Happy Halloween / Samhain!

I've been having a hard time finding the motivation to post lately, but I did want to say something on this most important holiday. In ancient times, the Celts considered today to be Summer's End. It was the end of the light season and the beginning of the dark. It was the last harvest, when livestock were slaughtered (not sacrificed, despite popular misconception, but slaughtered for meat to eat through the Winter). It was also considered the time when the veil between the world of the living and the realm of spirits was at its thinnest. This was not a time of fear, but rather a time to honor your deceased loved ones, because they were likely to show up for a visit (so it was believed, anyway). Over the long centuries, many traditions have come together to form the modern, secular holiday of Halloween. I have fond memories (and a few bad ones, too) of going out trick-or-treating when I was a child. I loved dressing up and always got annoyed with my parents when they ruined my carefully constructed (read store-bought) costumes by making me wear a coat over them. It does get pretty cold in Michigan this time of year, I will admit. But the thing I remember most was how magical it was to walk along the tree-lined streets of the little towns, sometimes wading knee-deep in piles of leaves, seeing all the spooky houses, the moon shining down through the bare limbs of big oak trees that would creak and rustle in the sharp, biting wind of the late October night. It's something that is hard to capture now days. A sense of wonder that seems to be lost on today's tv educated, internet savvy, all too jaded youth. A pity, really. But, whether you celebrate secular Halloween or Pagan Samhain (or both), I hope you have a wonderous, magical and safe holiday.