Our "Thirteen Days of Halloween" tradition is our way of beginning the haunting season and jump starting our Halloween mind-set. We live in a very rural area and have a very large front yard. While we can do this in ours and no one can really see, you might consider doing this in the back yard or your neighbors might get the wrong idea about you! On the other hand, they may just want to join in!

On October 17th Wraith and I decorate our front yard. It's big, the size of a small park. Several dozens of candles are arraigned around the yard and pumpkin scented incense is lit to fill the air with the wonderful aromas of the Halloween season. A large circle is made from plaster skulls (80) with an old stump in the center to act as the altar. Sitting on the altar is a large Jack o' Lantern. A long picnic table, painted black and orange awaits with apple cider, freshly baked pumpkin pie and other refreshments. Orange plates, glasses and plastic-ware are provided.

Our group, made up of thirteen Halloween enthusiasts assemble at our house at 11:30 pm. All come dressed in black robes and each has a small pumpkin carved into a Jack o' Lantern for this occasion. Wraith and I stand on opposite sides of our gate and as each member arrives we greet them. "Welcome (NAME), child of the Halloween spirit." until the last person had arrived.

Just before midnight, everyone lights a candle and puts it in their jack-o-lantern. Silently, we all move into the circle. At Midnight we play a CD of Big Ben chiming twelve o'clock.

I welcome in October and the thirteen days of Halloween then say a few words about what lies in the haunting time ahead. We go around the circle and each person says something about the upcoming celebration.

Then we form a single line, head out the gates. We walk down the dirt roads a ways, wearing our black robes and carrying our lit jack-o-lanterns, to an old abandoned town cemetery from Western days. We all wander around for a while, look at names and dates and head back.

When we return, we re-form our circle and then I say a few more words and put on a CD of Danse Macabre. We all "frolic", i.e. we dance around the circle, kicking up our heels and singing silly words to Halloween songs.

We then call the official ceremony to a close and we put on Halloween music and party with pumpkin pie and a variety of Halloween treats, all of which are surprisingly easy to find a few weeks before Halloween.

And so begins The Thirteen Days of Halloween

Spooky