Parting the Mists

While there will be many festivities today in honor of Halloween, let us also remember that it is the Eve of Samhain and just a couple days away from All Souls Day. It is fine to dress up and have some fun today, but it’s also appropriate to honor the dead and light a candle in their honor.

Every year, we set up a Beloved Dead altar in honor of loved ones who have passed. I find it a beautiful and comforting tradition. And no, if an ancestor-type altar is of interest to you, you do not have to include those who have brought you pain and trauma. Focus on those who were kind or taught you valuable lessons (without also inflicting trauma).

Blessings,

Thistle

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