Un sorbier sur notre chemin

Nous nous sommes promenés en ville (enfin, sur la rue principale de notre petite ville) il y a quelques temps et, sur le chemin du retour, j'ai pris une photo de ce sorbier. Nous ne sommes pas encore l'automne et c'est encore loin: les feuilles du sorbier sont encore vertes. J'aime les sorbiers. Mes parents en avaient un, mais il n'y est plus. C'est triste, car il était magnifique. Alors depuis, je prends parfois des photos des sorbiers que je vois. Si vous suivez ce blogue depuis longtemps, vous savez que pour moi, c'est un arbre automnal, à cause des couleurs vives de ses feuilles à l'automne, mais aussi à cause de ses fruits orange.

Les squelettes encore

Autre photo prise durant la promenade de mon père... Mettons-nous dans l'ambiance de l'Halloween et du surnaturel.

Fantômes et squelettes

Autre photo prise des décorations d'Halloween vues à Chicoutimi par mon père lors de ses promenades. Ce sera l'Halloween dans moins d'un mois, préparez-vous à voir beaucoup de références à la fête sur ce blogue d'ici là.

Des squelettes géants

Je partage une nouvelle photo que mon père a prise lorsqu'il marchait à Chicoutimi. Je dis nouvelle photo, mais elle date de quelques semaines, les décorations se sont multipliées sur ce terrain depuis. J'adore ces squelettes géants et je voulais les partager.

Un sorbier

 Photo prise il y a quelques jours, d'un sorbier dans notre petite ville anglaise. Vous savez en lisant Vraie Fiction que j'aime les sorbiers, pour plusieurs raisons, surtout à cause de leurs couleurs en automne. Et aussi parce que l'on peut voir la saison arriver en regardant les feuilles des sorbiers changer de couleurs. Ce n'est pas la première fois que je blogue sur le sujet. On peut voir ici que, les feuilles étant encore vertes, l'automne est encore loin. Hélas.

Rowan Trees (against the Forces of Darkness)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I thought I would mention a weapon against supernatural forces that is seldom seen or used nowadays in horror stories. If at all. I am talking of course of the rowan tree. This one on the picture (dating back from 2009) is of the family's rowan tree. I mentioned it before, here and here. Because in mythology and folklore, rowan trees are meant to provide protection against malevolent beings, particularly against witches. So I could easily see rowan trees used to protect homes against witches, devils and ghosts and its branches, leaves and fruits be essential elements of protective magic. Maybe also turn the branches into blunt weapons. To top it off, with its fiery colours in autumn, rowan trees add great seasonal atmosphere for Halloween stories. So they should be featured in horror fiction. I guess I might have to be the one reintroducing them.

The family's rowan tree

My dad sent me a few pictures tonight, including some of the family's rowan tree. I blogged about it before. When its fruits get fiery red like this, it means that autumn is here, or at least near. I love rowan trees for other reasons, many linked to the one of our childhood. It is situated at the faraway corner of our garden, at the meeting point of two pathways longing the swimming pool. That part of the garden was therefore often used as a secret hideout in many of our games. This rowan tree often felt magical (kind of fitting given the significance in folklore), especially in autumn when it had all these fiery colours. I often miss our big family garden, these days most of all. I hope I can show this tree to Wolfie, although it is more difficult to access it now. Maybe I should buy a rowan for our own garden.

Le sorbier en fruits

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo du sorbier familial. Les feuilles sont encore vertes, mais les fruits sont mûrs. Autre signe de l'automne qui s'en vient. Ces temps-ci, ce n'est pas trop automnal là où nous sommes, alors je me mets dans l'esprit de la saison qui arrive comme je peux, avec cette photo par exemple. Et dans tous les cas, c'est beau un sorbier.

Le sorbier sous la neige

 Parmi les photos envoyées par mon père hier, il y a celle-ci, sans doute la plus impressionnante. C'est notre sorbier, enfin celui de mes parents, sous la neige. Tout simplement magnifique. J'envie vraiment ceux qui ont de la neige chez eux ces temps-ci. Ici c'est gris dans le genre grisâtre et grisaille. Un peu par fierté familiale, un peu parce que je veux que Vraie Fiction prenne les couleurs de l'hiver.

The rowan tree as indicator

Well, after a week and a bit more of intensive heat, today has finally cooled down and we even had rain. Lots of rain. I am glad: I was getting seriously fed up with the high point of summer, which had been sickeningly summery these days. But today, while I know it is not near ending, I can feel that the season is slowly burning down. And I saw something to look out for future signs of autumn: this rowan tree by the bus stop on my way to work. Now you can see the leafs are still very green, but when they will change to their more fiery colours then it will be a clear indicator of the new season looming. So every morning I will take a good look at it.

Solstice

English below...

