Halloween Special

Autumn nights are drawing in and cooler breezes are lifting the leaves from their trees, scattering them like a crunchy carpet across the ground. A beautiful rainbow mix of browns, yellows, reds, purples. Pumpkins are fully grown and eagerly awaiting to be carved, the flesh creating tasty soups.

Most people in the west will be familiar with a particular date in October, the 31^st October, when the festival of Halloween arrives.

Before we go into what Halloween means to me, I would like to share a little background to the origins of Halloween.

The word Hallow comes from an old English word for Holy, and it can also mean Saint. In medieval times, Christian’s used to refer to the holiday as All Hallows’ Day, currently known as All Saints Day, a day to commemorate Christian saints. The day before was when an evening mass was held named All Hallows’ Eve, and this has overtime become known as Halloween. However, as with most known secular traditions there is strong overlap between other religious holidays and those of ancient and pagan traditions.

It can also be said that at this time we enter an energetic portal called Samhain. This is a widespread and ancient Celtic festival dating back over 2000 years. It is thought this is where the veil between the spiritual and physical world is particularly thin, allowing an opportunity to connect with our ancestral heritage. Community gatherings and ceremonies were (and are) widespread, celebrating harvests, honouring the turning of the seasons with bonfires symbolising lightness in the dark, dressing up and connecting to ancestors.

Overtime celebrating at this time of year has become more common and light-hearted, inviting opportunities to dress up as ghosts, witches and wizards and the like as well as taking part in activities such as bobbing apples, trick or treating, light festivals… to name a few, each with their own origin stories (perhaps a blog for next year!). There are also those that celebrate by offering that gentle nod to ancestors in ceremonies, celebrating the changing of the seasons, collecting and consuming autumnal foods and bringing light to the darker days. We tend to pick and mix to create our own traditions choosing what resonates.

So, for me, the 31^st of October is less about dressing up in scary outfits and tricking people for treats, and more about taking the time to spend time with family and connect with my ancestors. You are most likely to find me with my daughter – wand in hand adorning a white sparkly cape (made by Elodie and Arlo), dancing around the kitchen. Twinkly lights to embrace the light over dark, love over fear, and thanking our ancestors for all that has gone before and what is offered to us today. Oh, and I might also carve a pumpkin.

What are you planning to celebrate this Halloween?

Pic credit: Katie-azi Unsplash

Elodie and Arlo children’s clothing and gifts @elodie_and_arlo