Ghosts of Christmas

Sometimes the Ghost of Christmas Present meets the Ghost of Christmas Past and it is a magickal thing.

Merry Christmas!

May the joy and love of the Season be yours throughout the year.

Mes Xmas List

Dear Santy Paws,
Me has been a good Kitty this year. 
Me helped Mommy when she packd the house stuff for the moov - Me even packd Mes mousy! 
Me suffered thru all the noiz & stickiness of the littel peopl on Turkey Day - of course, Me got Turkey!
Me woold like sum Catnip, plz. It's for medicinal purposes of course.
Me woold also like a new Cat Tree. Like the one in the foto below. Yu can buy it at this link - HERE!

P.S. Do yur raindeer like Catnip?

Purz and Catnip Dreams.......Gomez

Holiday Shopping

Need a unique, one of a kind gift for someone on your holiday list? 

Check out this Etsy shop, BashandStorm.

The shop owner sews a variety of bags - handbags, tote bags, etc. She uses unique fabric and all her bags are very well made and of a high quality plus the prices are very reasonable. Her work is amazing. How can someone sew a straight line like that???

The shop is named after her son, Bash, and their kitty, Storm. She is a military wife, and hubby and I have 'adopted' her and her family. Give the shop a look-see. You never know what you'll find....

Cat Tales ~ Meowy Xmas

From Mes Humble Castle to Yours, May You Be Blessed With The Best of Everything This Holiday Season.

Purz and Catnip Dreams.......Gomez

December Alternate Perceptions issue

Be sure to check out the December issue of AP Magazine!

Holiday Wishes

I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to all of you who read, comment or lurk here at this little spot of the blog-o-sphere. I appreciate all of you who read my (and Gomez's) ramblings. 

I am taking a short break to freshen the linens here. When I return in January, this blog will have had a make-over.

May all of you be blessed with the Joy and Happiness that this Holiday Season brings. 
See You Soon!
{{be sure to check out my other blog, Embracing the Elements, for a special holiday greeting!}} 

Weird Wednesday ~ Santa (In)Sanity

1) He spoke at a very young age.

According to Benjamin Britten's 1948 St. Nicholas Cantata, when the baby who would become Saint Nicholas, who would be the primary inspiration for Santa Claus, exited his mother's womb in 270 A.D., he immediately yelled "GOD BE GLORIFIED." Which, while certainly amazing, must have also been kind of unnerving for those in the delivery room.

2) His best-known gifts were given to keep girls from becoming prostitutes.

St. Nicholas was certainly extremely giving to those less fortunate, especially children — he had a habit of secretly leaving gold coins in people's shoes, because he never wanted to be thanked. But it may surprise you to learn what his three biggest presents were. A poor man had three daughters that he couldn't marry off, so he was going to sell them into prostitution (like you do). The night before the first girl came of age, Nicholas tossed a bag of gold through the man's window into the house. Boom! The first daughter had a dowry and could be married off. The same thing happened with the second daughter. When the third daughter came of age, the man waited up to see his benefactor, but Nicholas threw the third bag of gold down the chimney instead.

3) His reindeer were born of a terrifying, immortal warhorse.

We all know Santa's sleigh is pulled by eight flying reindeer (and that's a pretty insane aspect of Santa, if you stop and think about it). But these reindeer come from the Germanic conflation of Odin of the Norse gods with the historical St. Nicholas, encouraged by early Christians trying to convert the heathens. The winter solstice was a magic time for the Germanic peoples called Yule, in which Odin led "The Wild Hunt": Kids would leave out food for Odin's flying, eight-legged horse Sleipnir, and Odin would put candy and treats in place of the food. 

4) He was a staunch opponent of cannibalism.

One of the many miracle stories that St. Nicholas has accumulated is the time when a supremely fucked up butcher lured three little kids into his shop, killed them, and then tried to sell their meat as ham. St. Nicholas, who happened to be wandering by, immediately saw that was not ham, and resurrected the three children, who probably became vegetarians. According to some versions of the legend, the boys were also pickled, so that's fun.

5) Before he set up shop in the North Pole, he worked out of Spain.

According to the legends of Belgium and the Netherlands, St. Nicholas — generally referred to as Sinterklaas — comes from Spain by, uh, steam boat to give gifts to children. This is the version of Santa that first started keeping a list of children who've been naughty or nice. 

6) He's been a shill for Coca-Cola all along.

The only reason Santa wears red and white because the Coca-Cola company tells him to. Prior to 1931, Santa dressed in any color he linked — blue, green, brown, mauve, whatever. In 1931, though, Coca-Cola issued a massive ad campaign that featured Santa in Coke's red and white colors, and the damn thing was so prevalent that it effectively locked Santa's fashion down from that point on.

7) He was bigger than Jesus.

During a famine in 311-312 CE, a ship full of wheat docked in the port of Myra, headed for the Emperor in Constantinople. St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, asked if the sailors wouldn't mind giving him some wheat for the poor, but the sailors refused, because the Emperor had been promised a certain weight of wheat so they couldn't give any away. Nicholas told them whatever they gave him, the sailors would suffer no losses. And indeed, when they arrived in Constantinople, the weight was somehow the same — even though Nicholas took enough wheat to feed the entire city for two full years. 