Nous sommes le solstice d'hiver aujourd'hui. Donc la journée la plus courte de l'année. C'est l'hiver pour vrai partout dans l'hémisphère nord, même dans les endroits comme ici ou il n'y a pas de neige. C'est plus déprimant, mais je tenais à souligner le solstice d'hiver. Et puisque pour moi l'hiver doit être enneigé, j'ai téléchargé ici une photo du sorbier familial sous la neige.
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We are the winter solstice today. So it is the shortest day of the year. It is not winter for real, in the Northern hemisphere at least, even in places like here where there is sadly no snow. It makes the solstice look dreary, but all the same, I wanted to commemorate the winter solstice. And since for me winter is snowy, I have downloaded here a picture of the family's rowan tree in the snow.

Le sorbier enneigé

Voici une autre photo envoyée par mon père, du sorbier sous la neige. Je la publie pour plusieurs raisons. Parce que je m'ennuie de la neige d'abord (air connu) et je commence à espérer qu'il en tombe ici. À défaut d'en avoir de la vraie, je vais donner à Vraie Fiction une apparence hivernale. Je la publie aussi parce que j'associe souvent le sorbier à l'automne. Alors je trouvais ça intéressant de le montrer sous un jour plus hivernal.

Le sorbier familial

J'ai blogué récemment en anglais sur les sorbiers et sur leurs fruits oranges qui sont une indication du passage de l'été à l'automne. Or, j'ai trouvé dans ma boîte de courriels une photo du sorbier envoyée par mon père en août 2006. Le 14, pour être plus précis. Après des recherches exhaustives, je me suis rendu compte qu'elle n'avait jamais été téléchargée sur Vraie Fiction. Nous sommes aujourd'hui la dernière journée d'août et j'ai pensé que ça faisait sens que la dernière photo publiée ici en août 2013 soit celle-ci. Surtout que déjà l'on sent l'été se faire discret et l'automne à nos portes. J'ai déjà blogué sur ce que ce sorbier représente pour moi. Enfant, il était le centre de bien des jeux. Alors voilà, le sorbier familial, une fois de plus sur ce blogue.

Rowan trees and new signs of autumn

I have decided to upload this picture of a rowan tree, which I took yesterday on my way back from work. It is of course the picture of a rowan tree. I blogged about rowan trees before, as I developed a certain fascination for them, as they are associated with mythology and folklore. They are supposed to be a protection against witches, which is great, as there is one that lives nearby (I am talking about the evil neighbour who hates cats of course). We have one at my parents' garden which is absolutely magnificent. There are plenty of rowan trees in the little town where I live, I have also seen many in Windsor. It might be a tree typical of the English south.

It is also one of the signs of the upcoming autumn. Trees obviously can be used to determine whether a season is coming or not. I use them to read the signs of changing seasons anyway, like I did recently with a fig tree. When a rowan tree gets his orange coloured (and as far as I know inedible) fruits, it means that autumn is near. When autumn is in full force, the leaves should take the colours of a wild fire. There was also another recent sign of seasonal change: yesterday evening, as I was walking outside, I could smell smoke and fire. Not the smell of a barbecue, typical of but the smell of a bonfire, or a small home fire that was coming from a chimney. There is summer smoke, and there is autumn smoke, both smell differently, something about the context and the atmosphere. In any case, I was happy to see these new signs of upcoming autumn.

The Arsenal against the Forces of Darkness

This is a new post for my Halloween countdown. I recently asked to my francophone readers what arsenal they would have in a horror movie/story, or if they were living in a world with monsters and supernatural, to fight them (and win). I gave it a good thought and I have decided to write my own list, based on years of reading and watching horror stories and my knowledge of folklore. Here it is:

-The usual weapons against vampires: crucifix, holy water (albeit we do not see holy water in the classic written fiction I read), holy wafers, wild roses, garlic (plenty of it, including garlic flowers AND in the diet), stakes (well of course) and so on. A lot of the holy objects might be useful against other creatures than vampires. And human servants, especially servants of vampires obviously, might be repelled by the garlic breath. The weaponry against vampires is really versatile, come to think of it.

-Silver weapons against werewolves. As I have never used firearms I would not have a gun with silver bullets, that could kill innocent people by accident, beside the bullets get lost. So I would get myself a sharp object, like a knife in silver, and a blunt instrument with silver, like that silver headed cane in The Wolf Man. My take on the cane: a knobkerrie-type stick with a pointy silver tip and a silver head.

-PJ thinks one would need a sword sharp enough to decapitate. It is a a good idea, and it can work against many types of monsters. I would probably go for a large knife though, somewhat easier to conceal and to handle than a sword. Easier to find too.

-Salt. It is supposed to be good against witches, against zombies too.

-My own idea: a rowan tree branch and/or product made from rowan tree (a puree from the fruits and leafs?). Rowan trees are supposed to be good protection against witches, among other things.

-A flask of whiskey or other strong alcohol. In moderation, it is good against the nerves. It can also be used as an inflammable substance.

So that's it really. What would be your arsenal?

Attiser les flammes de l'automne

Bon, nous sommes toujours en plein quasi-été des Indiens (parce qu'il n'y a pas eu gel au sol ce n'en est pas vraiment un), lequel risque de continuer encore pour le reste de la semaine. Je suis contre, je l'ai dit. Même si aujourd'hui, sortir quelques minutes pour l'heure du lunch était ma foi très agréable, je trouve qu'il y a plus d'inconvénients que d'avantages: j'ai souvent trop chaud, c'est le bordel dans mes tiroirs, mes vêtements chauds se mélangeant à mes vêtements légers, etc. Si j'étais enfant, je passerais la soirée dehors à jouer à Dracula avec mes frères, mais à mon âge... Au moins il y a les couleurs de l'automne.

