Happy Halloween & Samhain!

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

0
0
1
659
3758
Natalie Wright, P.C.
31
8
4409
14.0

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
JA
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;}

Graveyards and
Portals and Spells – Oh My!

Me and my family of zombies Halloween, 2011

Halloween
is my absolute favorite time of year! I grew up in the Midwest where October
meant a chill in the air, fallen leaves, hot chocolate and football.

Now I live in the desert where it has been known
to be in the ‘90’s on Halloween. Now, instead of worrying if our costumes will
keep us warm, we consider if it will make us sweat!

But
I’ve found the Halloween spirit flourishes in the American desert southwest.
Adults and kids alike don costumes, trick-or-treaters come in flocks of faeries
and vampires, ghosts and Harry Potters. Our neighborhood is like Mardi Gras
carnival, a giant block party with food, wine and happy kids running and
swirling, hyped up on sugar.

The fantasy writer in me loves the opportunity to
be someone else for a night. Each year I ponder – Will I wear a saucy, sassy,
sexy costume (leaving my frumpy shorts, T-shirt and flip flops in the closet)?
Or will I go for the scare factor with some spooky contacts, fake blood and face
paint?

While writing Emily’s House (Book 1 of the Akasha
Chronicles), I researched ancient Celtic myth and lore. For the ancient Celts,
the holiday that we now call Halloween was known as ‘Samhain’ (pronounced SAH-win).
The Celts believed that the end of October/beginning of November was the best
time to commune with the spirits of the dead and to go to the “other” worlds.
The Celts had a strong belief in the existence in worlds parallel to our own.
The legends are full of hapless souls wandering into the “Otherworld,” and when
they found their way back – if they
found their way back – those they had loved had long ago perished.

It was believed that around Samhain, the ‘veil’
between the worlds was at its thinnest, thus making it easier to slip between
the worlds. So be careful on Halloween not to accidentally walk into a portal!

Day of the Dead Festival Goers Tucson, 2011

Isn’t it weird that other cultures around the
world have a similar belief? I live less than a hundred miles from Mexico, so
my hometown of Tucson is enriched by its Mexican-American roots. In Mexico,
they celebrate the “Day of the Dead.” In Tucson, there is a parade that ends in
a festival with Mariachi bands, Mexican dancers and a festival atmosphere. It
is a time when families visit the graves of their deceased family and friends,
leaving offerings of food and flowers. Isn’t it strange that a half a planet
from each other, two different cultures have a belief that around the end of
October is the best time to converse with the spirits of the dead?

Do you think it’s coincidence? Or is there
something to it?

Whether fact or fiction, the spookiest time of the
year is just too fun not to use in a story! In Emily’s House, Emily and her
friends have to poke around an ancient Irish graveyard at night, looking for a
magical object. Then they end up at the Sacred Well – a portal to the
Netherworld – on Halloween! Perfect time to ‘pierce the veil’ and travel to
another dimension.

In Emily’s Trial, Emily once again has some portal
hopping to do. Lucky for her, Halloween is near! And what better place for a
teenager and her friends to be on Halloween than a cemetery, complete with a
full moon and crypts. What will happen when she opens a portal to another world
in a graveyard, surrounded by the dead? Will the spooky energy of such a place
affect her spells?

I had a blast writing Emily’s Trial! I hope you
enjoy reading it 😀

Excerpt
of Emily’s Trial:

The Apocalypse didn’t start with four horsemen, harbingers of the
horror to come. It didn’t start with a plague, or pestilence, or even zombies
rising from the dead.

It came slowly and without warning. It crept up on people in the
shadows, no more than a vague darkness that spread like an unseen cancer.

And it wasn’t set into action by a divine hand. A teenage girl was the
catalyst for the End Times.

I should know. I’m the one that started it.

I didn’t plan to. I didn’t want to start the End Times, and I’m not
evil.

Madame Wong taught me to tell the truth, and so here it is. I’m the one
responsible for the Apocalypse. And this is the story of how I unwittingly
unlocked the door to the darkness; of how a Priestess of the Order of Brighid,
entrusted with powerful magic that was supposed to be used for the benefit of
all humankind, unleashed a force that would destroy it instead.

And
it all began with desire.