8) His job used to be performed by a goat.

Before the whole St. Nicholas/Odin/Santa Claus myth made its way over, the Scandinavian countries of the world were already dealing with a magical being called the Yule Goat, who spent its time wandering around making sure families had completed their Yule celebration preparations, and demanding gifts. Eventually, thanks to the legends of winter gift-givers around Europe, the Yule Goat started bringing presents in the 19th century.

9) He doesn't just like milk and cookies.

Things other countries leave out for Santa (or his non-union equivalent), according to Wikipedia:

in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer, and mince pies instead. In Sweden and Norway, children leave rice porridge. In Ireland it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies.

10) He may have castrated his reindeer.

The names of Santa's reindeer are all male. But male reindeer shed their antlers in the winter, and Santa's reindeer are never pictured antler-less when they're making their Christmas rounds. So either they're actually female reindeer with male names and Santa has some gender issues, or — or — they are male reindeer who have been castrated, which prevents them from losing their antlers, and Santa has some other deeply concerning issues.

11) His bones leak miracle juice.

St. Nicholas died in 343 A.D., and was buried in Myra, where he had been bishop. This didn't stop him from helping people, though: Legend has that a clear, watery liquid would seep out of his bones, and it had miraculous powers. Bone juice! 

Click Here to Read the Article!

Roadtrip ~ Christmas at Miramont Castle

Back before the Holidays, Hubby & I took an impromptu roadtrip to see Miramont Castle. If you'll remember, I wrote about it here, Click Here!

This time, we wanted to see the Castle in the daylight. We invited a friend (and a Candy Corn Chronicles blog follower) to go with us. We had a good time and it was grand seeing the old building dressed up in her holiday finery.

Front Entry

Front Entry window

Fireplace in Parlor

Other Side of Parlor

Chapel

Atrium

Miramont Castle seen from the Garden

Santa and Magick Mushrooms

We all know about Santa Claus and his flying reindeer. But where did the story really start?

One theory has their origins in the hallucinogenic or "magic" mushrooms which grow in the Siberian and Arctic regions of the World.

Santa is likened to the traveling Shamans of the Northern Regions, who brought bags of 'magic' mushrooms as presents around to the villages at the time of the Winter Solstice. 

This Mushroom is Amanita Muscaria. It is commonly found in the Northern or Boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere. This toadstool can be poisonous and is most definitely psychoactive. It can be found in forests growing under trees, most commonly pine trees. The Shamans of the Tribes found in the Northern Regions used the Amanita Muscaria as a way to commune with the Spirits and it was considered a sacred substance.

The theory goes on to say that reindeer commonly grazed on the fungi. So did the Native Siberian Tribesman who probably had hallucinations of the reindeer flying.

Bringing a pine tree indoors at the time of the Winter Solstice and decorating it in red and white along with placing presents under the tree are all symbols of the Amanita Muscaria.

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While images of Santa and red topped mushrooms have been around through the ages, many historians doubt this theory. Perhaps they need a bit of "Holiday Cheer"!

To Read More, Click Here!

A Santa Movie MUST SEE!!!!

Hubby and I watched the BEST holiday movie a few nights ago. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. Click Here for info! 

It is a Scandinavian film so there are subtitles - with some English thrown in from time to time. But it was AwEsOmE! The first time I have seen Krampus in a film. We watched it on Netflix. 

Watch the movie & let me know what you think....

Blossoms of Lights

Before the end of 2012, Hubby and I took one last excursion to view a Holiday light display. This trip was to the Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanic Gardens. This time, I remembered my camera and we were by ourselves so I was able to take a lot of pictures. The night was bitter cold but we enjoyed looking at the gorgeous displays which were complimented by the brilliant full moon.

Cat Tales ~ Meowy Cat-mas

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May All your Holiday Adventures be Merry and Bright!

Purz and Catnip Dreams.......Gomez

P.S. and may Kitty Claws bring you EvErYtHiNg your heart desires!

OOAK Toys

Toy Art Gallery

Belicose Bunny

Cap'n Cornstarch

Dum English Astronaut Skull

My Guys

Agent of the Mystery

Zoo Lights

On this week's road-trip, we're going to the Denver Zoo. Every year they celebrate the Holiday Season with their Zoo Lights.

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Hubby, Daughter & I took 6 of the 7 Grands to view this wonderful display of wattage last weekend. It was fun! I can't take credit for all the photos - the Grands kinda got tired of Grandma stopping frequently to take pics - so I have included a link to the image source of the photos I snagged off the web. (Plus, keeping tabs on all those kids - in the dark and in a crowd - was a bit like herding cats! Sorry Gomez for the reference!)

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And while the Grands enjoyed the Animal Lights, I enjoyed the multitude of twinklers strung in the trees under which we walked.

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Cat Tales ~ Holiday Funnies

Purz and catnip Dreams.......Gomez