Ahhh-ctober!  Welcome to the month of hayrides, gourds and…you either love it or hate it…candy corn.  Welcome to slight breezes with a nip of chilly.  Welcome to month inviting you to enjoy the first homemade stew of the season, roasted marshmallows, mums in full bloom and the cozy smell of wood smoke.

Here in the Midwest, October ushers in parades of humongous cumulus clouds floating against the bluest of skies.  Reverent space is held for the trees as they perform their final act, dazzling us with splashes of yellows, reds and orange everywhere you look.  Sandhill Cranes begin their migration.  Flying high overhead, these birds talk to one another in excited squawks as they make their way south. (Hey, who doesn’t like to winter in Florida?) Their conversations make me smile, stop what I’m doing and watch as they surf the air currents and revel in what sounds to me like an incredibly fun in-flight cocktail party.

October is also the month of ghosts, goblins and witches.  Personally, I don’t believe in ghosts. I never used to believe in goblins but after seeing one take over the White House (TWICE!) I am now a believer.  Goblins are indeed among us. (*See the actual definition of ‘goblin’ below and tell me it isn’t him!) 

But witches?  Don’t pooh-pooh the witches. 

Witches sometime come to life in nightmares.  When I was four, I had a reoccurring nightmare that witches placed my older sister into a cauldron of water.  They stoked a huge fire all around the pot and waited for the water to boil her alive.  Fortunately, I would save my sister from a horrible fate by waking up before the water began to bubble.  (Yes, this dream and my relationship with my sister were discussed with my therapist when I became an adult.  Sorry Nan.)

Witches are alive and well in the Arts.  They include good witches like Glenda and the Witches of Eastwick (Nicholson deserved what he got).  The witches in Practical Magic-also benevolent.  And remember the lovely nose twitching Samantha Stephens who flew into our living rooms on a weekly basis?   

There are creepy and incompetent witches, like the Sanderson sisters of Hocus Pocus who ‘smell children.’  And then there are the evil witches.  The Wicked Witch of the West for one.  The witch from Into the Woods and of course, Maleficent.  These witches specialize in malicious hexes and curses.  But fear not.  You’ve dealt with witches like this before, you just may not recall.  If you get a sense that a threatening incantation is hurtling your way, simply chant the following.  “I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.” And then walk away.  Evil curse averted.  (Now you remember how you thwarted curses in the past..don’t you?)

Enchantresses, the good witches, are 100% benevolent.  They cast spells and charms to bring nothing but happiness.  But witches are not the only ones capable of bewitchery.

People, run of the mill humans, are actually very good at spell-binding.  People have for certain cast spells on me; and I’ve willingly watched them do it!  Some were short lived, some landed deep and some were so powerful and long lived, their influence still bubbles up from time to time. 

The most subtle human-initiated charms are usually the most beguiling.  A simple smile or a wink from across a room.  The tone of a “hello” as someone passes by can be a full-blown incantation.  So can a simple touch or a scent.  And a kiss? A single kiss can cast a spell or, if intense enough, break one. Once, I was rendered spell-bound by someone’s swagger.

Grandchildren are among the most powerful non-witch spell casters.  Often, they start charming us before ever taking their first breath.  I wonder if they are aware of their power?  I think they must be because they’re never surprised that I almost always say “yes” to whatever they request.  And while there are effective counter spells to break the power of most spells, I have yet to hear of a way to break one cast by a grandchild.

The Arts can leave us spellbound.  A story from the silver screen or a single line in a book can hold magic.     Music is enchanting and bewitching.  A note from Miles Davis trumpet or Sandborn’s sax or the ivories under Bob James control can put you in a type of trance.  Bonnie Raitt’s rasp as well.  Music is captivating, often with time/space travel capabilities, in super-natural ways one cannot easily explain.

I admit, I have both intentionally and unintentionally cast spells on people over the years.  I’m sure you have as well.  And if we’re honest, while our intentions may have been good, many of the charms we cast were, at least partly, for our own gain and/or amusement.  I am prouder of some spells more than others. Some worked like a charm, others, not so much.  

And in the spirit of full disclosure, though I’m not particularly proud of this, I confess I have attempted a few hexes and curses in the heat of a moment.  Fortunately, in hindsight, they failed to work.  I guess this proves I’m neither an evil witch nor an angel. 

What’s a Boomer to do?  Everyone has a spark within.  Share your charms with wild abandon, especially during this, the most bewitching of months.

*goblin (noun) – a grotesque bogeyman that is mischievous or malicious toward people.  (It is a perfect description of him.  Is it not?)