Tag: halloween

10.30.15 The Jack Facts

October 30, 2015 Mike Keeler
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Who’s Jack? And what’s up with the lantern? There’s a lot of ancient tradition involving scary lights at harvest time. Pre-Christian Europeans celebrated Samhaim, the autumn festival of the Dead, with bonfires and torches and other late-night illuminations. Samhaim was later displaced by All Saint’s Day, but the fascination with…
2015

5.1.15 Yes you May

May 1, 2015 Mike Keeler
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May Day, the celebration of the arrival of Spring, is an ancient tradition in the Northern Hemisphere.  It stems from early pagan rituals, such as the Celtic tradition of building fires and dancing around them, replicating the warmth and movement of the sun, and the Germanic tradition of dancing around…
2015

10.28.11 Masked Guys

October 28, 2011 Mike Keeler
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In America, you have the right to assemble and to speak your mind.  You may not, however, disguise yourself. When the Occupy Wall Street protesters recently took over Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, a lot of folks were nervous and suspicious. Local residents complained about the smell and the noise.  Bankers…
2011

10.30.09 Candy Classic

October 30, 2009 Mike Keeler
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It’s hard work making a simple icon. Imagine you’re a factory worker in Cincinnati way back in 1880.  It’s mid-summer, there’s no air conditioning, and the temperature inside the plant is well over 100 degrees. You’re dressed in a heavy leather apron.  You’re handed a 45-pound pail of boiling hot…
2009