This is timely for our family as we will be setting up our Beloved Dead Altar this week. Taking time to remember those who came before us is helpful with mourning, ancestral healing, and inspiring us to be the kind of ancestor people will want to remember and honor.
THE LAMP – Remembrance
I light a single candle
Within a lamp for you
A single flame in the darkness
That reflects my heart so true.
While it is a tradition to carve a jack-o-lantern to scare away the spirits, it was an older tradition still to light a candle or a lamp on Halloween night and leave it at the window as a loving guide for those who have passed.
Both as a symbol of remembrance and also as a kind of “leaving the lights on” for those who may wish to come home, the lamp was left on to illuminate the night and perhaps even the sadness that was felt because of the passing.
This card reminds us that it is a positive thing to remember those who have passed by celebrating their life rather than mourning their death. For those with whom we did not have an easy relationship or even those we did not like, leave us with valuable lessons. Sometimes, we learn more from our nemesis than we do from our friends and so the darkness can illuminate our strengths and our true values so that we can live them ore clearly and fully.
The Halloween Oracle by author Stacey Demarco and artist Jimmy Manton
Parting the Mists 
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