#43841 - 10/26/10 10:26 PM
Re: Halloween..
[Re: Satan's Mistress]
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Lamar
member
Registered: 02/03/10
Posts: 226
Loc: Alabama
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If I was to concoct a ritual specifically for Halloween it would be purely for celebrating a good time, and what better time than Halloween? Rituals in general are not required to be performed. For me they contribute to celebrating something of significance in my life or to aid in self-reflection and inner transformation, or a desire I am in need of getting released. I mainly write my own rituals, for one because I practice alone. I would suggest writing your own as well. Recently, I wrote a ceremony paying homage to the Slavic Goddess Marzanna for the winter Solstice.
As for a reference for rituals, I would pick up a copy of Anton LaVey's The Satanic Rituals. Just about all rituals in The Satanic Rituals require participants, but this won't be a hinderance for the creative individual.
Goodluck and have fun. Happy Halloween.
Edited by Lamar (10/26/10 10:29 PM)
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#43864 - 10/27/10 07:24 PM
Re: Halloween..
[Re: Satan's Mistress]
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Jake999
senior member
Registered: 11/02/08
Posts: 2230
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Not so much a Halloween ritual as a recurring memory from my youth that comes back to me as vivid as if it were only yesterday, year after year. I don't know if I've ever posted this before, and if I have, I apologize. But this is probably one of my favorite stories from my life as a kid in the midwest. Hope you enjoy it.
MIDNIGHT ON BROCKEN
By : J. Taylor Block
Another year's passed and here it is, getting close to Halloween. As usual, I wax nostalgic as the day draws near, and once again I think of the "good old days." Maybe they weren't all that good, and I'm viewing the past through the hazy vision of adolescence, but the memories of that time flood the senses with a lost innocence born of reckless abandon that only youth can condone.
For a lad from the Midwest, there were things that one could expect on Halloween. The first snow flurries would surely come... just wisps on the wind... uncertain and fragile flakes that wouldn't stick, but made you aware that Winter would soon be here. Chatter and more chatter about costumes. We could rarely afford store-bought costumes, so we made our own. The most grandiose plans made it to paper, but many a robot became a ghost or a hobo or a simple mask that you could get for ten cents at SS Kresgee (K-Mart for the under 45 set) or Woolworth's. The bags of goodies would pile up like gold in Scrooge McDuck's vault, and you'd eat Jujubes and candy corn until you thought you'd burst. But after the traditional Midwestern Halloween fare, you knew that by midnight, you'd make your way to Brocken.
Darkness came to our area of the Midwest by 7 PM. By 6:30, all of the kids in the neighborhood were champing at the bit to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting neighborhood. Werewolves and ballerinas jostled for positions at the door, held in check by the now exasperated mother's voice that warned, "You can't go out until SEVEN, so sit down and watch TV." When you're a kid, the 6 o'clock news had little relevance in your life, especially on Halloween! Then, as if uncaged by an unseen hand, we spilled into the street looking for plunder... and mischief.
The first priority was plunder. By the time you got to be ten, you knew who gave out the good stuff, who you'd have to "perform" for and who would stiff you. The grownups never seemed to tire of kid-jokes told by costumed invaders. In your mind you performed complex calculations on how you could rattle off your spiel and hit as many places as you could before you had to make your way to Brocken by midnight. Somewhere around the thirtieth time you told the joke about why 6 was afraid of 7 (because 7 8 9), your biological clock told you that it was 9:15... time for the prerequisite Halloween prank.
Belleville, Illinois was a small town then, but you could really get into mischief. The problem was that everyone knew your dad, so you had to be careful not to get caught or if caught, swallow your cyanide capsule before you were killed. Dads could always KILL YOU, and they let you know it at the least provocation.
Now, the widow Martin had chased a bunch of us from her apple orchard, and we knew that this affront to our sovereignty as kids had to be met with the ultimate in Halloween retribution. Yes, we were going to kill her outhouse. We laid out our plans like Generals in battle. Kenny Franks would ring the bell and do the trick or treat schtick. Meanwhile, Nicholas and Mike Hasenstab were to charge the outhouse, knocking it over, if possible. I would be waiting with my brother, Butch. We'd set the thing on fire and run like hell!
It was pitch dark as we lay in wait next to the widow Martin's house. We heard the doorbell ring... it was one of the old key-types that sort of rattled and rang at the same time. When we heard Kenny say, "Trick or treat, smell my feet, gimme something good to eat," we sprinted for the out-door privy far to the back of the yard. We could just make out its shape in the darkness as we ran, full-tilt into the chill wind of October. We were in our glory! We ran for all we were worth, our lungs gasping for air...
The first indication that something was wrong was when Nick and Mike disappeared. They were running between Butch and I and they just vanished. Then we heard their anguished voices whining, "Aw, yuck! Hey, you guyyyys, help us out of here, will you? Oh, no! It stinks! Come on now, help us out!"
The widow was having her septic pit limed out.
By now our eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness of the widow's back yard, We could see the outhouse about ten feet away, off its foundation. We could see Nick and Mike at the bottom of the shallow pit, quite literally in a world of shit. We reluctantly reached down and pulled them free. I'll never forget the sound... sort of like "ssschlook!" Two less pilgrims on their way to Brocken.
