Crow’s Feet Prompt #69 - Halloween
Samhain
All Hallows’ Eve
Some time ago, I turned away from my traditional Catholic upbringing and embraced a personal spirituality. I’ve joked that I identify as a Buddhist Witch — but truly that is as close to a description of my spiritual journey as I can come up with.
But even though I left The Church, some things remain from that era of my life. For instance, All Saints’ Day — a day of holy obligation on November 1. It is just one of the ways the early Church blended traditional pagan holidays into its calendar to entice the masses to join up. Because October 31 — All Hallows’ Eve — The Witch’s New Year — the day the veil between the worlds thins — has always been a very sacred celebration.
And Christians turned that sacred celebration into a children’s festival with a nod to All. The. Saints. on the day after. Just in case the pagans had it right and the dead came to call, The Church covered all the bases.
I never had much of a sweet tooth. When I was a kid, Halloween was about more than just conning my neighbors out of candy. I loved the idea that for one night every year, I could be anyone, anything I wanted to be. As I was born in 1959 — options like that for girls were few and far between. We couldn’t even wear pants to school until I was in 6th grade. So…
