"Hundreds of witches -- along with a handful of warlocks and wizards -- tossed their broomsticks, grabbed paddles and traveled six miles along the Willamette River Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.

The event, called Standup Paddleboard Witch Paddle, dodged days of rain catching a short window of sunshine for the entire three-hour event. Spectators, who were caught off guard by the witches, watched in t-shirts and sunglasses. The coven traveled from Willamette Park to Tom McCall Waterfront Park and back.

The witch paddle on the Willamette River all started when event organizer Ginny Kauffman, of Portland, saw photos of a similar Halloween event in California two years ago. Since then, the paddle in Portland has grown from a few dozen participants to several hundred.

This year, participants donated new packaged underwear, shirts and socks to the nonprofit Our House of Portland, along with coats to Sunshine Division. "



https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/life-and-culture/erry-2018/10/a6e688dc885752/hundreds-of-witches-pick-paddl.html

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Exodus 22:18

I guess we all have some murdering to do.

In olde New England a number of witches were executed. I once dated a girl who was a descendant of one of the witches. BYW we had a bishop who was descended from a woman who was convicted in Connecticut...but whose neighbors protested and the penalty was not carried out.

Dressing up for costume parties sounds like a blast.

It was Dorothy of Oz who was a "good witch," like Glinda was.

Fairy tales and such have better endings than the witch trials did of our own sordid past.

Remember when TSCC had activities like that?

My mother was trained in the Stanislavsky method acting as a young woman. After she married my dad and became a Mormon she was stake drama director for a couple of years where we lived in my hometown.

At Halloween she loved playing a witch. And she was so good she fooled the little kids. Her hair was naturally long and dark to begin with. With the makeup and costume she was a natural.

Grace Slick's little brother used to tell me that she did that when they were children. She is about ten years older than he is. She'd dress up as a witch and scare the bejeezus out of him just because she could.

:)

One of my son's former girlfriends (with whom I still remain friends) considers herself a sort of "benign" witch." She celebrates the pagan holidays (Beltane, Samhain, etc.) and is an all-around fun person.

I didn't know anything about the "old" holidays until I read Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series. That's where I learned about the tradition of the "Firstfoot." As I understand it, if the first person to set foot in your house in the New Year is a good-looking young man with dark hair, you are guaranteed to have good luck in the coming year.

My son made a very dashing Firstfoot for a number of years until he began going grey and shaving his head. . .

That could be good money for a service to run. Hire a Firstfoot for the New Year!