains and it gives like a rough outline and almost the entire state of Tennessee is included. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. It's like ah at least three quarters of Tennessee is included in it. So yeah, they're in there. yeah Um, yeah.
00:18:06
Speaker
crazy. God dang it. I mean, I knew, I knew it was huge, but I just, I never put it into perspective in terms of like, and you know, what's really stupid. I had that geography class in college where we had to like outline mountain ranges and shit like that too. So I should have figured that out. Probably did probably just forgot cause you know, I'm old. Well, anyhow that's what you got me for because I'm here. Like I grew up, you know,
00:18:33
Speaker
in like on the outskirts of it yeah in Northern Virginia, but like wow always sort of grew up with the connection to it. And, you know, now I know I've got like a genealogical connection to it. We're Appalachian folk. That's us. Yeah. It's, it's a real special, special place. But so you you think that we, we can claim it. i i I know we can. Okay. Yeah. No, the Appalachian like country folk. Okay.
00:19:04
Speaker
Like think, think the roots of Dolly Parton. Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. That's, that's classic Appalachian conjure, uh, folk, but yeah, like we'll definitely need to dive into that for sure. Anyway. Anyway, let me say, I went to the Boston Tea Room. I know I told you this, the Garbage Pail Kids tarot deck that I got. That's right. And I also got this book, Halloween.
00:19:32
Speaker
I can't read anything, went Llewelyn's, ah, Llewelyn's little book of Halloween. yeah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So they had this book there and I bought it and I have, Oh yeah. Oh, this one. So I don't even know if I have that one. I have all of the, is that also, is that also Llewelyn? Yes. Okay. Yeah.
00:19:56
Speaker
So she has the Llewellyn little book of Halloween and then the Llewellyn book on Samhain specifically, like it's a part of a series with all of the Sabbats. And I, like I just said, I have a lot of them. I don't ah don't think I have that one. um They're all in different places too. They're scattered. So I need to like find find all the ones I do have and then complete my collection.
00:20:22
Speaker
I have even in my dress desk drawer at work. Oh my goodness. The Mabon one. Yeah. I have, him I think the Mabon. No, I don't know. It may, it's probably one of the summer ones in a bag or something that I was like carrying with me for a while.
00:20:38
Speaker
And, but the rest of them are all together on my bookshelf, but they're not stacked nicely. They're just shoved in, yeah like on top of some other shit. Do you have, do you have all eight? I do. Nice. Yeah. I'm so excited.
Halloween Traditions Debate
00:20:53
Speaker
I'm so excited. So, okay. I don't know how much of a detour we've taken because I have no idea how much is getting edited out here, but, uh, here we are, 53 minutes in talking about Samhain and Halloween.
00:21:07
Speaker
Welcome back to another Sabat episode. And I still don't know if I'm saying that word, right? Sabat or Sabat? Sabat. I don't know either. Bob Saget. Bob Sabat. Don't be a maggot. God, what the fuck? It that a thing? Did you just make that up? Maggot. I just made it up. I'm trying to rhyme with Sabat.
00:21:37
Speaker
And you said sag it. And I, there's another bad word, i but I don't want to say, cause it's derogatory. And then I thought maggot. Oh my God. ah Anyway. Anyway, we have to focus. No. Jesus Christ. Okay.
00:21:55
Speaker
This is, we're an hour and a half in now. No. We gotta talk about fucking Samhain. It's your favorite holiday bitch. It is. Listen to this. Oh no. It's the orgasm of the three harvest. You gotta have your an orgasm bitch. It's the orgasm. It is the big O of the three harvest Sabbats.
00:22:21
Speaker
And I'm so happy we're here. Oh my god. You would be. Yee! Oh my god. Wow. So what was it? Lamass is the foreplay. Yeah. Mevada's the sex. And solid is the big O.
00:22:44
Speaker
So here we are. We finally made it. Does that make Yule the cigarette?
00:22:52
Speaker
ripping you a lot
00:22:55
Speaker
but you while burning is literally the cigarette i say ah okay oh my god My microphone already hates me I don't need to start shrieking oh no Yeah, you're the one who came up with that. That makes sense, though. I had to. I had to. I couldn't resist. It makes a lot of sense. Hell yeah. But we have to not forget about Thanksgiving, even though it's not a sabbat. True. We have to remember that is Molly's favorite fucking holiday. Yeah. Thanksgiving is the sweaty make-out after orgasm. What about the cuddle factor? No. The sweaty cuddle factor.
00:23:37
Speaker
But then making out is more fun. Because I don't know if I've ever made out after fucking. I don't remember that. I just remember like cuddle, the cuddles, the after sex cuddles. The cuddles happen during the cigarette. oh True.
00:24:00
Speaker
And Yule is a cuddly holiday, so. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. roll up in your fuzziest softest blankies and pajamas and cuddle and have a cigarette holiday. Yep. Hell Hell yeah. Do we even make any sense? Yes. I don't even know. I say we do. Okay. I'll go along with that then. Anyway, it's the big O. It's the big O, bitch.
00:24:33
Speaker
we're here i'm so excited but not that kind of excited i mean because you're not horny because i'm not like in the foreplay no longer in the foreplay i'm in the come down after the come yeah oh my god he's sorry my face hurts um yeah so with I mean, okay, with Samhain comes Halloween because it has to. It's the same day, ah effectively. It's essentially the same thing-ish.
Halloween Memories
00:25:14
Speaker
It's like the the mundane version of the spiritual holiday that's also occurring simultaneously. Yeah.
00:25:23
Speaker
um And so, you know, in the same way that like, you know, we'll, we'll have to talk about Yule, but we're also going to have to talk about Christmas, even though they don't happen on the exact same day. Yeah. In that instance. um But like, they are inextricably linked.
00:25:42
Speaker
So that's the same if not more so with Samhain and Halloween. So we in as like a portion of this episode wanted to ah talk about some of our like favorite Halloween memories, whether it's from childhood or like, you know,
00:26:00
Speaker
teenagerhood or young adulthood. yeah yeah um you know Any at all, but like obviously costumes are like a big part of memories. I always i always enjoyed it.
00:26:17
Speaker
I struggled sometimes with costumes because of my own like shy, self-conscious nature, but like they were still fun. yeah um Do you want to go first? Yeah. We're going to talk about just one year or like one thing. like We can talk about a a few different each, but like yeah. Yes.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yes. cool um Okay. Cool. but All right. So one of the first ones I remember that sticks out in memory, that is like one of my fond memories. I i was dressed up like a gypsy and it wasn't, you know, my favorite costumes are not purchased in a store. My my favorite costumes are literally put together with stuff I have at home. How old were you at the time? Oh God. I was, I was maybe around seven.
00:27:05
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Six, seven. Cause like, possibly does say like i I do feel it's important to acknowledge the, you know, the era. Yes. And the fact that the G word is no longer acceptable. Um, okay. I don't know. I didn't know about that, no but not that's yeah not saying that you should have. I'm just saying like, that's the thing, like in particular, cause I remember also when you mentioned the, the gypsy deck that you got. Okay.
00:27:34
Speaker
this deck was produced before, you know, people understood that it was like a slur. Yeah. um The same way that like to say something like that you got chipped is like particularly a slur. Oh, I did not know that at all. Yeah. um That's something that's like, I don't remember when I learned that, but it wasn't too long ago. because It was in my like adulthood in my 20s.
00:28:04
Speaker
Okay. Um, I can definitely clarify what I mean when I say that word. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I know, I generally know what you yeah do me and like, and the fact that like, I think that like, you know, it's the same thing as like, like a white a little white girl being a Pocahontas or something for Halloween. Yeah. Like those kinds of things where it's just like, it was, it happened when we were young. Yeah. Cause like nobody, nobody knew.
00:28:30
Speaker
Yeah. So this was like easily 1982. two Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And so like it was just before there was any sort of awareness around right cultural language appropriation or slurring or any of that. Yeah. Slurs like we're definitely not and openly acknowledged or or even known. They were used all the time yeah without any awareness of the impact of that. Yeah. Exactly. um So when I say gypsy and i and I don't ever have never ever meant it in any kind of negative term. Right. And I think most people don't. yeah what it What it was technically, if I want to rephrase it in a different term is like a fortune teller.
00:29:20
Speaker
o that That style of dress. Yeah, directorize kind of like um effectively like Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I guess, but I don't know if I'm familiar with it. Okay. It was one of my favorites when I was a kid. Are you referring to the Disney movie? Yeah, the Disney movie. Okay. Yeah. I probably have seen it, but it's been so long that I don't i don't remember. Yeah, you would have been you would have been like a late teenager, at least.
00:29:49
Speaker
If not like in your early twenties when that movie came out. Right. So I wouldn't expect you to have watched it a bunch, but it was, you know, when I was a little kid, so I watched it at on a ton. Yeah. Like, you know, her, that character and like her people in that movie were like the fortune tellers. Right. But they did use the word gypsy in that movie. Okay.
00:30:12
Speaker
But again, it was the nineties. Right. So I'm talking for me, it was approximately 1982. Right. yeah so What I had on was um I had some kind of like a silk scarf on my head and I had on like some kind of like silky looking robes or something. I don't remember specifically. And i if I could go back in old photo albums and find a picture of that, I would be elated to find that. I don't know if there is a picture picture of it in existence. There was also somebody had a, it was either glass or really heavy
00:30:51
Speaker
plastic or resin sort of ball that was dark blue. o And it was small. It wasn't like a big, you know, not like a crystal ball kind of size thing. It was just something I could hold in my hand. And I carried it around with me.
00:31:08
Speaker
while I had my little bucket in my other hand or whatever. But I just kind of made it look like I was like this fortune teller, like mysterious little yeah woman. yeah um And I loved that. i don't I don't know why I just, I really felt that role and how funny because you saw a picture of me recently in a purple dress with the leather corset on and you were like, you've always been a witch.
00:31:35
Speaker
I was like, yeah ah yeah that kind of tracks and I just never realized it, I guess. amazing yeah So then the other Halloween that I love that sticks out for me, um, I was probably 16 and I think it was my very last Halloween that I ever actually trick or treat it in. So there's a, there was a kid who lived down the street from me and he later in later years came out as gay o and he dressed up as a woman.
