Happy Halloween

A Little Bit of Spirit
(-honoring time and space)
this day.
Halloween has Sacred and Spiritual origins
… the day before All Saints Day … and All Souls Day
… All Hallows Eve
… a time to honor the dead… and heal the living
… There are many Halloween customs and traditions.
… Folk lore  … recipes … Prayers / Blessings …
One of my favorite Halloween resources for all of those and more (like maybe a magick potion or two), is a book called Halloween by Silver Ravenwolf.  There’s a bit of pagan influence in it…and as long as your realize that the word pagan simply means “of the earth,” you’ll probably feel more at ease.  Here’s a Cooking Blessing, to give you a taste:
Put you hands over the simmering pot, and repeat three times:
Three angels came from the east
Bringing blessings upon this feast.
The first said, “I banish all negativity.”
The second said, “May you never thirst.”
The third said, “May you never hunger.”
In the name of the three
So mote it be.
With your hand (or a wooden spoon) make the sign of the equal-armed cross over the cooking pot, then tap the spoon or your fingers lightly on the stove saying:
This work is sealed.
Blessings of Vesta (or the god or goddess of your understanding) upon us.
She follows this with pages of delightful recipes that include:
All Souls’ Day Bread, Pumpkin Bread and Harvest Pumpkin Pie, Prosperity Pumpkin Raisin Muffins, Witches’ Brew, Easy Enchanted Punch, Prosperity Popcorn Balls, Sugar Snakes in Graveyard Dust …
Halloween in earth-based traditions is about the abundance of harvest, the end of a year, and the beginning of the next.  It is a time to honor the dead also.
I miss you most upon each Samhain (Halloween)
When the boundary turns to sheer
I wait until the veil is parted
At the ending of the year.
Sweet spirit, as you walk among us
At the tolling of this eve
I see your face beyond the sunset
And hear your voice upon the breeze…
(©1988 David O. Norris, “Upon Each Samhain”)
So we light candles this day in memory of loved ones passed….and for two more days maybe, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, if we grew up catholic.  Such days are sacred time and space;  a doorway to the days ahead, holidays, family gatherings, memories; an occasion of making peace with those who have passed … and ourselves and the afterlife.  (There’s a how-to section on communicating with the spirits of our loved ones also. )
And the costumes and ghosts and masks and trick or treating?  All parts of what Halloween has come to mean to us…It’s a mix of traditions–social, spiritual, cultural.  We each pick and choose what feels right for us this year, today.
Happy Halloween everyone, in whatever ways you are called to honor this day.  Blessings, love, and light.  And be especially kind to all black cats you see or meet.   – Anne