Samhain

It’s Halloween. As a kid, and even later, as the parent of a young child, I was usually worked up into a state of total mayhem by the time this day arrived. I loved it but I hated it. It was fun, but also tremendously scary. Am I too old to go trick or treating or should I just stay home? Must I go around with Bea in the event it might be her last year of Halloween hi-jinks?

But this year I have changed my thinking… and merged a few traditional thoughts. It’s what I do to cope with the grieving and to maintain hope. I find it’s working quite well.

Samhain: a time when the veil is thin between the world of the living and the realm of the Dead thus facilitating contact and communication. It can be an opportunity to bring closure to grieving and to further adjust to lost loved ones being in another realm, away from you. And perhaps most importantly, it’s also a way to appreciate life and provide hope, and that is the thing, isn’t it?

So, the lights,and yes, the Christmas tree pop up and out around this time. The warmth of light is so soothing during this darker side of the year. I also lean toward Day of the Dead art and symbols, and have really learned to appreciate those grinning, colorful skulls for what they represent: the beauty of life, and the belief that death is not the end, only the beginning.

The dreamy smell of soul cakes will hopefully pervade the air tomorrow on All Soul’s Day. I want it to be a “kitchen” day with cookie making and a yummy stew simmering. And celebrating the souls (who should be saints) as we prepare for a week of time change, when we rise in the dark, and return home in the shadows, but the lights so carefully placed this weekend will welcome us home.

We have to make due and be thankful for what we have. That’s all I know and some days that’s pretty hard to find. So be looking. There’s no time like the present. The veil flutters.