00:32:13
Speaker
Huh. He had his aunt, I think he said his aunt did his makeup for him. And he had on like super slutty, like little skirt and like, you know, like, I don't remember if he, if he had fishnets or whatever, but like, you know, some kind of nylons or something in, in, you know, high heels and all that.
00:32:32
Speaker
And I had found my dad's old army stuff. So I had dressed up like a soldier or something. Some of his greens, you know the green the green hat, and my hair was all pushed up in the hat. yeah And like army fatigues, I guess is what you want to call them. And I dressed up in all his army shit. And I had like probably some kind of combat boot type deal. like I think that was the very first time I ever started to wear combat boots. I got them somehow from the Army Navy you know but arm use yeah price Surplus. yeah surplus and I came out of the house and started walking down the street and here I see Mr. P, we'll call him, was his first initial.
00:33:17
Speaker
coming up the street dressed like, like ah like sho he he looked like a hooker. He was literally he just like so slutty, like hookery looking. It was hilarious. He wasn't out at this time? No, ah not that I was aware of because we were in high school, right? We were young.
00:33:36
Speaker
and I saw him and I was dressed up like an army dude and I was like, oh my God, this is so perfect. i i just like We just hooked arm and arm and started trick-or-treating together. It's like, here's a woman dressed in army fatigues like a soldier and here's a man or a male dressed in like women's clothing with makeup and look like a hooker. It was hilarious. I loved it. It was so It was so funny. And you talk about being queer, like, yeah if that wasn't a big humongous, like, I'm fucking queer. Yeah.
00:34:11
Speaker
It was so funny. It was just so fun. It was so fun. We laughed about it so much that night. It was just so fucking funny. Yeah. Yeah, it was so perfect. Beautiful. And then, okay, so then I think the following year or thereabouts I dressed up as, oh, okay, i can't even i can' I can't even put a word to this because it wasn't really a vampire. It wasn't really a witch. It was like just a spooky figure that
00:34:43
Speaker
I think I just had on all black. I did my makeup really, really like white, dark under eyes and like tried to make like a dead looking face. Yeah. And I had a really wide brimmed black hat.
00:34:56
Speaker
Ooh. And I put it on and I went out in the front of my mom's house where I was living and I hid in the bushes in front of her house. Oh my God. And kids were coming up to trick or treat and I wasn't quite adjusted to how like where I wanted to be.
00:35:17
Speaker
like physically comfortable in a spot. I was trying to adjust myself and they, these kids saw me, versus saw something moving around in the bushes and they screamed that with the goal of jumping out to scare them?
00:35:44
Speaker
I think that, yes, it would have been that if I had been ready. But I wanted i wanted to like actually like jump out you and be like, whoa, something really freaky.
00:35:59
Speaker
But I literally didn't get to do that. I was just moving around a little bit in the bushes and they just freaked out and ran away. Oh my God, it was so funny. Wow. I was like, shit. I didn't get that one right, but oh well. And I don't think I stayed out there long enough for the next set of kids to come through. I don't remember, but it was so funny. Wow. And then one year in college, my first like my first year in college, I had a friend who wanted me to make her up to look like a corpse, like makeup
00:36:38
Speaker
And I did, i like ah I got her face all white and I did like really dark purpley or blue eyeshadow on her eyes and like dark gray or something under under the eyes and the dark thing under the cheekbones to make the face look sunken in and like purple, like blue or purple color like on her lips.
00:37:01
Speaker
you know, whatever. And then there was another guy in our dorm who was, I think, one of the TAs, or RAs. Excuse me. He was one of the RAs, resident assistants, persons. And he was in school, like in medical school, so he'd seen some dead folk.
00:37:21
Speaker
And we had him look at her and like she stood in the hallway and she put her hair kind of like over her face like a little bit on you know down the side of her face. And she stood there with her head sorted down and her eyes closed. and face relaxed and we said, okay, how does she look? Does she look like a dead person? And he was like, yeah. I was like, sweet. So but that was like my first attempt at like really good makeup artistry. And that was fun. It was fun. That's so cool. Yeah. I love that. That's about it. I mean, I probably have more, but you know. Yeah.
00:38:01
Speaker
yeah Those were my younger years before 20. Yeah. The like the ones that really stand out, you know, like, cause it's always more magical when you're a kid. But yeah, I love it. I love it so much. I'm going to hear yours.
Favorite Costumes Recollection
00:38:20
Speaker
um I've been like trying to think through cause like, let's see. So like some of them I only remember because of photos, but like when I was real little, like probably four I have a photo, which is the reason I remember, of being dressed up as ah Snow White. And it might be one of the only store-bought costumes that I ever had, because my mother was quite a crafty lady, yeah loved to sew.
00:38:53
Speaker
and was very talented at it. Amazing. And so it was always around like August that I would start to figure out what I wanted to be for Halloween. So she had time to sew it. And so they're like the earliest costume that I remember distinctly that wasn't I wasn't only me remembering because of a photo.
00:39:18
Speaker
was I think I had to be probably six because both, we had both my brothers at that point. but The younger of the two brothers had been born that year or the year before. And so I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. And my next closest in age brother was ah the Scarecrow and the Then baby brother was the lion. And he wore a, you know, store-bought little baby lion costume. But like the scarecrow was just like a, you know, flannel and jeans and like stuck straw in the sleeves and put like the, you know, scarecrow makeup on his face. um And so that was like the most organized we ever wear with our costumes. And it was cute.
00:40:16
Speaker
I loved the Wizard of Oz when I was a kid. I was a huge fan. I had that long dark hair so I could do the perfect little pigtails. I loved the ruby slippers that I got for that costume. Oh, I want to see pictures of that if you have them. I'm obsessed with the ruby slippers. I don't have them with me. I don't have any photos with me, but they're certainly in family photo albums someday.
00:40:46
Speaker
That's amazing. And everything else feels like a blur, but the other, probably my favorite costume was, and it was such a cop-out to have gone as a witch because there are so many different ways to do it. okay you know ah So I know of multiple different instances that I was a witch.
00:41:11
Speaker
oh that's awesome and but the best one and and again i don't know how i got away with this i don't know but the best one again homemade costume out of a pattern we would go to like the joann's and look at the patterns and i picked out one that almost looked a little medieval but it wasn't like a full length skirt it was like a knee length skirt but it was like it was medieval looking because it had like almost a corset type tie in the front oh or the back I think it was the front I don't remember and bell sleeves um and so we would go we'd pick out the patterns and this was again every year we would do this I'd pick out a pattern and then go pick out the fabric okay
00:42:02
Speaker
And what I chose for this costume with that that design of dress was like blood red crushed velvet. o And obviously it picked out like a witch hat, like a classic black witch hat, black fishnets. And my first ever pair of high heels yeah ah that were strappy black heels. And they weren't stilettos, but they weren't black heels either. um They were just like a very average sized heel. Like I wasn't, i i was I didn't break my ankle, but it there was a risk. yeah ah I was 12. That's awesome. which I loved it because it was so badass.
00:42:53
Speaker
But there were people who were like, that is too risque.
00:43:00
Speaker
Again, can't believe I got away with it. Yeah. Loved that costume. hell yeah it was great i don't remember if i even did makeup i must have like or my mom did but like i just remember loving that dress loving loving fishnets because obviously um and just looking know so good amazing like god but yeah that was when I was like 12 and then I really didn't do much in the way of costumes when I was a teenager okay um because I think that year that I did the the red witch uh was the last year that I ever trick-or-treated um okay and then my freshman year of college I was a witch again and this I do have a picture of and I can send it to you if you want cool are you probably seen it I don't know
00:43:52
Speaker
But I was a witch again, and it was again it was just, I pieced together this outfit out of what I already owned, but of course it involved fishnets again. um And it was just like ah like a classic black dress, and again, a cheap, classic witch hat, and fishnets, and a lower heel. Goodness, how far do I have to fucking scroll?
00:44:15
Speaker
so There are too many photos. It was a problem when you exist for a long time.
00:44:25
Speaker
Especially when you exist on the internet for a long time. Can I talk about something while you're looking for pictures? Yes. Okay. I'm having some um flashbacks of other, of other, ah of other Halloweens, because when you started to talk about the patterns, picking out a pattern and whatnot,
00:44:42
Speaker
My mother definitely homemade a couple of my outfits as well, my costumes. One of them, I think I was maybe eight. I'm trying to remember, but it it had to be around that same timeframe as like my fortune teller slash gypsy costume. um But she made a costume of a Christmas elf, a green Christmas elf.
00:45:11
Speaker
And the shoes were like, the shoes where they the toes curl over. oh like god So I wore like, you know, she they were like wearing slippers because they didn't have bottoms yeah like soles. But I remember wearing it to a ah church Halloween party because I don't think I could have worn it out because it was like, first of all, probably shorts or something. It wasn't like long pants, you know, that I can recall.
00:45:39
Speaker
Yeah. Or it was a skirt or something, but it had like those little slipper type shoes and you couldn't really wear them over shoes and walk around in them outside.
00:45:51
Speaker
So, pretty sure that I just wore them to a Christmas, I'm sorry, gotta keep saying Christmas party. I am almost 100% positive it was a Halloween party, not a Christmas party, that I wore that too, because you don't wear costumes to Christmas. It would have been in for both, even if you don't wear costumes to a Christmas party.
00:46:11
Speaker
But yeah, I'm almost I'm like, and literally, I am like, ah almost 100% positive. It was a Halloween costume and it was yeah just myself, but it was funny. Amazing. And then I remember, so now now I want to say I might have to put an amendment on my prior costume dressed up in the army fatigues with my friend who was dressed like a hooker.
00:46:32
Speaker
Um, that might've been 15. I might've been 15 because, but I don't remember for sure, but honest to God. Okay. Cause I remember some time around that timeframe when it might've been, it might've been when I was 17 now that I look, think about it, but I can't remember for sure. Cause, you know, yeah.
