All Hallows Eve

What's your approach to Halloween?

Halloween observance is avoided by some devout people because of its origin in the ancient festival Samhain, which was celebrated mainly in Ireland and Scotland. It was believed that the separation between the lands of the living and the dead was especially thin on this night so that spirits could pass from one world to the next. Scary masks and costumes were used to ward off evil spirits.

Halloween is also the eve of All Saints Day, a Christian holiday that commemorates the lives of godly people who have died.

Personally, I think we need a time to reflect on death and the life after. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the whole world seems to be dying at this time of year. The weather grows cold, leaves wither, and we realize that the warm days of summer are gone--as our lives will someday be.

And while they may have been wrong about many things, the ancient Gaelic people got this right--one way of dealing with the terror of death is to make light of it. It seems that we should be able to acknowledge that both good and evil spiritual beings roam the earth without being dragged into spiritism.

The older I grow, the more people I know who are now on the other side. I think it's important to acknowledge that from time to time. There is a great chasm between us and many unknown and frightening things to come. There is life there as well.

Here is my day to recall the cloud of witnesses, warn against the powers of evil, and ponder the number of my days.

Happy Halloween, everybody.

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