The Time Of Your Night

Some parts of Australia observe Daylight Saving Time and my state of Victoria is one of them.

Daylight Saving Time starts at 2am on the first Sunday in October. As we are entering our Spring/Summer seasons, we turn the clock forward one hour.

Daylight Saving Time ends at 3am on the first Sunday in April. As we are entering our Autumn/Winter seasons, we turn the clock back one hour and return to Australian Eastern Standard Time.

This year I took advantage of the last night of daylight savings to visit Melbourne General Cemetery.

There are some interesting graves within the cemetery as well as a shrine to Elvis Presley. We only looked at a handful, preferring to wander through and look at the various tributes and statues. One that stands out is the grave of Walter Lindrum, arguably the best billiards player in history. The grave is a billiards table, complete with balls, cue and a line of coins along the cushion – representing the players lining up even in death to challenge the champion.

During Daylight Saving Time, the cemetery is open until 8.00pm. During the rest of the year, it closes at 6:00pm. With dusk at around 7:30pm, it’s fun to wander through the graves as the sun sets and the cemetery becomes dark. The memorials become lost in the darkness except for the limited reflections from the moon and the surrounding city lights.

Many have described this experience as creepy, but I’ve always found cemeteries comforting places and this was no different. Being surrounded by darkness and the memorials to the recently and long dead warms my gothic heart.

Pass The Garlic!

November 29th is the eve of Saint Andrew’s Day. Like Halloween, it is a time when the spirits of the dead are allowed to roam the earth and supernatural creatures come out to play. At midnight, Saint Andrew arrives to begin his feast day.

In the meteorological seasonal calendar, Saint Andrew’s Day in the northern hemisphere occurs on the last night of autumn and ushers in one of the scariest times of the year – winter! Not surprisingly, there are many legends and superstitions surrounding Saint Andrew. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of a number of countries, including Romania. Naturally it’s the Romanian legends that have gained my interest.

Saint Andrew is known as the patron of wolves. As part of his feast day festivities, Saint Andrew allows wolves to eat all the prey they want. Some believe that the wolves gain special powers at this time. Wolves are thought to be able to turn their heads so they can see their own tails. They are also thought to speak, but those who hear them speak will die soon after. If hungry, head turning, talking wolves aren’t your thing, don’t worry, vampires are also out in full force!

The arrival of Saint Andrew is also a reminder that vampires are coming into their most active and powerful time. Not known for their love of the day or the sun, winter is the perfect time for vampires to enjoy themselves. Vampires are thought to be a major threat throughout winter, right up until the eve of Saint George’s Day. Luckily Saint Andrew is also known as the giver of garlic – and we know what vampires think of garlic!

There are many ways to use garlic to protect yourself from vampires, such as rubbing your doors and windows with garlic or wearing garlic bulb necklaces. Another way is to participate in a traditional ritual called the Guarding of the Garlic.

Guarding the Garlic takes place at a party. The young celebrators bring cloves of garlic which are watched over by an older woman while they partake in the evening celebrations. In the morning, they all gather around and share the garlic cloves, which they take home and keep as protection. In some traditions, each girl brings three cloves of garlic which are placed in a vase. The garlic is always watched by an older woman and always shared in the morning.

To honour this ritual, I’ve made a garlic butter tear and share loaf. As it’s just for me, I used a small roll but you can easily upsize it. You can also use ordinary garlic but I used black garlic because I like vampires and I don’t necessarily want to ward them off. I’m hoping they’ll be attracted to the lovely black colour and appreciate the sweet, less pungent taste of black garlic.

Black Garlic Butter Tear and Share Roll

Special Note:
If using black garlic, the butter is best made a day ahead so the delicate flavour has time to infuse.

Ingredients
3 black garlic cloves
30g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
pinch of sea salt
1 small sourdough roll (approximately 10cm/4inch in size)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions
Mash the garlic cloves into a paste.
Add to the butter.
Add salt and mix until combined.
Place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. 
Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
Cut the roll into 9 squares like a noughts and crosses game, making sure that you don’t cut through the bottom crust.
Melt garlic butter in a small saucepan.
Using a pastry brush, brush the melted butter into each of the cuts, making sure both sides of each cut are well covered.
Add the cheese, pushing a generous amount into each cut.
Brush the top with any remaining butter.
Wrap in foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Unwrap the bread and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until the bread is cooked to your liking.
Enjoy tearing it apart and eating the pieces. 
If you’re “lucky” you may even have to share a few bits with any visiting vampires. 🙂

Occult Day

November 18th is Occult Day. The word “occult” comes from the Latin “occultus” meaning “clandestine, hidden, secret”. Occult Day is an invitation to delve into the esoteric world. It is a day to embrace arcane knowledge and celebrate the realms of magic and mystery – if you dare!