00:46:56
Speaker
yeah My mom sewed for me a genie outfit. Ooh. And it had like- Wait, I remember seeing a photo of you wearing it. You saw a picture, didn't you? Yeah. Yeah. That was around- You look so fucking cute. Yeah. So now I'm trying to remember, I think that I might've been 16 then, so it might've been before I was pregnant with you. Yeah. I'm almost 100% positive of that because there was like a group ah that I was involved with in high school that year that they had they had gotten together for various activities, including I believe a Halloween party. So I had that costume for that and I did not trick or treat that year. But yeah, so I was dressed up like a genie. um
00:47:43
Speaker
the pants that were like MC Hammer pants, baggy pants. I've a little also heard them described as harem pants. Yes, harem pants. And the little bra like bikini type ah bikini-type top yeah and like a little short vest. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I had like the thing that covered your face. The veil. Yeah. yeah From the nose down. yeah You were a harem girl, really. I was a harem girl.
00:48:13
Speaker
And it was technically called it. It was like a genie, whatever. love it But yeah, it was a pattern that you could buy when she, uh, she made me the outfit from the pattern. Nice. So those were two more that I remembered. You found picture the picture? Oh, you sent it. I sent it. Amazing. Oh, o i I do think I saw this picture. Yeah, its it is on Facebook. So amazing. Those high heels are beautiful. Yeah. They were quite short though.
00:48:43
Speaker
Especially compared to the others that I wore when I was 12. Um, but yeah, I really loved that dress. Honestly. Yeah. That's a really, really pretty dress. Yeah. I wore that to a couple of weddings. but and That was, that was obviously in college. Yeah. That was, that was my freshman year at BYU. Yeah. I liked it. and I enjoyed it. It was fun.
00:49:03
Speaker
Yeah. And it was easy because it was literally just, I already had the dress and the heels and I just needed the the hat and and the tights, which I might've even had the tights already too. ah And so it was just super, super easy. But yeah, a lot of fun. And there was like one other costume that I'm going to mention because I really did, like I had almost all the elements for it.
00:49:31
Speaker
And it just didn't come together at the end, but I was really excited for it. And it was the last time I like actively tried to dress up for Halloween. I think it was when I was like 20. Yeah, it has to have been when I was 20, because it was, I remember being in Virginia. So it was the year between BYU and Berkeley. um And I wanted to be like one of the versions of Lady Gaga out of her Born This Way music video.
00:50:01
Speaker
where she had like the sunken-in like skeleton face oo painted on. And she was wearing like a classic plain white button-up top and black slacks. And she had, I think it was a wig, but she also has blonde hair, so like it could have been her real blonde hair if she grew it out or got extensions. But like she had like a long ponytail with like a pink streak through it.
00:50:29
Speaker
And like I really liked that specific look. I think there was a few different looks from that music video that she had, but that one I liked the most. And I bought the wig. Because there the wig did exist. It was at Spirit Halloween at the time.
00:50:44
Speaker
But then I think where it fell apart was I could for some reason I should have been able to find plain black slacks I worked at the mall. I scoured every store I could think of and I could not find plain black slacks that would that like that would fit like they were all like either like, you know size zero or like Didn't have the right style like they were just slightly wrong. Hmm. And so I ended up not being able to do it Oh And it was a bummer, but like, I did get the wig and I was fully committed to it and then it didn't come together. Aww. But also, I'm not even sure if I would have been able, I mean, I think I tried. I didn't know anything about wigs. I still don't know anything about wigs. But I was like, I don't know how I'm going to like, put this wig on and keep it on. Oh, yeah. I don't know how people do that. It's crazy. But even still, like, I would have figured it out if I had the whole, like, all all pieces of it.
00:51:42
Speaker
I'll have to look that video up and just like send it to you too. um it's cool I don't remember if she must have been wearing like black high heels or something. But in any case, yeah, that's the last time I properly dressed up. Well, no. I guess I dress up i dressed up last year for work. for well Oh, yeah. Costume contest. I didn't win. Hell yeah. But I had a good time.
00:52:09
Speaker
Um, remember what I wore? Do you remember what I was? I don't know exactly what you called it, but it was, uh, the board sixties housewife. Yes. Yeah. With the martini glass and a cigarette, uh, holder and slippers and.
00:52:29
Speaker
Like fuzzy slippers for like the fuzzy leopard print slippers. Were they like, were they like the kitten heel type slippers or yeah just regular slipp like cost slippers that I ended up actually wearing all winter. Uh, after that, um, to work. No, like at home, uh, they were really comfortable oh that's and then, and like a, uh, sheer floor length bathrobe.
00:52:55
Speaker
Yeah, obviously over like, work appropriate, like a tire. But I don't think I saw a picture. I don't i remember if I took a whole picture, but I yeah but i remember you talking about it and describing. the Yeah. And I think I had like a I'd gotten a headband that had like a knot on top. That's sort of made it look like, you know, when you're, you know, half done, and your hair is like tied up. Yes.
00:53:21
Speaker
it kind of made it look like that. So I had like that headband, but I think it also like was too tight and gave me a headache. ah So I didn't keep it on the whole day. But really the thing that sold it was the martini glass and the cigarette holder. Yeah. I think also you can wear that kind of headband when you're, when you have on a mask, you're like cold cream mask or some kind of thing. Yeah. Again, like you're half done.
00:53:48
Speaker
um half baked as it were. But yeah, i I had a good time with that. I know that I, did I dress up the year before? Because I know we did costumes the year before too. I don't remember. We're doing it again this year. And I think if I do anything, I'm going to end up being that goth girl from fucking Breakfast Club.
00:54:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah. You know that I was accused of looking like her when I was a teenager. No shit. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my God. Amazing. Yeah. I was probably like 12 or 13 and some kid in my school in my classroom or whatever. He was like, you look like the basket case.
00:54:28
Speaker
Cause that was what they called her. You look like the basket case from breakfast club. I was like, yeah you know why though? You know why? Because after they, do you remember, do you remember the actual movie? yeah Okay. So like after they give her a little makeover yeah and she has the ribbon tied in her hair, like as a head.
00:54:50
Speaker
Um, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. I used to do that. I used to get pieces of ribbon from like the material store or whatever somehow. I don't remember how I did that, but anyway, I used to get pieces of ribbon that were long enough to tie and do, do do and it wasn't even on purpose. yeah I didn't, I don't think I had even seen that movie at that point, but somebody else said that, yeah, you look like the basket case from breakfast club. I was like.
00:55:20
Speaker
Okay. And then then when I saw it, I was like, hell yeah, dude, she's fucking cool. Ali Sheedy kicks ass. I love her. Amazing. Yeah, I've got like a calf length.
00:55:35
Speaker
black maxi dress and a thigh length ratty black cardigan and i can just wear like like like black leggings underneath in my boots and just do my hair like not even need to do my hair just must my hair to look like her before pre-makeup basket case yeah and uh but i need the thing i need to look at pictures I think that she had really smudgy eyeliner, i think like black like a lot of black, heavy, smudgy black eyeliner before the makeover. I'm going to look at pictures to make sure that I capture all the details, but it's like yeah again, it's something that I can easily make out of my
00:56:19
Speaker
existing wardrobe. Yeah. um And people will know it because half the people I work with are your age. So sweet. Yeah. Yes. What was her name? I don't remember that movie though. i I just know that they call her the basket case. I don't remember her name. And if you say that's what you are, then probably people will know. Oh, yeah. No, if I if I just say that I'm the basket case from the Breakfast Club, they'll immediately put it together.
00:56:45
Speaker
Yeah. um Okay, let's completely not forget yeah the Halloween that we spent together at the Witch's Ball. Yeah, like not the day of, but it was like the week and a half leading up to, and we went to the Witch's Ball, and I Why am I completely forgetting that that's when I dressed up as fucking Wednesday Adams? Exactly. And I didn't dress up only that year as her. I had to reuse that dress multiple times, but yeah. But yeah.
00:57:21
Speaker
I was Wednesday and you were Morticia. Yeah. We've posted one ah one of our pictures. We posted on our Instagram. Go check it out at Soul Pod, the podcast on Instagram. ah One of the pictures that we've posted, I'm trying to remember which which post it was, was a you and I at that ah the ball with a selfie when you had like the cool little eyebrow thing going. and Yeah, the lifted eyebrow that I can do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With that like nice high arch. Love it.
00:57:51
Speaker
I think it might have been like one of the posts I made after releasing like part two of telling your story. Yeah. But yeah, it's on it's on our Instagram. You can see that selfie. Yeah, you can kind of see oh i my Wednesday Adams collar. Yes. But yeah, that was a fun. That was a whole that whole trip was so fun. Yeah, I loved it. Yeah. That would have been five years ago, like last night that I flew in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.
00:58:22
Speaker
Five years ago. Jesus. Time is not real. Yeah. 2019. Holy shit. Yeah. That was right after I decided I was a witch and I got to spend my first Halloween celebrating being a witch with my witch daughter.
Witch Gatherings Experiences
00:58:37
Speaker
fuck yeah it was amazing yeah we went to um i think it was like day one of me being there that we went to the um was it like ah just a fair or like a festival or something the witch's bazaar was it a bazaar okay i wasn't sure which is bazaar and it was in the same exact place as the witch's ball and it was on the same day that's right that's right yeah yeah It was all the same day. Because we went to that and we didn't dress up, but we were like witchy. Oh, I dressed like a witch. Like I was a witch. Well, yeah, but like you were in costume and stuff. No, no, I was just in witchy clothing. Yeah. So we were like, we were witchy, but we weren't dressed up like in costume. We did that. Then we did some other stuff, went home, dressed up in costume to go to the witch's ball.
00:59:31
Speaker
Which was a lot of fun. Do you remember that we met up with your half-brother and his girlfriend and her sister, and then we went and had hamburgers somewhere at a hamburger place? That night? That day between.
00:59:48
Speaker
and i but between the bazaar and the ball. I didn't remember that. I didn't remember that. Do you remember now though? No. You can't remember it? No. So I remember the funniest thing. It was ah your sister-in-law's sister. She was with them hu and we went to this burger place. Okay.
