All Hallows Eve..

Hello my name is Steven and welcome to the Hallowed Cast! A podcast dedicated to the Halloween lifestyle and keeping the spooky alive and well all. year. long. My Erie friends we are gathered here today to talk about our holiest of days, Halloween. What is Halloween? It's definitely something that's changed from it’s origins of samhain, a day in which the the dead could return to their homes and loved ones, and the recently departed would make their journey to the beyond. Samhain an ancient Celt holiday was celebrated like a new year, a final hooray before the long cold winter. What's celebrated today, here in the US anyway, is an amalgam of old ancient traditions of people native to the Americas, Britain, Ireland, other parts of Europe, and Africa. But Halloween is more than that, for all those, in all walks of life who love Halloween it's personal and can mean something different to everyone. To some it means it's horror movie season, the chance to watch all things terrifying, and it is. For some it's a reason to have a party with over the top costumes, drinks and food, and it is. Others is a spiritual time, to remember the dead, to worship life and connect spiritually to ancestors, and it is. It's all of those things and more. The Hallowed Cast is created to bring together all those that enjoy and celebrate this day differently so please, share the way you celebrate I would love to read them and share them with everyone else.

For me, it's nostalgia, Halloween is Nostalgia, not just of past Halloween nights, but the days and, yes, Months leading up to it. I've found most of what I enjoy is because that thing invokes a very strong sense of nostalgia. When I was younger, the Days leading up to Halloween we're filled with scary movies and my favorite tv shows had Halloween episodes. Being dragged to stores with my mom was less of a chore during this time of year because the stores were draped in orange and black. Pumpkins and candy filled grocery stores. Even the air has a different smell to it, the smell of pumpkins burning from the candles within, the crisp cool air of fall all make for that Halloween smell. And of course THE night, we lived with my grandma and my uncle, my grandma would stay home and make her homemade chili beans while my mom and dad took me and my siblings out trick or treating. I remember stepping out in the night and seeing the neighborhood filled with kids of all ages dressed up in costumes running from house to house. Almost every house in the neighborhood decorated and handing out candy and treats. So for me, Halloween brings nostalgia, and feelings of fun and excitement. Today, it's much different, last week I could count the amount of trick or treaters that came to the door. A handful of houses decorated in the macabre. I would like to be the PR rep of Halloween and go on the record and say this day needs to return to it's former glory, we need to be the change we want to see. So I challenge you my creepy friends, to bring Halloween back to life. Decorate your house even more extravagant then the year before. Dress up in wild and outlandish costumes, buy full size candy bars to handout. Spread the Halloween spirit that lives in our black hearts to those around us, your friends, coworkers, and family. In all places of work and play, the gym, the office, the school, the restaurant, the bar. Show everyone that Halloween is for everyone, everywhere.

Thank you for joining me on this week's Hallowed Cast.

If you'd like to submit your Halloween memories, stories, or how you celebrate feel free to email me at Hallowedcast31@gmail.com

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And I've turned this podcast into a blog! So for those of you that prefer to read, or if you're just really into blogs, the episodes are up now along with pictures and other stuff. All links are in the show notes

If you'd like to support the Hallowed Cast the best thing to do is leave a review on apple podcasts and Spotify, or wherever your listening, spread the word to your spooky friends to give it a listen, follow the social media and that's it! And best part it's all free!

I'll talk to you next week goblins and ghouls!