For Things That Go Bump in the Night

Winter approaches with its chill breath. The harvest has been gathered, granaries and hay barns are full, and farm animals have been tucked into their barns for the long winter. Days are becoming shorter, and nights seem to last forever.

Native Americans call this the time of the Long Nights. Daylight is paler and more slanted, but these last October days have a translucent beauty of their very own. Foliage has already turned color, and the brisk winds of autumn are scouring the hills and sweeping away the fallen leaves. Animals of field and forest are filling their pantries and preparing their burrows for winter.  The air is spicy and carries the promise of cold days to come.

Halloween or “Samhain”, as the ancient Celts called it, means simply “summer's end”. According to the old Celtic two-fold division of the year, summer was the interval from Beltane (May 1) to Samhain (October 31), and winter the interval between Samhain and Beltane. This is (along with Beltane of course), is one of the most important days on the Wheel of the Year. The old Celtic year ends today, and a new one begins as the sun is setting.

To the ancient Celts, time was cyclical and their cross quarter observances represented pivotal cosmic points beyond time, intervals when the natural universal order dissolved back into primordial chaos before regenerating itself. Thus, Samhain or Halloween night is a magical night beyond the confines of time, and one may, if she or he possesses such gifts, be able to view other points in time using tarot cards, runes or tea leaves.
 
Two themes are intertwined, divining the future and honoring the departed members of one's tribe or clan. It was once believed that the hallowed dead returned to the land of the living on October 31 to feast with their clans and family members. The great burial mounds of Ireland (sidh mounds) were opened up and lighted by torches so that the departed could find their way home again. Extra places were set at family tables and chairs placed near the hearth, food and drink put out for those who had passed beyond the fields we know. Old stories tell of Irish heroes making daring raids on the Underworld as the gates of Faery stood open on this night, but both the living and dead had to return to their appointed realms and stations by cock-crow or sunrise.

This is the most magical night in the whole turning year, one full of  jack-o-lanterns, costumes, scarecrows, trick or treating, goblins, ghost stories, divination and scrying.  Wise to remember though that this is also a night of great power and one when the veil which separates our world from the spirit world is gossamer thin. . . Strange creatures are abroad on this night, and uncanny events may befall us if we are not both prudent and cautious.

As I dole out candy to little goblins on my threshold this evening, I shall be reflecting on the past year and tucking it gently away. I shall be entertaining good thoughts about the future too, remembering that death is a natural part of earthly existence and not be feared - whether it be physical, the end of a trend or pattern, emotional closure, or merely the settling of issues which need to be laid to rest. Life is a continuous cycle of death and rebirth, and Halloween (or Samhain) accepts and celebrates this magnificent never-ending cosmic cycle.

Blessing to you and yours on this day. May your jack-o-lanterns glow brightly this evening, and may there be many small guests on your threshold.  May your home be a place of warmth and light, and your hearth be protected from things which go bump in the night.

Happy Samhain and Happy Halloween, and Happy New Year too!