One way to celebrate Occult Day is to indulge in a bit of tasseography, also called tasseomancy, tassology, or tasseology. Tasseography is a form of divination which interprets the symbols and patterns in the residue left behind in a cup of tea, coffee, or even a glass of wine. Surprisingly, there has been very little mention of doing tasseography with a cup of hot cocoa. I love a good cup of cocoa and have been interpreting my cocoa symbols for a very long time.

I’ve recently discovered the joy of black cocoa which has taken my cocoa drinking to a higher level. Black cocoa powder is heavily alkalised (dutched) which reduces the acidity and bitterness. Not only do I love the taste, but also its colour! Black cocoa is really black, perfect for those of us who celebrate the gothic side of Occult Day.

Fortunate Black Cocoa

Special Equipment
Cup with saucer

Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon black cocoa powder*  
sweetener of your choice to taste (optional)

Instructions
Place the milk and cocoa powder into a small saucepan.
Stir over medium heat until just simmering.
Poor into the cup.
When you’ve finished drinking your cocoa, place the saucer on top of the cup.
Carefully turn the cup upside down on the saucer and leave to stand for a few minutes.
Remove the cup from the saucer and turn upright. 
See what symbols the cocoa reveals and meditate on what they might mean to you.
You can also see what patterns are on the saucer and interpret them as well.

*if you don’t have black cocoa powder, substitute with your favourite cocoa powder.

Day Of The Deddy Bear!

The second Wednesday in October is Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work & School Day. This special day celebrates the unbreakable bond that many people have with their favourite cuddly toy. The bond may have been forged in childhood or created at any stage in life. As I work from home, every day is Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day. I personally have a variety of plushies that I treasure and a coven of Very Special Plushies that I interact with daily. I also have special travelling plushies that I take on trips.

This year I discovered Deddy Bears, which are fun Halloween themed Teddy Bears. They each come in their own body bag which also includes an autopsy report! I was torn between the vampire and the pumpkin but opted for the pumpkin, which was aptly named Squash. The autopsy report tells me that Squash died in October 2001 from “complete flesh rot following Halloween carving”. Squash’s blood type is listed as “Spiced”.

We haven’t had time to form a deep bond but I’m hoping to connect with Squash over a mug of Pumpkin Pie Steamer and a plate of Trick or Treat Pumpkin Pies.

The Halloween fun continues as this Friday is Friday the 13th!

By The Light Of A Scorpion Moon

Halloween falls between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. As an Autumn festival, many Australian Pagans and Witches celebrate Halloween on the 30th of April. I’m a bit of a traditionalist so I celebrate Halloween on the 30th of April AND the 31st of October. One Halloween a year is never enough!

April 30th is also Walpurgis Night – a night when spirits walk the Earth and witches are thought to fly through the night skies on their way to various celebrations. Bram Stoker hauntingly invokes the spirit of Walpurgis Night in Dracula’s Guest, his short but compelling prequel to the novel Dracula. This quote by Stoker always sends a delightful chill down my spine:  

“Walpurgis Night, when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad—when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.”

Bram Stoker was born in the sign of Scorpio so it’s not surprising he wrote so beautifully of hidden secrets and creatures of the night.

To add more magic, mystery and a touch of Stoker to April 30 activities in Australia, a Full Moon in Scorpio will be shining upon our festivities.

After an evening of celebrating Halloween, Walpurgis Night and a Scorpion Full Moon, I can think of no better way to end my evening than with a bowl of soul warming soup. Pumpkins and apples are traditional Halloween fare and I never say no to a good drop of alcohol, either in a glass or in my soup!

Pumpkin & Apple Cider Soup

Ingredients
1kg butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
30g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes 
3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup apple cider
cream for serving

Instructions
Preheat oven to 200C / 400F.
Place the pumpkin into a baking pan.
Add the oil, rosemary and salt.
Toss until combined.
Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked.
While the pumpkin is baking, prepare the soup.
Heat the butter in a large saucepan.
Add the celery and cook until soft but not browned.
Stir in the apples.
Pour in the stock and apple cider.
Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the apple is cooked.
Add the roasted pumpkin to the soup.
Blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth.
Pour into bowls and serve with a splash of cream.

Days Of Bears And Fears

Wednesday October the 11th is Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work Or School Day. Observed on the second Wednesday in October, this curious day is a day to celebrate the importance of teddy bears in our lives. Will you be bringing a teddy bear to work or school on Wednesday?

As I work from home I don’t have to worry about being stared at if I bring a teddy bear to work. In fact my home is already filled with panda bears so it’s business as usual here! Sometimes I like to have a break from the computer so instead of taking a panda bear on my break I thought I would take one of my rare teddy bears for an outing. Here is Ursa, named for the Latin word for bear, enjoying Bring Your Teddy Bear On Your Break From Work Day.

Ursa loves riding camels. Coffee after camels. The music of the night.

