# New to the site, but not new to the Spooky Mooky fun called Halloween!



## Ampp Zi Sidlo (Oct 3, 2014)

I grew up with doing everything, making the decorations, the costumes, the food, and my grandmother would not have had it any other way. I even bought myself a how to book on the old style of make up craft when I was in grade school. I'm telling you, that book helped on a number of occasions, more as an adult than as a kid, though. 

In my house, each person pretty much claimed a holiday. My grandmother was Christmas, my mother's birthday was the 1st of December, so she claimed Easter, and my dad claimed the 4th of July since he did the bbq'ing. St Patty's doesn't do much for me, even though I do look great in green. I didn't want Thanksgiving, because it is just pie, pie, pie. Nope, I decided, even though it scared me at the time, Halloween was the best one for me, esp since I could get a pillow full of candy from one night of walking around! 

Little did I know at the time how much Halloween would claim me. Okay, there are some days where I'm going - why am I doing this? Esp when I notice I'm getting giddy over something which makes many people squeamish. I used to be terribly squeamish as a child around such things. Which is saying a lot since I was a tomboy, ran through the mud, collected bugs, and such. It took me most of my childhood being around the Gothic and old world's display of the dead to help me not be such a scardity cat. 

It didn't help that my family, the women in my family, are sensitive to ghosts, the dead, and are empaths. Let me tell you, Europe is littered with all sorts of things. The USA is pretty quiet in comparison. Yes, there are hot spots, and each area of land varies, but I had to deal with 'things' daily in Germany. So as a child, I was constantly being scared, tested, and freaked out while other kids were unable to notice. Yes, I was bullied due to being so strange. I got in trouble for fighting back, but I didn't stop fighting back. I knew if I did, I would loose important ground. 

With everything, my biggest lesson was to stand up for myself. With Halloween, it went from being a celebration of candy collecting to showing I could do it. I could deal with the humans, the unseen, and whatever else I would see running around. As an adult, as I took on religious history, Goddess history, and anything else which intrigued me, my work with Halloween took on an appreciation, changing how I celebrate it yet again. I love the work for the 'Day of the Dead' and other actions in showing respect for your ancestry. Now, while I still throw out the old school, I have my tributes to my ancestors, any nature spirits, and understanding how much being all right with being mortal leads to more colorful and fully lived life. It is all right to be thrilled and squeamish around skulls, the dead, and scary things. It is all part of being alive.


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## Ampp Zi Sidlo (Oct 3, 2014)

Here is an example, a fanbase video I made via SL: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gub-mM87hE


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