01:00:08
Speaker
not far from where I live. And then we also went to like ah ah like a head shop as well. I remember the head shop. Okay. Oh, now I do remember. Okay. Now I remember the burger place. Right. So the burger place was hilarious because when I walked in and saw your sister-in-law's sister-law's sister, or she saw me,
01:00:28
Speaker
And we were talking about that we had just been to the witch's bazaar and blah, blah, blah. And I was dressed all in that whole style. And I said, oh yeah, I don't, I don't usually dress like this. I usually meant like, just you know, t-shirts and jeans kind of person. And she was like, that is so disappointing.
01:00:48
Speaker
she said that it was so fucking funny i was like the just the way she said it was so funny she's like yeah
01:01:08
Speaker
I just was like, God, I'm sorry to let you down, but I'm just a fucking normal person.
01:01:17
Speaker
like oh god like I drive a school bus, dude. I don't hear this kind of shit every day.
01:01:27
Speaker
Oh my god. That was that was so funny. oh And I don't remember her name or any of that, but it was just her reaction was so funny. I just like died laughing after she was like, that is so disappointing. I was like, you are so funny. Oh my god. Incredible. Yeah. So we did the witch's ball, and then we we also did the luncheon. Yeah. The Holly Hotel that trip. Oh yeah.
01:01:53
Speaker
not the same day not the same day that's the one that we mentioned where you were looking forward to me picking up on spiritual presences and i could not yeah because it's a super haunted hotel and then i just i mean it again like we had said previously it could have just been an off day at the hotel for the hotel but it certainly wasn't an off day for me because it was very very average for me to not detect spirits. But it was still a beautiful hotel. It was a beautiful fall day.
01:02:32
Speaker
Yes. And it was a delicious luncheon. Yes. It was really good. So such a high end like dining experience as always, because that place does super high end everything. um But it's a very historic ah hotel. It had its history with burning down in the past, you know, like you know, probably a hundred years ago. And then it recently had another fire, but it wasn't a total loss. So they were going to try to rebuild. Sadly, it just found out that they are having a dispute with a new owner of a building that is like very closely situated behind them. And they didn't want to cooperate with zoning or with property lines and whatnot. Which blows my mind that they would be that disruptive. It really upsets me.
01:03:22
Speaker
Yeah. So now the owners, because they can't move forward with the rebuild, ah they decided to sell. And that makes me sad. I just hope that if they ever can, if the new owners can rebuild that, you know, they bring back some of the ah old cool stuff that they used to do there. I just hope that the, you know, whoever purchases the hotel doesn't run into the same issues with that neighboring building owner.
01:03:51
Speaker
Or if they do, they they can eventually resolve them. Yeah. um Because these guys- It's like a legal cost that they couldn't ah afford, right? Exactly. They were about to, I think they were about to come to an agreement and then something came up again and they were going to go back to court again. They literally just had a court date. I don't know what happened with that, but they have to go back to court and they just were just like, no, forget it. And they couldn't do any work at all in the meantime.
01:04:20
Speaker
They got some stuff done, but we're... I know they got some stuff done, but when i when I read the article that you sent me, to my understanding, like it was during the process of like going to court, going back to court, that work that they desperately needed to do couldn't be done because of the legal issues. Right. Yes, exactly. Yeah, which is like fucking bullshit. Right. so Yeah, so that's really sad. and um But I've had a couple other really cool experiences in that hotel, not like, you know not ghosty experiences, but I went to a previous witch's luncheon right after I got married with my husband. He was literally the only man there, but he was a he was dressed in all black as I requested. yeah And you know I was like, there can be male witches, they're called. Yeah.
01:05:17
Speaker
What? Warlocks? I mean, i do I personally think which can be a gender neutral term. So yes, yes. Yeah, so I was like, I convinced him to come with me. But then after he realized he was the only male there, he was not interested in going back again. Were men when you and I went? I don't think so. yeah oh There may have been there may have been one or two.
01:05:44
Speaker
Hmm, but yeah, mostly women all wearing, you know, which done outfits with tall, which, yeah, a lot of many hats where you and I were literally probably the only which is there like actual witches. Yeah. like A lot of costumes and not. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I was wearing, you were wearing a witch hat. I don't think I was, but I don't really, my witch hat wasn't one of those tall pointy hats. It was, yeah it's one of those ones that like droopy. Yeah. With a very soft point that points backwards kind of. Yeah. um And that was... ah
01:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, it was but basically the same kind of thing that I wore to the witch's bazaar that your sister-in-law's sister made a comment about. and It was like I dressed kind of the same way. Yeah, yeah. For that. I think I just dressed kind of goth, but that's like my normal attire. Right. I just fit in in every Halloween setting by default. Visually, visually, aesthetically fit in. Yeah.
01:06:51
Speaker
Oh my God. Yeah. the the A couple of times that I had eaten there prior, I talked to the wait staff about their experiences with, um, with hauntings and they have stories. They have stories. They told me stories.
Haunted History Tales
01:07:06
Speaker
Yeah. I believe it. Crazy. But it's a beautiful hotel. I hope it comes back. I hope so too. Hey, let's put that intention out into the universe. Everybody yes send, send love and blessings and energy.
01:07:20
Speaker
to the Holly Hotel in Holly, Michigan. Do it. Please and thank you. Yes. 100%. And the Witches Bazaar and Witches Ball this year was last Saturday, so I have missed it. yeah I wanted to try and run out to the bazaar, but I ended up having to go file my taxes. Oh yeah. That day. And then we found out that we owed money and I'm like, I guess I'm not going anywhere today. Can't afford to do anything like that now. Yeah. I think that at least with the witch's ball, like that's the kind of thing you kind of have to play in in advance. and like Oh yeah. In advance and everything. Yes. You have to buy the tickets in advance and they sell out. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. I, uh, God, I have occasionally had thoughts of.
01:08:09
Speaker
maybe trying to go to the Witch's Ball that occurs in Salem every year. ah I think it's the Hawthorne Hotel is what it's called, that they do it in Salem.
01:08:22
Speaker
but Well, but if you ever do... No, I never will. I was gonna say, if you ever do, you better include me, make sure that we plan in advance, and I'm coming out and coming and going there with you. because No, I mean, for sure, but also, I never, I will never go back to Salem in October. Okay. Like, the last time when you were here in 2022 is the last time I will ever do that.
01:08:47
Speaker
I didn't think it was that bad when we were there. I hated it. It was awful. I didn't feel like it was overly- We had the park on the rooftop of the parking lot at 9 a.m. It was so packed. Was it that early in the day? Yeah. Well, it was not that early. It was as soon as I, because you landed at like 10 a.m. So I literally picked you up from the airport and we drove straight to Salem. Awful.
01:09:11
Speaker
But if you remember, we couldn't get anywhere to, get it anywhere to eat. Like that was like meal appropriate, like breakfast appropriate. We got in at like 11 a.m. at the pub.
01:09:25
Speaker
Yeah, that was great. perfectly fine with i loved the pu But it was exhausting. I was so tired. And you can't like, the other thing is you can't use the bathroom anywhere unless you're like a customer. Yeah. And so like, even going at the beginning of September with Sierra, this year, I was just like, oh like, I need to like, I need to just not be here during the fall. Because it's like,
01:09:54
Speaker
crowded and like, i I mean, you'll see a million rants on TikTok about people who live in Salem who are like, stop coming here. Yeah, I did see something about that. Yeah. And it was like, if people from Massachusetts tell you not to come here in October to Salem,
01:10:13
Speaker
You better like listen. yes it was like It's not because they don't want you here. It's because it's literally the worst experience ever because it's so crowded. You will hate it. yeah You will have a terrible time.
01:10:28
Speaker
Yeah. And so when I came out, it was like October 14th or whatever. Yeah. It was like right before your birthday. Yeah. Yeah. And then ah I don't remember it being super crowded everywhere we went, but what I hated was the weather. It sucked. And I think the weather was half the reason it wasn't as crowd as ah crowded it could have been.
01:10:51
Speaker
Because like i mean again, I have limited my being there in October for a reason. like My very first Salem experience was Halloween of 2015. Geez, really? Yeah, i didn't know I know I've told you about it. um It was a miracle we found parking. It was definitely illegal parking like in somebody's yard practically.
01:11:17
Speaker
It was awful. It was really far away. You didn't get a ticket, though? I don't think that the police are patrolling that far away from the crowds. Well, see, somebody could have called the cops and had to come. Well, they didn't. They didn't. I don't know, but they didn't. But the point is, it was that far away from the town center.
01:11:36
Speaker
Yeah. Because we had to walk for like a fucking mile to get there. Wow. but and it was i'm I shit you not when I say like it was a tiny car that we were in and we were squished into this open space. Oh my gosh. I'm not kidding. When we get to the town center, there was we were never not touching people. Oh wow. It was like crowds pressed in.
01:12:02
Speaker
It was awful. it was i mean it was like I luckily was not in a a phase of my life where I had extreme agoraphobia, but I have had extreme agoraphobia with crowds. I've had panic attacks in crowds. I was so lucky that that was not a phase where I felt particularly sensitive.
01:12:21
Speaker
Wow. Um, so that was literally like less than two weeks before you and I got reunited. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, like that was, that was my first Salem experience. And, uh, there's a reason I don't go back. I mean, like and I go back at any other time of the year, but not Halloween or not, not any time in October and most of the time, not in September either. But hey, two days into November.
01:12:51
Speaker
dead zone. Yeah. Complete. I was going to say November 1st would be a good day. I don't know if November 1st is. November 1st is I think still kind of cutting it too close. Okay. But I remember going, it was either actually it was like November 2nd or no, 3rd or 4th that I went in 2016 with a friend of mine from high school who was in town for like business.
01:13:17
Speaker
yeah And so we went together and that's when I felt like it was a ghost town, yeah especially compared to the way Halloween is. Yeah. But that's the reason that we got in with like a reader. And that was that was the day I had my first card reading ever. Oh, wow. And when I was first basically informed of the fact that it was work I needed to be doing myself. Wow. I don't know if I remember that.