And what did my panda bears get up to while I was away? Well they were getting ready for
Friday the 13th, one of their favourite days of the year. This will be the last Friday the 13th for 2017.

Happy Friday the 13th!

A fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia.
The name is a combination of Frigga, the Norse Goddess for Friday, with triskaidekaphobia, the Greek word for the fear of the number 13. Triskaidekaphobia combines the words tris meaning 3, kai meaning and, deka meaning 10 with phobia meaning fear.
An alternate term, paraskevidekatriaphobia, was used by an American psychotherapist in the 1990s. It is a Greek word combining paraskevi meaning Friday with dekatria meaning 13 also ending with phobia for fear.
As I don’t like Goddesses being replaced, I’ll continue using the term friggatriskaidekaphobia!

To find out more about Friday the 13th, check out my previous posts: Friday On My Mind / Bad Moon On The Rise and Deathly Delights For Friday the 13th 🙂

World Goth Day

May 22nd is World Goth Day. World what day? World Goth Day! That’s right, there is a World Goth Day and it has been around since 2009.

During a BBC Radio 6 exploration of musical subcultures, two goth DJs thought it would be great to get an event going that celebrated the goth scene. They chose May 22nd as the day. Initially a British celebration, World Goth Day spread and is now celebrated all over the world. You can check out the offical page to learn more and to see if there is an event near you.

World Goth Day celebrates the cultural heritage of the goth scene. It is a day for goths to be proud of who and what they are. I have been a proud goth since I was young, openly exploring the darker side of life through books, films, television and music.

When I entered the world of punk rock music I found my clan – punk goths. Not surprisingly two of the bands that influenced me the most were The Damned and The Cure. Both bands were punk goth hybrids and difficult to pigeonhole into one category. They were, to borrow a term from the awesome Billy Bragg, genre fluid – much like me 🙂 Also like me, both bands have lasted the distance and continue to embrace the soul of punk goth culture. In honour of World Goth Day’s musical roots, I have made a recipe based on one of my favourite songs.

In my post Neat Neat Neat I created a recipe for Smashed Potatoes in tribute to The Damned song Smash It Up. I also answered questions by Bob T. Panda including these two:
If you could be an animal, which one would you be?
“A Giant Panda like Clint Recession.”

Who is Clint Recession? Well he is a creation by David O’Doherty, Claudia O’Doherty and Mike Ahern in the book 100 Facts About Pandas. According to this book of fun fake facts, Clint is a founding member of The Cure and the inspiration for their goth look – he’s also a giant panda.

Which leads me to the next question:
What kind of cuppycake are you, and why?
“A Black Forest Cuppycake because I like black and I like The Cure song A Forest.”

Naturally I couldn’t resist creating a Black Forest Cupcake combining both goth and panda culture. My cupcakes are decorated with black liquorice which reminds me of black bamboo. And if there is one species of bamboo a goth panda would love it’s black!

Don’t forget, the original Black Forest Cake is named for Germany’s Black Forest – the setting for many of Grimm’s fairytales – and home to some spooky folklore. Wow, that’s a lot of goth to pack into one cupcake 🙂

Have a Happy World Goth Day!

Black Forest Cupcakes 

Ingredients
for the black forest cupcakes
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 + 1/2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
125g (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg yolk, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
425g (15oz) canned pitted black cherries, drained and chopped, reserving the juice
1/2 cup juice, reserved from canned cherries

for the whipped cream
2 cups double cream
4 teaspoons powdered buttermilk or powdered milk
2 tablespoons powdered (icing) sugar
black liquorice for decoration
grated chocolate for sprinkling
fresh cherries for garnish – optional

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 12 paper cases.
In a small bowl, sift together the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy and pale.
Add egg yolk, one of the eggs and half the sour cream and beat well.
Add remaining egg and sour cream and beat until combined.
Add the milk and mix until combined.
Using a wooden spoon, fold through the cocoa mix 1/3 third at a time until combined.
Add the cherries and juice and gently mix through.
Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter evenly into paper cases.
Bake for 10 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
While cupcakes are cooling make the whipped cream by whipping together the cream, powdered sugar and milk powder with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add the vanilla extract and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Spoon whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes.
Decorate with black liquorice.
Sprinkle with chocolate and garnish with fresh cherries if desired.

A Trio Of Celebrations

This Saturday 30th of April is a very special night. There are three celebrations happening. Two are annual events – Walpurgis Night and Beltane/Halloween. The other is Orthodox Easter Eve. As Easter is a Moveable Feast, it is not always celebrated on April 30th. The fact that it falls on this special night this year makes for a very powerful Saturday eve! As I will be celebrating Halloween, I thought I would explore Walpurgis Night as it has always had a Halloween feel for me.

