Spooky Season Miscellany

Charcuterie board, anyone?

October Full Moon Altar: Durga

This month's altar honours the Hindu Goddess of Power, Durga, and her Victory of Good over Evil. Her victory signifies the preservation of Dharma in the universe and the cosmic supremacy of the feminine divine power Shakti, which underlies and sustains all existence.

Durga's annual ten-day festival, Durga Puja, was celebrated earlier this month. The world's largest Durga Puja festival in West Bengal is recognized by UNESCO in its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

Durga is always depicted riding a lion, just like Ishtar the Great Goddess of Babylon. My statue of Durga is hand-carved white soapstone from India. She is one of the first goddess figurines I found when I moved here to Edmonton nearly 30 years ago. (And I found her at West Edmonton Mall -- of course!)

Several varieties of flowers associated with Durga's many positive qualities are traditionally offered to honour her during Durga Puja ceremonies. My altar represents four of the most popular tributes -- Red Hibiscus (altar cloth), Lotus (fibre-optic devotional lamp), Jasmine (scented stick of incense), and Rose (fresh-cut in the fingertip bowl).

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026]

Fashion Faux Pas

 petal-metal

OMG MY NEW SHOES CAME :3 ignore my ugly house arrest ankle bracelet. haha

Vampires & The Modern World

Friday Face OFF -- Feathered Friends

For today's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food and Everyday Things --

I just started a pen & wash class yesterday

entitled "Feathered Friends." I took a previous class

from the same Edmonton artist (Valdis Gislason) called

"Whimsical Creatures" which I posted about here.

The first class of "Feathered Friends" was

pretty whimsical too, although we will apparently

be doing more realistic birds in future classes.

We weren't using real watercolour paper -- just

heavy bond paper -- so that's why it looks buckled.

This next, particularly weird-looking bird

is based on a wire sculpture

as interpreted by Valdis!

I hope you enjoy all these

imaginative birds with their goofy faces!

[Art & Photos of Art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026]

When It's The Ass Crack Of Dawn, You Need . . .

Do You Believe In GHOSTS?

At the urging of both my sister and

Lady M of Lady M's Haunted Parlor,

I just finished binge-watching all 5 seasons

of the British TV series Ghosts.

Turns out I love the series and recommend it!

Its goofy humour is offset by some

truly heart-wrenching moments when

the sad backstories of the ghosts are revealed.

But there's good news for fans of the show!

Although its TV run is over, they have now made

a movie called Ghosts: The Possession of Button House.

Here's the trailer --