Belleville had two theaters within walking distance. The Lincoln was always our favorite, as it had a balcony. When you were a kid, you didn't think in terms of "making out" in the balcony. You knew that this was the perfect level from which to launch soggy buttered popcorn and flattened-out popcorn boxes. But on Halloween, this was where the kids all huddled for safety. This was Brocken, the mountain of witchly revelry. Every Halloween, the Lincoln had a smorgasbord of horror features from midnight until dawn.
This was where one first learned to appreciate or fear the world of the occult, the paranormal, bizarre and eerie. Those who made the grade would return again and again until the inferior quality of latter day horror films would allow the ritual to die. But while it lasted, it was an Oberamergau for the true connoisseur of horror films. Dracula... Lugosi, not Langella... The Wolfman, The Mummy and The Thing brought squeals from those who had seen them before. By the time the fifth feature flashed on that big screen, most were sleeping in those balcony seats, with visions of monsters filling their heads.
Next day, you slept until noon... seems like Halloween was always on a Friday then, and there was no school to worry about. Nick and Mike carped about how they had been ripped off. Their dad had killed them and their bags of Halloween candy had been rendered inedible by the noxious substances in the widow's septic pit. But most of all, they'd missed their midnight on Brocken, with its stale popcorn and diluted Coke. It was a rite of passage that they'd have to wait another year for.
Today, 48 years later, I can still look back on those days and smile, but I grieve as well. The youth of today will never know the same thrill and fear of those classics in the darkened theater with its velvet curtains and musty smells. Perhaps a new Broken exists somewhere...
_________________________
Bury your dead, pick up your weapon and soldier on.
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#43868 - 10/27/10 11:06 PM
Re: Halloween..
[Re: Jake999]
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Lamar
member
Registered: 02/03/10
Posts: 226
Loc: Alabama
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I always love to read about your memories Jake. You should write a book or something detailing all of your memories. I would surely buy it. My childhood times spent on Halloween weren't as mischievous due to my parents strictness, and I wouldn't dare suffer the wrath of my mom and risk being grounded for about 4 months.
Although, being forced to participate in our local Church, the congregation would hold a special every Halloween that they would term Hallelujah Night. In essence it was a typical haunted house event with Christian overtones inside the Church itself, and outside were games of all kinds and free food. People would come inside the Chapel, which was darkened like a theatre, and would watch the "drama" unfold, which was a play of sorts that the drama team acted out depicting most times the main character (a sinner) going through the rat race of life, dying, a Hell scene, and the same thing over again with a Christian and a Heaven scene. I especially liked the Hell scene when I grew older, it scared me shitless when I was smaller. It had people dressed like demons, scarry soundtracks, and the voice of Satan. My dad was the soundman so I got to hang out with him in the sound booth and watch him and the other "sound dummy" make the soundtracks before the drama.
After the drama was over an altar call was held, and then people would spew out into the parking lot and play games and listen to live Christian music via the stage in the center of the parking lot. We'd get lots of candy and come home with a belly ache most times.
Sorry for the recollection, you made me remember it.
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#43882 - 10/28/10 01:50 PM
Re: DARK RYDE RADIO for HALLOWEEN
[Re: Jake999]
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Michael A.Aquino
stalker
Registered: 09/28/08
Posts: 2678
Loc: San Francisco, CA, USA
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Just as a public service announcement for the folks here at the 600 Club: DARK RYDE RADIO will begin its Halloween broadcasting week on Friday, October 29th! Tune in for special Halloween shows by some of your favorite DJs. While all of the shows are not yet uploaded, I can tell you we have: Jake's Time Machine - 2 hours of of Halloween Themed novelty and dance music Reverend Bubba's Blues Review - A special Halloween edition Reverend Bubba's Rock Show - A special Halloween edition Yehuda's Zionist Conspiracy - presents King Diamond's ABIGAIL Hannibal's Hamburger - 2 hours of Halloween Themed music Other DJs may have more to offer by this evenng before the shows are uploaded, so if you want to, tune us in and enjoy! Dark Ryde Radio Home Page -- http://darkryde.comDark Ryde Radio Music Player -- http://www.darkryde.com/mp3s/wimpy.php
  
_________________________
Michael A. Aquino
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#43946 - 10/31/10 04:55 PM
Re: Halloween..
[Re: Jake999]
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JWG
pledge
Registered: 10/29/09
Posts: 68
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MIDNIGHT ON BROCKEN
By : J. Taylor Block
...
Jake,
Thank you for sharing that childhood memory. I must say, what a writer you are. I second the auto-biography suggestion. Definitely went for a journey in the mind's eye reading it. I was born in 1992, only a young'en at 18, but for the first few years of my youth our trick or treat was a traditional friday, after dusk event. Now too it is done during daylight for "safety" reasons. To HELL with safety, Halloween was a blast.
Will always look back on Halloween with fond memories. Still my favorite time of year, and in the Midwest also no less. Ohio has some of the best fall weather, at least in my opinion. Bonfires at night.. perfect for it.
Happy Halloween all.
_________________________
In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
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#43957 - 11/01/10 10:09 AM
Re: DARK RYDE RADIO for HALLOWEEN
[Re: Jake999]
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Fnord
senior member
Registered: 01/11/10
Posts: 2085
Loc: Texas
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I have my speakers hooked up and Dark Ryde Radio will be blasting out the tunes for the redneck hordes!!!!
Just FYI, Dark Ryde powered about 70% of my Halloween night this year. You've got redneck hordes in Texas as well!
_________________________
Dead and gone. Syonara.
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