01:13:45
Speaker
I know I've told you about it. I also wrote a blog about it. Well, I've never written or I'm sorry. I've never read any of your blogs that I'm aware of. Like, are you posting blogs? It's the one blog post I've posted on my existing website that I've never mentioned on this podcast before. Oh, gosh. Okay. um But I haven't posted since I've actually been I was thinking about it earlier today that I need to write another blog post. I got to write a few. I want to start writing more blog posts in general. Like for that, and like if we do a Patreon, I want to put blog posts on the Patreon. But yeah, that was a transformative day. Very cool. ah But yeah, Salem. i've Like I said, I've thought about the witch's ball, but I just don't i think it would be an absolute nightmare of a time.
01:14:37
Speaker
Like it'd be a nightmare. We'd have to spend the entire day there just to be able to get parking because we'd have to arrive too early in the morning. yeah Uh, and then we'd probably have a nightmare of a time trying to get out of the city in the evening because we'd need to spend at least like 600, $700 on a hotel room if we were to stay in the city. So is it on Halloween day? It's like, it's not always on Halloween day. I think it's like, I want to say there, they might even have like multiple evenings of it.
01:15:10
Speaker
but like okay not like you know a dozen of them but like two or three but like it's always like toward the end of october at least okay um like around the 28th or so but like it's just hey it's not it's it's not it would not be worth it i would not i would just be in a like logistics nightmare the whole time in any case we'll talk some more about sawin Yeah, let's talk about that one. Let's talk about
Samhain Spiritual Discussion
01:15:40
Speaker
that one. The veil is the thinnest during this time of the year. Yes, it is. I know that that's like, not a term that everybody is going to maybe understand when we say the veil is thin. Maybe some people will be because I imagine a lot of our listeners are probably of a spiritualist witchy persuasion, but
01:16:02
Speaker
you know for For those who don't know what that means, do you want to try to explain or would you like me to try to explain? I could try, and then if I don't do a good enough job, you can like chime in and correct something or add your two cents. Talk about it. Who cares about good enough? There's probably a multitude of explanations or descriptions of what that is.
01:16:30
Speaker
Um, if you're talking in terms of religion or like the religion that you and I were raised in, the veil is the memory loss that you have from the pre-existence to the now existence, which is ever. You know, as funny as I totally forgot that that was a thing. Born. Yeah. So that was how I always remember hearing what, you know, about the veil from very early on, um, in my own life.
01:16:57
Speaker
So that when you're born, you don't remember the pre-existence. But in the terms that we are using it, it is about the connection of our world to the spirit world.
01:17:13
Speaker
in the spirit realm that the link between the two worlds gets closer or thinner. Like a really, really thin condom. Okay then. If we're gonna keep going with the sex metaphor. I wasn't even...
01:17:33
Speaker
Tell me what is this one for? The big O. Oh, Jesus, stop. Oh, my God. All right. Okay. So you've forgotten about the big O. You got me. You got me. Because I just literally don't usually think in terms of sexual innuendos, but whatever. It's all good. That's what I'm here for. I know. Thank you so much. You're welcome. So the veil is the condom. And the what what's that like stupid ass like condom name that's like bearskin or like nearly raw or whatever the
01:18:14
Speaker
It's nearly raw! What the hell? Oh my god! I could go look at the box of condoms in my bedroom and check, but I don't remember. Oh my god. The closest you can get to bare skin or something stupid is like, but raw. What the fuck? Raw? You but you know, like raw dogging the spirit world. Shut the fuck up, dude. What?
01:18:47
Speaker
item very thin and You can feel it it's all ribs for her pleasure
01:18:56
Speaker
whoa
01:19:08
Speaker
whoa oh my god oh my god listen you might and you made me this way no no
01:19:28
Speaker
so
01:19:33
Speaker
oh oh Oh my god. My face hurts. My face hurts. Jesus Christ. the Oh my god, stop it. My face hurts so bad.
01:19:48
Speaker
o You're welcome. You're welcome. Oh my god. So now I don't even know if your question was like,
01:20:01
Speaker
It was a legitimate question or was it just used to like egg me on in this? I don't even know. What the fuck? Do you want to explain the veil? Oh yeah, of course I was a legitimate question. You were trying to set me up, bitch! The condom metaphor was so unplanned. and Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh lord. My face. Okay, okay.
01:20:31
Speaker
far oh
01:20:36
Speaker
oh my lord ah okay so okay Yeah, so the veil is like what is separating us from the spirit world or the spirit realm and during I'd say the whole month of hot of October, the whole month of Halloween. It like increases over time, particularly during October. I'd say the veil starts within though probably at least Maybond if not like early September. True, yeah. Like when the season starts to shift and you can even if it's not like visible with like the trees the
01:21:13
Speaker
the leaves turning but like you can feel it in the air like that's when you start to feel the season shift is when you know once you're perceptive to it like yeah the veil is thinning at the same time um and it it comes to like its maximum thinness around Samhain and like sort of stays that way for i'd say ah at least a week oh for sure because because it because it does elastic back it like does sort of go back to like I mean, I don't know. does it Do you think that it tends to like sort of snap back into like full? I wouldn't think it happens that fast. um Yeah. i like I don't think so, but I've never heard anybody like try to explain or describe a timeline of like how long it takes to get back to original thickness.
01:22:04
Speaker
hey I don't know. Oh my god.
01:22:10
Speaker
Oh my God. Um, so, uh, okay. We're not Hispanic and we cannot make any claims to like Mexican culture, but no no you talk about day of the dead is literally the day after Samhain and Halloween. Right. Yeah. No, it's like that is November 1st. That's, I mean, people often conflate the Dia de los Muertos with Halloween and with Samhain, but it is not the same holiday even remotely.
01:22:39
Speaker
it's It happens at the same time for the reason specifically of the veil being thin because it is a universal experience, no matter where you are in the world. right Yeah, it's fascinating, honestly. like It's the kind of thing that like I probably should like focus more on and like try to understand better or or like get a better sense of it for myself. It's of the day of that holiday. No, no, no. Of the veil being thin.
01:23:08
Speaker
Like I comment on it when I can feel it, but I don't ever sit in the feeling. okay And I feel like almost that's a little bit of a protective, like an unconscious protective, like I don't allow myself to. Right. Not necessarily because I believe anything scary is waiting to come through, because I don't.
01:23:27
Speaker
believe that. But you know, like, it just it's one of those things that maybe is almost a little existential in my mind. who And like existential stuff tends to chip me out a little bit. So I don't, I don't dive too deep into it if I yeah if I can help. But yeah, I, I think that I should do more of that just for the fact of having more experience with it. Right. Just just for my own like learning and growth.
01:23:57
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I don't know what it is. I have not paid a whole lot of attention to the veil being thinner in recent years. But this year, particularly I felt it more or I've been more in tune with it for some reason.
Spirit Connection Practices
01:24:13
Speaker
Again, I think it's because we're focused on our spirituality.
01:24:17
Speaker
yeah I mean I'm definitely doing more like learning about it listening to the podcasts that I listen to then they give the ideas and the suggestions for how to like use this time to commune with your past loved ones yeah and things like that yeah or even I think I think that you could use this time of the year to commune with not only you know loved ones who have passed or even only ancestors, but also your own spirit guides. I think you have an easier time coming through at this time of the year. I definitely need to try to focus on that for sure. That was actually a couple of weekends ago when I was doing that intense shadow work that I was talking to you about. A good portion of the of the day was spent trying to communicate with them. I shouldn't say trying to because I felt like I successfully did so.
01:25:12
Speaker
nice but uh but yeah it was uh through the instruction we got from the divine connections class for with britney d amazing that's that's awesome yeah so like that i did you know a few weeks or a few yeah a few weeks ago and i think i'm gonna try to do more of that in the you know coming weeks as the veil reaches peak thinness yeah yeah um just to Yeah, just to sort of feel like I'm making the most of the opportunity to connect with them. So yeah. Anyway. I have a funny story that like I sort of hesitate to tell, but I probably should. and You can tell it and then decide if you want it to stay it or not. Oh yeah. It's not about that. It's about
01:26:05
Speaker
my unsure-ness of what I saw. um So I had you know heard one of the episodes on the skeptic metaphysician, one of the very first ones I ever listened to that I actually recently re-listened to this woman who had proof of the afterlife, like literally she was getting signs from her mother-in-law who passed away, um and they were coming through super loud and clear, and it was undeniable. um She said, and she actually wrote a book, so I probably need to get that book. But anyway, she said, if you want a sign from a passed on loved loved one, you have to ask them for something very, very specific.
01:26:56
Speaker
and you have to designate like in the next week or sometime soon, not like a month from now. you know like yeah and I was at Julie's house um and she was looking out her window and she was like, oh, there's a bluebird out here or something like that.
01:27:14
Speaker
or a blue jay. And I was like, wow, really? I was like, I don't remember seeing any blue jay or blue type birds in Michigan anytime recently. I mean, we see Cardinals around here quite a bit. And you know, a lot of people believe that Cardinals are a sign, you know, of a loved one.
01:27:33
Speaker
But it kind of made me remember my biological father had given me a pair of little blue bird earrings. They were little birds and they were blue, just solid blue. And I think I lost one of them at some point in my younger years, but that was always something that I remembered that my dad gave me. And recently I said to myself, because after she see saw what she saw right outside of her door wall,
01:28:03
Speaker
In Michigan, we call it a door wall. Or sliding glass door, as we would also call it. Door wall, what the fuck? Yeah, I'm sorry, but like, literally, that's all I- You don't have to apologize. I've just never heard that. Calling it that? Please, people from the Midwest, please pipe in and tell me that you've also heard it called a door wall as you grew up. Anyhow, she was looking out and saw that.
01:28:31
Speaker
It sparked the memory of my bluebird earrings. And then in the last couple of weeks, I said in my head to my dad, my biological father who passed away when I was 11 years old, if you're around, I want to see a bluebird. I want to see a blue, a bird of some sort that's blue.
