Happy Samhain (say sow-wain)

It's the oldest holiday that I can relate to...much more than Christmas.  The roots seem closer to what it's meaning is...the celebration of/the learning about and accepting death.

I don't know who painted this, but I love it!

So kids get to be scarey, and scared.  So pranks have become very popular.  Entertainment is a laugh...because Charley Brown and the Great Pumpkin was never really believable, as Santa come to a nature theme.  Really now.  Nature started the whole theme. 

This is getting outside and running through your own neighborhood door to door, seeing what kinds of goodies your neighbors can dole out to the kids.  Seeing the loveable attempts at scareyness by the older ones, or the tougherr ones.  And the darlings who only want to be cute are so adorable.

OK, I do remember more my children's trick or treating than my own.  I don't remember ever going door to door myself, maybe because we didn't live in sububurbia until I was a teen, and much too old to do this childish thing.  I think my kids enjoyed making their own costumes, but we sure did purchase a few also.  Parties were so much fun, and there were great scarey ideas to help everyone have a chance to scream...how many activities promoted screaming your head off!  Not to mention the treats!  They often lasted till Christmas, well Thanksgiving anyway!

Back to Samhain's meanings.  The "dead" are closer to us "living" at this time, cause the saying is "the veil between the worlds is thinner."  Why would people through centuries want to have that connection to those who have "gone before" or "passed over" or "entered the other country"?  Well, honoring their lives makes sense...to think in our busy-ness about another person who is no longer busily going about life...to ponder their passions that led to our own existence, to forgive their mistakes that bent and changed their own lives.  To consider our own mortality.

So I hope you have a Happy Samhain today!  Boo!