Boo!

What will you be doing on October 31 --  Dressing up for trick-or-treating?  Bobbing for apples or drinking smoky punch from a cauldron?  If you want to be truly traditional, make sure there is a bonfire around; but please, keep the authenticity in check and don’t sacrifice any animals.  That’s what the Druids would do 2000 years ago as they celebrated their New Year’s Eve with sacred bonfires.  They also believed that the veil between heaven and earth, between the living and the dead, was at its thinnest on this night - thus all the ghosts ringing your doorbell.

We start spending more time in the dark now, and a bonfire would be welcome.  Christmas lights will soon follow the jack o’lantern candles, bringing comfort and a feeling of wellbeing to the peak of this dark period.  And of course, between times we will celebrate our good harvest with some turkey and turnips.  

I think someone knew what he was doing as the holidays of feasting and light were being scheduled. It’s no fun being stuck in the house in the dark, especially with the cost of lamp oil these days! 

So ignite the fire and bake a pumpkin pie and start untangling the strands of Christmas lights.  Keep the darkness at bay for as long as possible.  Soon enough the world will turn and the sun will increase its time with us.  And get your hands out of the Halloween candy.  That’s for the ghosts!