Friends, I wish to thank you for following along this past month, while I posted various actual posts and semi-posts (like, just a photo or a video link), all revolving around the Halloween or Samhain theme. It was a lot of fun for me, but sometimes daunting to keep to the one-per-day schedule. Still, in looking back on the month, I'm pretty delighted with what I found, at times darned proud of my "scores".
And speaking of being daunted: what to write about on this, the Big Day, All Hallow's Eve, Samhain, a.k.a. "the Witches' New Year" What came up for me was the question, "What does Halloween mean to me?"
Growing up, it was all about Linus and the Sincere Pumpkin Patch, dressing up in creative, inexpensive costumes, trick or treating a little, but watching a LOT of classic horror films. Playing the Disney Haunted Mansion album (which I would bring each year, without fail, to school, begging our teachers to allow us to trun down the lights and listen. We were always thrilled with the chance to give it a spin, yawning in the face of what the "real" meaning of the day was supposed to be for us Lutheran kids: Reformation Day, when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the church door.). Having Mom put out the Gurley candles ("Don't burn 'em, Mom!"), hang up the cardboard decorations from the 60s and pour the candy corn into the little ghost-shaped bowl. Apple cider, pumpkin pie. Listening to Chicago-area ghost hunter Richard Crowe on the radio late, late at night, telling us the story of Resurrection Mary for the umpteenth time - and loving every minute of it.
That was Halloween. Take a stroll through this month's posts and you'll see I touch upon a lot of these classic holiday activities. Oh - was almost remiss. Here's the link to the Disney album, "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMS_3Vro6Ls
Nowadays, with those icky, plastic pop-up "Halloween Spirit" stores, blood 'n guts costumes and zombie make-up, "haunted houses" you can pay to walk through to view really sickening scenarios that foul, not scary, and adult Halloween costumes that will turn any woman into a streetwalker, I start to wonder where the warmth has gone. Where's the fun, the social aspect (that doesn't involve lots of alcohol)? Where's the magic of Halloween?
What I'm starting to learn is this: the magic hasn't gone anywhere. You just have to know where to look for it (hence, why I fashioned the posts this month that I did). But another aspect of Halloween that I'm now incorporating into my celebration is observing Samhain. It's New Year's today! And what an auspicious time (the pagans had it going ON!): the weather is turning, things are darkening and hiding for the winter. There is a sense of "end of one year, beginning of the next" - even more so than at December 31.
So, this Samhain New Year, I resolve to look for the magick in the stillness that is soon to come, to use the quiet dark time to write, reflect, meditate, and weave positive magick for the good of all. I thank God for this amazing year of seeking, learning, creating, mourning, and celebrating.
The origins of orange black as traditional Halloween colors date back to the ancient Celts. Orange stood for the harvest, for the final celebration before the arrival of winter. Black stood for death, for darkening, for Nature's "closing up shop" for the next several months, for "going within".
May your Halloween and Samhain be filled with celebration and harvesting of life, crativity, and love. May you be blessed with time for quiet, inner reflection, allowing you to let go of things that have "died off", that are no longer needed or serving your Better Angels. And may you be filled with glee and happiness, like that spooky little monster baby at the top of this post.
Blessings and Peace,
The Mid-Century Mystic
