This is the beginning of the witching — or bewitching — month when all the spooks, spirits, and apparitions come out to play.
I have told the story many times about Max Munson and how he walks the edges of the Natchez Trace on Halloween looking for the witches and their dancing at Witches Dance on the Trace.
Well, now I am going to share with you the story I was told about the little hidden family cemetery at the edge of the woods in Montgomery county.
This cemetery was started on some land owned by a rich man back in the sixteenth century. It was not very big, and the tombstones were almost level with the red clay ground dirt. This sacred dirt held some of Mr. Mansford’s field workers from many years passed.
The names on the old, weathered stones were strange names, Silas, Casper, Ignatius, Elvira, Persephone, Eliza, just to name a few. Some of the graves were fenced off where his family was laid to rest.
There were also symbols on the markers and I was told some of the meanings. A book symbolizes the Book of Life, a dove is a soul’s journey to heaven, hands are God reaching down, and shears on early graves were used to mark a female grave, broken is the bowl refers to a witch’s caldron.
There was one grave at the very back of the cemetery that people were told to never ever step on, cross over, or disturb in any way whatsoever.
The marker was raised somewhat more than the other markers and had more writing on the stone. Other than the name written on top it read underneath, “Pressed to Death.”
As the story goes, this man Giles suffered an unimaginable death as he was pressed to death because he was thought to be a warlock. And it was said that if you crossed his grave, it would make Giles able to come back as a spirit — a mean spirit — so visitors to the graveyard were always careful to never get even close to his grave. There was a giant live oak tree over his grave and it was always barren of leaves. It stood as a skeletal symbol of the menacing man and his lot in life.
I never actually visited this old place, never really wanted to, and I am very skeptical of the truth in this story, but I am sure I will never ever try to find the warlock’s grave.
I love candied apples, but they are hard for me to bite so I do this:
Start with four granny smith apples and hollow them out leaving about ¼ inch of apple all around. Balance the apples in a muffin tin and fill with melted caramels from the grocery store. Allow to harden and then cut into slices.
So good and so easy to eat.