Alors je vais essayer d'automniser ce blogue, en y mettant des photos automnales. Si les températures automnales ne viennent pas, au moins ce blogue en aura les couleurs. Celle-ci est une photo du sorbier familial, qui prend de belles couleurs la saison venue. Contrairement à cette autre photo automnale, celle du sorbier en est une où l'automne est de flammes rougeoiantes. Comme il devrait être.

Rowan tree

I seem to be blogging a lot about trees these days, but one has to follow his muse where she leads him and my dad sent me a few good photos which would be sad to leave in my computer folder. This is a recent picture of the rowan tree of my parents' garden. I blogged about it before and already showed pictures of it in full fiery autumnal colours. It is not nearly as bright these days, but I thought I would put it here anyway, to give some circumstantial colours to this blog.

Rowan trees are associated with mythology and folklore, as I mentioned here. With this end of August that looks and feels more and more like autumn, my mind being more and more on you know which holiday, I thought it was a nice idea to publish here this image of a witch repellent. For spiders, it's the smell of conkers, for witches it's the rowan tree, also called witch-bane. There are many of them in the little town where I live, I will go out soon and take a look at them.

Musing on superstitions

These pictures were taken in the Keswick Museum, one of the nicest town museum I have ever been to. There were a "section" (well, two window displays really) about Cumbria's superstitions. I took picture of them, you can enlarge them if you want to read, I hope the light did not get in the way too much. I like my times in museum to be educational but also atmospheric and this museum had plenty of both. Since Halloween is coming soon, I thought it would be the right time to blog about it.

As a child, I had a wild imagination and at some point, I was fairly superstitious: I believed in ghosts, in the Loch Ness Monster, in devils, what have you. And even if and when I did not believe in something supernatural, I was fascinated by old wives tales and ancient irrational beliefs. I knew they were not true, but I was doing as if. As I said in French here, while I did not like the taste of mushrooms, I still kept an interest in them because of their association with supernatural and witchcraft. Especially when they were in a fairy ring, which was called "rond de sorcières" in French, "witch circle". I loved when I could find one on the ground and they were the basis of many of our make-belief games. I wish I had known then about the superstitions surrounding the rowan tree, as we were playing next to one very often. I developed an interest in this one only in recent year, but was happy it was mentioned in the museum display.

So I grew up to become a rational man (or trying to be one anyway), a skeptic and an atheist. I do not believe in the supernatural to the slighest, yet I still have an interest in them. Like haunted houses, superstitions transform the domestic and the familiar into something much more fascinating than it really is and makes people's life more exciting. There is a bit of Don Quixote in all human beings and sometimes imagination takes over our perception of reality.

Le sorbier

English below, as usual a rewriting of the French text...

Voici des photos, envoyées gracieusement par mon père, du sorbier dont j'ai parlé dans ce billet.
Celle du haut le montre en été, celles du bas durant l'automne, alors qu'il est vêtu de manière magnifique. Cet arbre représente parfaitement la saison automnale, c'est le moins qu'on puisse dire. Il va aussi mettre des couleurs au blogue. J'ai beaucoup plus conscience de la présence des sorbiers depuis que j'ai lu sur leur réputation et le folklore les entourant. En effet, je les vois sur le chemin de l'école où je travaille, ils semblent très populaire dans les cours des résidences de Windsor. Leurs feuilles n'ont pas encore de couleurs automnales, mais les fruits orange les identifient parfaitement et égaient ma longue marche.
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You can see here pictures, sent graciously by my father, of the tree I blogged about recently. The witchbane, or witchwood, or whispering tree, or more simply rowan (I think witchbane and whispering tree are my favourite names for it), pictured above is in summertime. The pictures at the bottom right and bottom left show it in its full autumnal fiery glory. Looking at it, one can see why it was associated with supernatural in folklore. since I blogged/read about it, I am more conscious of the presence of the witchbanes around me. On my way to my Monday job, I can see many of them in residential gardens. They seem very popular. Their leafs don't have their autumn colours yet, but the bright orange fruits are easy enough to see. They brighten my long walk to work. Now, they also brighten the blog.

Revisiting a childhood memory (and a tree)

The things one learn sometimes through blogging... I learned recently from this blog that the rowan tree, in French called a sorbier, is associated with witchcraft and supernatural in folklore. It has many names in English, many of them very poetic: witchbane, whispering tree, witchwood, witchen, etc. I say this because I grew up with such a tree the back garden, in a remote place of the garden, behind the fence of the swimming pool. I never thought it had such strong otherwordly associations. I wish I knew. My brothers and I used to play swords and sorcery games, or Dracula games, or ghost games, or other childhood make-belief games, around it (or around one of our apple trees, another tree associated with supernatural), from springtime to late autumn. It was certainly a fitting setting for the spooky games we used to play.