01:28:51
Speaker
And I could have sworn because of where I drive in my bus. I'm in the, you know, country. I'm in farmland that I saw one fly right across the road in front of me one day.
01:29:05
Speaker
A blue jay? I think it was a blue jay. i know't I need to look them up and make sure that that's what it was, but I think it was a blue jay. And I swear to God, before Julie claimed to have seen the one that she saw, I don't remember seeing any birds that were blue, any type of blue bird at all, you know prior to this. yeah So she said that and I was like, okay, that's interesting.
01:29:29
Speaker
And then I did it again because I wasn't sure of what I saw the first time around. And I said, okay, if that was you, if you're around, I want to see another one.
01:29:40
Speaker
And like the next day I saw a blue jay fly across the road right in front of me. Wow. And I just, and that was just like yesterday. Oh my God. Yeah. I have chills now. I got full body chills right now. Oh my God. Does that mean something? ju I mean, does that mean something that, because Julie said the same thing to me, like when she gets the chills like that, it's like spirit is moving through you. I believe that. And I feel like that might be.
01:30:11
Speaker
Yeah, be the there's I I can I get chills, but I also And i'm I'm feeling it right now actually like my feeling my sensation that I get when I can tell either that like you know, there is something divine about whatever is being talked about or When I'm practicing magic is like an electrical feeling through my hands. And I'm getting it right now. Wow. Yeah, particularly through my like ring fingers. so Like my middle my middle and ring fingers in particular. Oh, really? Yeah. when i'm When I'm pulling tarot cards, that's the feeling I wait for. Okay. But yeah.
01:30:55
Speaker
Yeah, that's, I think everybody experiences a feeling of magic or, you know, a divine and confirmation in a different way, but that's the way that I experience it. Yeah. It's like a, like a very mild electricity, not like anything particularly, you know, jarring, um, just gentle, but like definitely buzzy, definitely electric.
01:31:19
Speaker
But yeah yeah, I had full body full body chills. I don't usually get them. Sometimes I get them on one side of my body or just a portion of one side. This was like full body. And I literally looked at my arms and I had goosebumps. My whole arm was like goosebumps. Stop. It's doing it again. Yeah. ah That's amazing. yeah I'm so glad you got that story.
01:31:44
Speaker
ah yeah So, I mean, like you you know we're talking about the veil being thin and I swear this is the time of year to do that kind of stuff. If you want any kind of confirmation that a loved one is nearby, that is a loved one is with you or you want to know that they're okay, yeah ask for a specific sign, make it really detailed.
01:32:06
Speaker
not general, you know, and you know, say within the next five days or whatever and look for that thing. yeah Look for it. it'll It'll usually just pop out, present itself. Yeah. You got to be specific. I love it.
01:32:25
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah that's amazing i'm Molly Molly what I want you to try
Celebrating Samhain
01:32:31
Speaker
it. I want you to think of somebody that you want to sign from and I'm gonna make us Don't you don't talk about it right now? Okay. No, no, you don't have to I just I want you to think about it and and decide on something and put that intention out there Okay, tell that and in your head This is what I want to see from you. I'll tell them out loud. Whatever you want to do. It doesn't matter. Walk to that specific person yeah by name yeah and and and ask for a specific thing.
01:33:01
Speaker
yeah and okay And do it, like, say, you know, give it a five or seven day, like timeframe or something like that. Okay. Yeah. Tell me and report back, please, because I would love to know. I will. yes I will. I'll do it. Amazing. Okay. I love it. Yay. Yay. And that kind of perfectly segues us, I think, into a tradition that I would like to carry on from our Mabon episode. Okay.
01:33:29
Speaker
a tradition of ah visualization of our ideal Sabbath day. um And in this case, it would be Samhain. the And it's a little different because it's not exactly I mean like there's there's a lot of coziness affiliated with Mabon and You can certainly get cozy on Halloween and Samhain But it's not that's not like the the first thing that comes to mind you get you know scared on Halloween ideally, yeah, ah but even so like
01:34:05
Speaker
It's like a ah strengthened or like a more pronounced version, I think, of Mabon, and particularly, you know, just being deeper into the fall, into the autumn season.
01:34:19
Speaker
And it's, you know, it's got its different traditions. And I think I especially wanted to be able to do this because it's your favorite holiday. And I wanted to like, give you the opportunity to, you know, sort of paint a weird picture of your own, to to sort of invite the energy in for your life for the, you know, not only on Halloween or Samhain specifically, but the, you know, the coming weeks, you know, before and after. Yeah.
01:34:49
Speaker
yeah Yeah, because for me, it's not just about one day and and it's mostly because Halloween or someone can fall on a weekday when I'm working and you know yeah my kid's at school and he may have a half a day or or I may have a half a day or whatever and it's like busy, busy and blah, blah, blah. So it's like the weeks leading up to where you try to take advantage of those days on the weekend when you have time off from work. Yeah. And like embracing the feeling of the season. it Yes. Yeah, completely. Yeah.
01:35:25
Speaker
I love the cider mill, you know, the apple orchards, you know, going and getting apple cider and donuts. And, uh, yes, if they have going there in 2019. Yeah. When you were with us that year, I love the pictures that we have from that day. Oh my God. Yes. So many cute pictures. Um, and it was it was a delicious too. Beautiful day. And we were margarita drunk and scream singing along to Man of Constant Sorrow. Were we? Yeah. On that day? Yeah. But i and my husband were with us. I don't remember that. They were in a separate car. I'm pretty sure. Oh, um I just remember that. But like,
01:36:12
Speaker
You know, I was margarita drunk. You definitely were not, but I definitely was. But we were both scream singing, Man of Constant Sorrow, from O Brother Ora, though, in the car. That's amazing. That was a beautiful day. I remember it so vividly.
01:36:33
Speaker
i got that po now Oh my god. So um yeah, yeah so I mean that would be a part of my ideal. So I wouldn't see you doing gay. Fun. Oh my god, so fun. Maybe we should scream. this Scream sing it? Scream sing that song together when I'm there in November.
01:36:59
Speaker
Oh my god. Oh my god, why are you so funny? Yes. um Okay, so ah one of the, I mean, I always love haunted houses. ah I haven't really been to one recently, probably when when John and I were first dating or first married. ah We went to one together. That was one of the biggest and scariest ones anywhere around here.
01:37:22
Speaker
It was like four floors in a giant old building that was like, yeah, you just kept going and going and going. It was like, holy shit. Oh, it sounds terrible.
01:37:33
Speaker
I'm not a fan of being scared. Yeah. And it's mostly a jump scare stuff, you know, because like, for me, you you know, any scene that you happen upon, you know, is for sure fake. So when I keep that shit in mind, I don't get too scared, but I don't like jump scares. And I don't like it when something grabs you when you're not expecting it. Oh my God.
01:37:55
Speaker
And they used to do that all the time when I was a kid, they would reach out and grab your leg or something. I was like, what the heck? But yeah, I don't remember that kind of thing happening because they feel like lawsuits maybe. I don't know. For sure. I know at some point it became a thing where it was like, they can't touch you anymore. You can't touch, yeah. Yeah. Which kind of sucks because it was fun. But I can certainly understand certain people.
01:38:20
Speaker
probably being triggered by it, you know, like, yeah, I can definitely see being an issue. Right, right. But so that one, it wasn't as scary as everybody would. Sorry, yeah that everybody had said. Oh,
01:38:43
Speaker
oh my God. So it's easy for me to just be like, not really that scared because you know, the shit is fake and stuff. So it's like, I guess I'm just kind of like there for the fun. Yeah, yeah. I'll do it. I'll do like a haunted car ride. You ever done those? No. Where like people it's mostly like, you know, people with big properties that have to be able to set it up. But like, just effectively the same concept but like out you know, outdoors and you, there's like a, you know, road that your car can follow. Yeah. And you just drive through it rather than like walk through it. Okay. I'd rather do that because that's cool. And I will say I have a similar type thing that I was going to say that I really, really enjoyed. Yeah.
01:39:33
Speaker
a haunted hayride. Oh yeah. Yeah. I think that. Yeah. So one of the old cider mill like apple orchard places that we used to go to when I was growing up had one of those and I went on it one time and it was so fucking fun, dude. Because you're like you're concentrating on looking out into the forest to see the little scenes that they have set up everywhere, the trees and forest, whatever.
01:40:01
Speaker
And then all of a sudden there will be a motherfucker who comes up on the side of the truck that you didn't see coming. And he has a chainsaw and it's like, you know, all of a sudden he's coming at you with a chainsaw and you're like, yeah you know,
01:40:17
Speaker
cause you're all focused on some shit on the side of the trail. And like, here comes this guy out, you know, out of nowhere. You're like, yeah they grab your leg or something. I don't know. like it's fucking oh my god is It's so good. It was so fun. so much I want to do that again. And I think my son would really enjoy that. So that's something I think I need to look into. I remember when I was a freshman at BYU, there was ah like an event, like some Halloween event where there was a haunted hay ride.
01:40:47
Speaker
And i remember it being I don't remember like any of the like actors or anything. I just remember it being like a really rickety, like chaotic, actual ride. And we were all calling it the Death Cab.
01:41:03
Speaker
And so basically like the pictures that I took I like posted and I said riding the death cab with some cuties with all my friends. Adorable. But it was just like it was I don't know I don't know if it was that great of a haunted hayride if I don't remember any of the like actual scenes or attractions but I do remember it being a death cab so that was fun.
01:41:28
Speaker
yeah Oh my God. Anyway, sorry. Oh, no, I love it. o So yeah, haunted houses or haunted hayrides are the best. Going to the apple orchard, going to the cider mill, getting your cider and your apples and your donuts. Yeah, it's the best. And then the one that you were with, with me in, you know, at twenty in 2019, they have a really awesome path to walk. And that's along the river. Do you remember that? I do remember that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's so beautiful. So you get to see all the trees that are like that are all around and turning colors. And oh my gosh, it's it's beautiful. Yeah, anytime you can get out in nature, obviously. But
01:42:15
Speaker
even if you went into the woods at this time of year alone, if possible, to just smell the smells because I think that that's one of the things that I always remember every year is like a certain smell in the air when the season is coming. yeah And it's like, it's probably something to do with the leaves changing or something. Yeah, like the dying leaves.