Walpurgis Night is also known as Witches’ Night. It is the night when witches are thought to fly to the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz mountain range and the highest peak in Northern Germany. There they will light a great bonfire and celebrate the coming Spring with singing, dancing and feasting. Sounds good to me! What also sounds good to me is the name Walpurgis. It has such a witchy feel to it. And it would have to, seeing as it is the name of a witchy holiday, wouldn’t it? Well, not really. Walpurgis Night is not so much witchy as it is holy.

Walpurgis Night is named after Saint Walpurga, a female, English missionary. She was born in Devonshire in 710 and spent her early years in an abbey where she was educated by the nuns. She wrote a biography about her brother and also wrote in Latin about his travels through Palestine. She is often called Germany and England’s first female writer. She was an exceptionally educated women for the times. She died on February 25th, 777 or 779 and was canonised on the 1st of May, 870. So why is she connected to a witches holiday? I’m not really sure but I can make a couple of guesses.

What is interesting about Saint Walpurga is that her offical Catholic feast day is celebrated on the day of her death, February 25th but her more popular celebration is on the day of her canonisation, May 1st. Was celebrating Walpurgis Night on the eve of her canonisation a ploy by Christians to take over the pagan holiday of Beltane? It’s not like that wasn’t done before with Xmas and Easter. It seems to make sense, as Witches’ Night and Beltane have many things in common, not the least which are their welcoming of the coming Spring. But why not chose one of the many Saints who is actually celebrated on May 1st, rather than Saint Walpurga? Again, I’m not sure. Perhaps they wanted a female Saint to represent the Goddess of Spring. But it wouldn’t be the first time a powerful and educated woman was associated with witches!

Another reason I love Walpurgis Night is Dracula. Yes, Dracula has a connection to Witches’ Night 🙂 Dracula’s Guest, the prequel to the novel Dracula, is set on Walpurgis Night. It is on this night that Jonathan encounters a female vampire – the Countess Dolingen of Gratz. He survives the encounter, thanks to Dracula, who wants Jonathan all to himself! I could never forget this haunting description:

“Walpurgis Night, when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad—when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.”

This brilliant prequel is the inspiration for the High Priestess card in my Dracula Tarot deck.

The Countess Dolingen of Gratz

In honour of the pagan bonfires that will be burning in both the southern and northern hemispheres I would like to share a recipe for one of my favourites treats. It is known by many names such as honeycomb, hokey pokey, sea foam and puff candy but my favourite name for it is cinder toffee 🙂 Nothing conjures up the power and heat of a bonfire than the heady smell of almost burning sugar as it is slowly caramelises and darkens. And what could be more exciting than the alchemical change that happens when baking powder is added to that amber liquid!

Cinder Toffee

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 + 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Method
Line a baking pan, approximately 25cmx30cm, with baking paper.
Place sugar, water, honey and golden syrup in a deep, heavy based saucepan.
Place the saucepan on low heat and cook, without stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a gentle boil.
Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture turns golden brown. Be careful not to burn the mixture as it can heat up very quickly.
To check if it is ready, drop a small amount of syrup into a cold glass of water. If the syrup becomes brittle it is ready.
Remove the pan from the heat. Add the bicarbonate of soda and whisk vigorously, being very careful as the mixture will bubble up.
Pour mixture quickly into the prepared pan.
Allow to cool before breaking into pieces.

A Toast For Saint Patrick’s Day

I’m not a big fan of Saint Patrick’s Day. I mean the guy was supposed to have driven all the snakes out of Ireland. As Ireland supposedly never had snakes, it is now generally accepted that the snakes he drove out were Pagans! Since I like both snakes and Pagans, it’s not really a day of celebration for me.

However, Saint Patrick didn’t really succeed in ridding Ireland of Pagans. So with this in mind I think I’ll celebrate this Saint Patrick’s Day in a true Pagan way – with food and drink!

So raise your glasses, or your cupcakes, and celebrate with some great Irish spirits – Irish whiskey and Irish cream!

St Patrick’s Day Cupcakes

These Irish Whiskey cupcakes topped with Irish Cream frosting are in no danger of being driven out of Ireland by St Patrick! 

Special Equipment:
12 green paper cupcake cases

Ingredients
for the whiskey cupcakes:
1 + 1/2 cups flour
1 + 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup Irish whiskey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the Irish cream frosting
2 + 1/2 cups double cream
2 + 1/2 tablespoons powdered (icing) sugar
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 12 green paper cases.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat until just combined.
Add the flour mix and, using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix until just combined.
Add the milk, whiskey and vanilla and mix until combined.
Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter evenly into paper cases.
Bake for 10 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

While cupcakes are cooling make the whipped cream by whipping together the cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Stir in the Irish cream until just combined. Spoon whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes.

You can add green food colouring to the cake or frosting and garnish with green decorations if you like.

For another Irish whiskey/cream connection check out my tribute to an Irish Coffee.