English autumns are different then Nordic autumns. I'm not in any way surprised that this is the country with the most ghost-believers in Europe. This is a country that in many ways lives with one foot in this world and one foot in the past..for both good and bad. It's damp, dark and still kind of warm...The stone and brick houses become grey and dripping with fog and the streets are dark and narrow. It's just on the edge between inviting and scary. I watch the flame dance in my oil lamp. My feet are like England's... one foot here...one on the other side.
Ghosts are a subject that, unsurprisingly, always comes up more often in the autumn. It's the old age of the year, if you will. And everyone should know by now, one is never more alive then at the sight of death.
Now people wait for Halloween (or all hallows eve, as some "Christians" like to separate them selves here...I don't get it. Surely we're all Christians?) and the end of this year. My son started early and asked for a ghost costume weeks ago, so I did already make a ghost costume. When it was done it looked so cool I almost thought about making one for my self as well... I might still. Although I hear most ghosts just wear white and look a bit grey and that look wont be hard to achieve!
The ghost costume I made is actually supposed to be a mix of Casper the friendly ghost and the Ghost of Christmas past. He couldn't make up his mind. So it's basically a long white dress with hood and wings..sort of. And it has a drawstring in the hood with room for glow sticks. So for Halloween all I need to get is some white face paint to do the ghost face!
Although there is a risk he'll just be spiderman. Those fickle 5 year olds!
Costumes aside though, ghosts has always fascinated me..I'd like to read the book "haunted Maidstone" to see where I might run into some, but to be honest I doubt one should look for them. And also..a good ghost story should always be told, not read. It sometimes makes me a little sad how people seem to want to connect ghosts with evil.. I have never truly been that scared of them. In my mind they are all just people left behind. They were all people once with their own stories and lives and struggles..Just thinking how much we could learn from the stories of past people if they could tell them...if they even exist..One day I might wander trough this house as a grey shadow my self. And I doubt my ghostly shape will mean any harm.
Last of all, I cant talk about ghosts without mentioning the Tudors and Hampton court palace. There is something ghostly over the whole Tudor period. I'm sure everyone by now has heard of the door-closing skeleton on film, but I'm putting it here anyway.
When I went to Hampton court I almost hoped to see my favourite ghost of all, Anne Boleyn.
One of the best compliments I have ever had was that I am just like her. One can only hope though.
Happy haunted autumn to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment