Lantern season begins

Autumn is upon us now that the September equinox has passed and so I am currently making withy lanterns in anticipation of darker evenings and celebrating the glorious last hurrah of autumn colour and the festival that is Halloween.

However, a wish to reclaim the spirit of the night from the over commercialised horror show in the supermarket has over taken me and an urge to revive and explore the original theme of All Hallows' Eve and confront the power of death with humour and ridicule (All Saints Day follows which celebrates triumph over the misanthropy of darkness and devils). Indeed, Mr Guido Fawkes and his fellow conspirators from around these parts who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament still need a bit of recognition for adding more fuel to the fires and festivals celebrated by so many cultures at this time of year and November 5th is still all about bonfires and fireworks.

So, it seems only right to make something from the riches of nature fashioned from natural, sustainable and biodegradable materials at such a time and bring light and colour into the darkness, along with stories and music and celebration or however you wish to mark this time of year.