01:42:42
Speaker
Yeah, and there's a smell and and I haven't smelled it yet this year for some reason, but usually sometime in October, before now, is when I would smell it. yeah And that's the first hint of like, oh yeah, it's it's here. The season is here. Yeah. i' I've kind of been smelling it. It's it's been getting really cold in recent days and so like, I think that's maybe stamping the scent down a little bit, but it should warm up in the next couple days. Right. And so maybe maybe I'll get a whiff of it in the next couple days, but I know exactly what you're talking about though. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Just like spending time out in like, not only like taking in the beauty of like the colors and the changing leaves, but like just, you know, all again, all senses, a full sensory experience.
01:43:37
Speaker
Yeah, forest bathing. Yes. yeah Of course, taking time to decorate your house in the theme of whatever it is that you love about the season.
Samhain Foods and Crafts
01:43:53
Speaker
um these are Things that we have to do and in the days leading up to.
01:43:59
Speaker
Samhain and Halloween oh yeah oh yeah i was gonna ask was there any particular like is there any i know there's not a traditional meal obviously associated with Halloween or Samhain i mean Samhain itself might have some some particular foods oh you have your book let's see if there's any uh recipes in there yeah i can absolutely because i was gonna say like You know, I'm sure that your ideal meal would probably include some kind of delicious stew or soup um because you are a soup queen. Oh my goodness. Well, pumpkin soup.
01:44:38
Speaker
would be amazing. o There's other types of like squash soup. Yeah, butternut squash soup. Yeah, butternut squash soup would be amazing. um Back in the day, my mom used to take the seeds from the pumpkin that we would carve and she would roast those. Oh yeah, that's a classic. Yeah. Absolutely. And I used to love that. Carving pumpkins. Oh my God. We haven't even talked about carving pumpkins.
01:45:04
Speaker
dude right i gotta to carve a pumpkin god damn it i know i gotta i gotta go get a pumpkin and then carve it shit i know so do i let me see i haven't carved recipes and crafts it's been like two three years since i last carved a pumpkin o didn't you and your ex that you used to live with carve pumpkins together we did uh we did every year even after we broke up but uh not I think in 2022 or 2023 maybe even yeah no he and I didn't carve any in 2021 because I carved pumpkins with Tom that year um he was it was before he had moved here and he was in town visiting during October right right and so we carved pumpkins but 2021 might be the last year that I carved a pumpkin
01:45:58
Speaker
Um, Julie just told me that her one helper came and did a baked apple. Yum. For her. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. And that's one of the recipes in here. Ooh, I love a baked apple. I don't know if I've really ever had a baked apple besides being in an apple pie, but kale chips are one recipe that are, that's the first one listed. Is there any particular seasoning listed on it?
01:46:28
Speaker
Um, sea salt. Wow. So it says one bunch of kale, two tablespoons olive or sunflower oil. Sea salt to season, to taste. Fascinating. Yeah. I wonder what it is about kale that makes it taste particularly salmony.
01:46:47
Speaker
yeah yeah Uh, that's a good question. Although I will say kale is a very hardy plant and can grow even into the cold weather. True. So you could still be growing it right now. Yeah. You could still be growing and harvesting at this time of year. That's a good point. Sure. Good point. Um, the other ones, uh, apple curry soup. Oh, hell yeah. That sounds amazing. Oh my God. Oh, you know what I'm reminded of now?
01:47:17
Speaker
What? My apple pie pork loin roast, or not even a roast, but like just apple pie pork loin. I probably should roast it at some point. I've been making it in crock pots until or up till now. um But yeah, the apple pie pork loin. Fuck yes. A little sweet, a little savory. 100% delicious.
01:47:39
Speaker
I might need to either have you make me that, so I can taste it, or you send me the recipe, because I don't even recall you talking about that. I have made it differently every time I've made it, so I will make it for you, not on Thanksgiving Day, because naturally, yeah but yeah one of the days that you're here, we'll make it.
01:48:00
Speaker
Cool. Yay. Pumpkin seeds are listed. Hell yeah. Pumpkin puree. So that's probably to prepare yeah some are like kind of pumpkin for a different recipe. Pumpkin pie, probably. Maybe. I love a pumpkin pie. ah There's pumpkin bisque, which would be pumpkin soup.
01:48:20
Speaker
oh Okay. I do not speak Spanish, but I will attempt Pan de Muerto, which translates to Bread of the Dead. Bread is the ultimate. Okay. Can I read a little bit out of the book? Sure. Yeah.
01:48:41
Speaker
Bread is the ultimate ancestral food. It is the marker of human agricultural history. It represents the point at which humans begin to inhabit one area of land for a long time and the time at which they changed their diets from hunter gatherer to farmed fair. In Samhain, breads and cakes bore many traditions ranging from fortune telling to fairy packs.
01:49:11
Speaker
Now it's another tasty treat, whether we keep it to ourselves or share. This bread is often served as part of Dia de los Muertos celebrations as an offering of food to the departed ancestors that their families may also enjoy. What makes it tricky is that the baker rolls it into something resembling a skeleton shape before baking. That's so cool. You may want to practice on clay or Play-Doh a few times before you make this. That's really cute. I love that. I love it. Yeah. oh um And it makes sense. it With it being yeah the last of the harvest sabbats,
01:49:58
Speaker
ah bread a bread a recipe is completely called for. I love it. Any others that are standing out? Yeah, there's a recipe for sugar skulls. It's sugar skulls. For Dia de Los Muertos. Yes.
01:50:18
Speaker
So there's a whole recipe for that and how to make fat. nice Soul cakes. Soul cakes. That's interesting. It says, in the British Isles, the poor often went to prosperous houses on Samhain night, seeking aid in the form of food, money, and prayers. They often prayed in return. Often the people visited, provided, whoa, sorry. The wording is just odd. Okay. often the people visited provided soul cakes as a sort of payment for the prayers and blessings that they offered to their dad. This dry cookie makes a nice addition to any dumb supper you wish to host. You know what a dumb supper is? Yeah. Do you? Yeah.
01:51:07
Speaker
I'm guessing it's where you set up a place ah place setting for somebody who's departed. Yeah. But you may actually put food on that plate for that person as an offering or some kind of thing. Yeah. And I think there's usually mirrors involved. Ooh, I don't know about that. ah Well, I remember it being talked about.
01:51:26
Speaker
on the Witch Witch Amateur Hour podcast. I can't remember exactly when or what the episode was called, but I remember it being talked about because of the fact that mirrors make your offerings to the ah your ancestors or the spirits that you're connecting to, it makes it accessible to them. So like when I've made when i've made like offerings to like i date a deity or anything, I've always placed it on a mirror.
01:51:56
Speaker
Oh, interesting. Well, not always, but as long as I've known to do that. ah Okay. Yeah. And it kind of reminds me of um like Veterans Day, which is November 11th, 11 11. Yeah. And a lot of times, places will set up a place setting for a past soldier as a remembrance type of thing. Like at work, they had a little table that they did that for in memory of um Lost soldiers and lost military members Which I always felt touching and it's very strange to look at a place setting somewhere we don't normally have Meals anyway at work in our lot, you know not yeah Tablecloth tables with actual like plates and you know silverware and stuff So it always causes you to pause and take notice and just think about it for a moment. Definitely
01:52:56
Speaker
Um, so yeah, and it's, it's very interesting to think also that it's that that particular date is so close to being right after Salwyn and the day of the dead. Yeah. Um, well the, while the mail is still thin, really kind of gives it a little extra depth and meaning. Absolutely. Absolutely. It does. Um, true soul cakes. Let's see. And griddle cakes. Um,
01:53:23
Speaker
i'm not even going to try to pronounce that because i've never seen that word before but
01:53:30
Speaker
C-O-L-C-A-N-N-O-N. So if you want to say it like in English, yeah, but it says Irish too. It is. Irish too. Yeah, colcannon is how it's pronounced. Okay. Yeah. I didn't know if it had a... Oh, like a weird like Celtic, Gaelic pronunciation. Pronunciation. I'm not even going to So I didn't want to try to pronounce that try. It's just colcannon, yeah. because Okay. I never heard I've never seen that word before, but it's. that before.
01:53:55
Speaker
um So that's listed, lamb's wool. What's lamb's wool? Do you know what that is? ah no i'm ki It's a beverage. It says, think of this beverage as the Scottish answer to sangria. oh While the flavoring varied by geography and preference in Great Britain, lamb's wool typically consisted of half ale and half cider.
01:54:23
Speaker
heated with what spices were available. oh If you have a crock pot or even a pot on your stove, you can give this a try. I don't think I would like it. Ale, cider, and then cloves or cinnamon. Stir together. Don't typically and like ale and cider because well, they're just too similar to beer in terms of like taste. Have you ever had just regular like mold cider?
01:54:53
Speaker
like non-alcoholic yeah yeah multiple cider but like when people talk about cider like in Scotland like in that context it's not uh cider like just regular apple cider it's like like an alcoholic cider isn't it that's what i that's what i assume In this it is, it's an ale, which is beer. Yeah, I don't care for the ale. So half beer, half cider. yeah You know what it's reminding me of though? but What? Which is another thing that I might need to make for you while you're here, is the um Irish Guinness Beef Stew.
01:55:30
Speaker
Oh, oh my God. Yes, please. but Can you afford to make all of these amazing dishes while I'm there? I will figure it the fuck out. Oh my God. I will. I mean, I will have to contribute. As long as we actually make them, it will be worthwhile. So I can't just like buy the groceries and then like, we decide to go out every night. Although I do want to take you and again, I'm going to cut this out or we'll, I don't know, we could talk more in depth about it later, but I feel like it would be appropriate to spend a day in Boston one of the days that you're here because I want to take you to Hecatee. Okay. Do you remember Hecatee? No. Well, you didn't go, but I went with Sierra and I sent you all the pictures. Oh, it's a witchy bar. It's the Speak Easy. Witchy Speak Easy. It is incredible. Amazing. um Very, very unique drinks, but also just the vibe is fucking immaculate.
