Hallowed or Harrowing Halloween?

Does Halloween excite you or frighten you?

A Storm is Brewing

The history of Halloween is a harrowing tale filled with mystery, mayhem, martyrs, fright and delight.

And just like life, what we experience is largely up to us and our choices.  

your humble halloween host

The original celebrations are linked variously to Celtic, pagan and Roman traditions.  According to Wikipedia, Halloween got its moniker from All Hallows’ Eve; a Christian time for remembering the dead; including saints (hallows), martyrs and departed believers. More ancient times involved harvest celebrations, offerings of food and drink, sacrificial fires, and ceremonies to call out the spirits of the dead. Read the Wikipedia history for more harrowing Halloween stories.

These stories explain the fiendish mix of sacred, scary and silly that has become modern Halloween. The holiday keeps morphing as more recent religions and groups come to power. Such is the way of empire building, but we’ll save those philosophical ponderings for another post!

One might wonder whether to follow the light or worship the dark for Halloween. Personally, I’m taking a zen approach by embracing both as the eternal dance of polarity found within oneness!

So here’s my ode to Halloween, celebrating both the light and the dark.

Haunting Hallowed Halloween

Dark is the night

Full of Halloween fright

Goblins and witches

Dancing with switches

Zombies are dining

Werewolves are whining

Winds are blowing

Jack-o’-lanterns are glowing

~

Hush little child

Don’t fear the wild

For into this night comes a heavenly star

Filled with messages from afar

Once opened, a heart filled with light

Can surely dance with delight

Come my precious child

Pray for the reviled

Bless the poor

And worry no more!

Happy Halloween!