01:56:28
Speaker
Oh, yes. So I want to take you to Hecatee. And I also want to go to the restaurant that I think I sent you a link to. Maybe I didn't. I don't even remember. I don't ever actually I might not have ever gotten to talk to you about this restaurant. But I want to go with you specifically. It's a restaurant called Bronwyn.
01:56:48
Speaker
And it is a traditional German restaurant, but like kind of upscale, but like also kind of not. okay It looks so fucking good. Have you been it? No, no, I've never been. I love German food. I know. That's why I want it. That's why I want to go with you specifically. Okay. But it's called Bronwyn. It's in Cambridge technically. um And it's not the easiest to get to. We can take a train.
01:57:14
Speaker
Uh, but it's the little bit of a walk, like a block and a half of a walk from the train station. I can do that. Yeah. But I'll have to send you the link to it because, uh, like at least to like the Yelp page where you can see all the pictures. Okay. Cause it's like, and when I tell you the food looks so unappetizing in the most appetizing way.
01:57:38
Speaker
It's not trying to be pretty. It's trying to be fucking delicious is what it is. Okay. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense to me. I mean, I totally get that. Yeah. And it's got like medieval German vibes inside. Oh, fuck yes. Please take me there. Please. I was like, we have to go not to hit any restaurant we've been to already, but to hit Bronwyn and to hit Hecatee.
01:58:01
Speaker
Hell yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Please. Yes, please. Thank you. Let's do it. So yeah, I don't know why that makes so much fucking sense to me, but like, you know, I i i spent a couple of weeks in Germany, flew there myself alone. And I stayed with a cousin for one week and an online friend that I had for another week. But I got to go to like the cool, like, I don't know, it wasn't like Cool. Like, because, you know, it was trendy or part of like a touristy thing, but it was just like people that were German were taking me to the places that they went to. Right. And that's always and what I want when I go places.
01:58:47
Speaker
And somebody had warned me that German food was very bland and gross. And I did not have that experience at all. what I was like, what? I think they may have been mistaking it for England because I've always heard English food is very bland and gross. And at the same time, English food isn't really that bland either if you go to the right places. Yeah. um Or if you like cook it the right way. like Right.
01:59:13
Speaker
you know people there's i'm sure that there are those stereotypes or those like preconceived notions for a reason but like i mean yeah i still haven't made you a full english breakfast Oh my God. But I've had one. You don't have to do that because- But it's the best and I love that. I want one from like- If you want to do it. Oh, so I'd want to make some for both of us. Okay. But like a full English breakfast is a religious experience. Okay. I'm all there for it then. Cool. I even have Earl Grey tea. Ooh.
01:59:50
Speaker
yeah well it might be kind of expired by this point or like stale i'm not really sure if tea goes bad maybe honestly i'll i'll check but i do have it um i also have cranberry tea you know so you won't get a uti or anything i'm not a big tea drinker to begin with so cranberry tea might be more up my alley yeah that's the whole reason i got it because i love cranberry but i don't love tea but But wait, yeah, you said you don't like love tea. So what are you doing in drinking? I'm not drinking it. Well, okay, I have it because it's the one tea that I have ever actually been okay with the taste of. But like, I think maybe I'm I don't know if I'm brewing it wrong. I don't know if I need to let it steep longer. But it just it never comes out the way that I feel like it should taste.
02:00:45
Speaker
But like when I looked, when I worked at Starbucks and somebody would order either just a straight up Earl Grey or if they would order like a London Fog, it was always my favorite thing to make because of the fact that I loved the way it smelled. So Earl Grey, I'll, I'll fuck with, but like, I don't even like ah the fact that I still have this tin and I bought it in like 2020 or 2021.
02:01:13
Speaker
like I don't I don't drink it enough but I should but yeah I'm getting really tired though I am tired too so we can I don't know was there and there's not anything else was there anything else that you wanted to talk about with regards to Samhain oh I will say one last thing yeah I think probably we should specify the all the food um recipes and food ideas for Samhain that we've got a but we have been talking about. We have gotten out of the Llewelyn book of Samhain, the little purple book.
02:01:46
Speaker
um specifically Llewelyn's Sabat Essentials yeah ah collection. Yeah, um which is a great collection for sure. So that's where we're getting the ideas of Samhain traditional foods or little food ideas. But this segment that you're about to read is not food or is it? It is not. It is not food. Okay. It's um part of the craft ah so segment of this chapter. Okay.
02:02:16
Speaker
Which this is something I've kind of always wanted to do and never have done. Make a gravestone rubbing. Have you done that? I don't know. I think maybe, but like not in recent memory. I think maybe I did when I was a kid. Like I did a project.
02:02:35
Speaker
So it says, make a gravestone rubbing. ah This craft requires a field trip. Go to an older cemetery, one where there are more upright stones. yeah more More upright than not. um This method does not work quite as well on the newer grave markers as the modern markers have less texture.
02:03:00
Speaker
You will need a large sheet of paper such as what you can get from a jumbo drawing pad. and a large crayon crayon. Go to a cemetery and find a stone with an interesting pattern. Place the paper over the stone and rub the crayon sideways in short, fast motions until the stone pattern appears on the page. Fill up the page with the pattern. When finished, name the person on the memorial and say thank you. Clean up the grave if it looks unintended and make sure to pick up after yourself.
02:03:38
Speaker
Use these as part of your Halloween decorations or if you choose an ancestors grave, make it part of an ancestral altar. Oh, I love that idea. That is really cool. Wow. I don't know why I did not like the feeling I got when I said use this grave stone rubbing as part of your Halloween decorations. Yeah. I don't like it. I don't know why. either I don't like it. It feels like you're... Oh my god, words. Disrespecting almost. Disrespecting, but what is the other thing when you're... Desecrating? No. Okay. Using something to your advantage. Appropriating. No. Okay.
02:04:26
Speaker
taking advantage of. e Exploiting. Exploiting, that's the word. Exploiting some poor dead person's gravestone for your decoration needs, and I don't like it. and I like I think that no matter the purpose or no matter what you use your little gravestone rubbing for, taking the time to tidy up the gravestone and leave an offering definitely is completely necessary. It's the same for when you're getting graveyard dirt, which is something I have done recently. And yeah, I don't like the idea of displaying
02:05:06
Speaker
unless you display it privately in your own home and not where you know the general public can see it. Yeah, not in the window or something. Yeah, not in the window. not i would I would even say maybe not even where guests in your home would be able to see it. So like maybe in your you know right private spaces, your room, your you know wherever you keep your altar. but like But I still don't love the idea of just displaying it or using it as a decoration. i like I like the idea of, whether it's an ancestor or not, I like the idea of incorporating it into your altar. Yeah. um For sure. And it's especially cool, I like that they specify to go to an old cemetery because not only do they have like the more textured gravestones, but they also have like some of the coolest designs across the top. I think especially to just do an impression or like
02:06:01
Speaker
a rubbing of only the decorations or the date of the yeah those those patterns, rather than of any of the personal details of the person whose gravestone it is. yeah Again, unless you have like a personal connection to that person, it's probably the better choice to go for. Yeah, I think that's it. I understand that completely.
02:06:29
Speaker
Yeah, I love that as a nice little end cap to our Samhain episode. A cute little activity, a little crafty activity. I might take my son to try to do that. I love that. That would be very interesting. You should do it. And then at the same time, it's an opportunity to teach him about respecting the dead by doing the little cleanup and the leaving and offering.
02:06:54
Speaker
it's I know you don't necessarily push too much of spirituality on him, right but i think I think that's a good thing to impress on him.
02:07:05
Speaker
yeah yeah Cool. Lovely. Well, at this point, we have gone on for nigh upon four and a half hours.
Samhain Traditions Sharing
02:07:16
Speaker
And I love it because I wanted it to be a nice lengthy episode, but we're not obviously going to release the entire four and a half hours of recording for the Saw and episode.
02:07:25
Speaker
ah But we got lots of good stuff in this episode. I thought i certainly hope that you have enjoyed listening. ah We have enjoyed recording, that is for sure. um And we want to know if you guys have any fun or unique Samhain traditions of your own.
02:07:52
Speaker
yeah um or fun or hall halloween traditions or you know fun halloween memories too funny stories recipes recipes to share would be awesome like yeah we want to hear about it for sure um you can email us our contact info is in the description and in the end reel that i have created and you can comment on our instagram and ah talk to us about it about your your traditions and your experiences. Especially, I want to hear about people's experiences with the veil being thin. Yeah. I feel like that's got to be some really cool shit. Of course, I would be way, way open to hearing any cool ghost stories. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
02:08:47
Speaker
But yeah, so we, yeah, we've had a great time this evening and we hope you have too. um And we hope everyone has a beautiful, wonderful and blessed Samhain and that you stay spooky. Oh yeah.
02:09:06
Speaker
Eat, drink, and be spooky. Eat, drink, and be spooky. Wait, wait, wait. Eat, drink, and be scary. Same, same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it though. Yes. Blessed be, blessed salad, and we will see you all next week. Tell your ancestors we said hi.
02:09:29
Speaker
him tell your ancestors we're at their back door
02:09:47
Speaker
And that's a wrap on another episode of Soulpaw the Podcast. We post new episodes every Monday, and we have even been known to drop the occasional surprise bonus episode. If you're enjoying our antics, please follow us on Spotify or Apple podcasts.
02:10:04
Speaker
You can also follow us on Instagram at SoulPodThePodcast. If you have questions, comments, or stories to share, you can reach us directly at SoulPodThePodcast.gmail dot.com. And if you'd be comfortable with us sharing your stories or comments on the recording, please let us know in the mail. We would also be so grateful if you left us a five-star rating and wrote a review. Ratings and reviews will help our show to be suggested to new listeners, and we are always seeking growth.
02:10:31
Speaker
As always, we're immensely grateful for you. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll see you next week. Blessed be.