Good morning everyone. We celebrated All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, last night in fine fashion. We have never been big on the trick or treating thing but have for the last few years celebrated with our school community at an evening walk through the woods. Most of the students at school carve a jack o' lantern the day before and these are sprinkled through out the woods to light the walking path. Fairies, gnomes, elves, dragons, and all manner of wood folk are seen as passersby stroll the path under the tall pines.
So this is more of a pagan event than some may be used to but the kids love it and the lack of candy does not seem to dissuade them. Saywer, dressed as Robinhood, handed out glass beads (his idea) to his friends. Nadie, a water fairy, was content to run with her friends, drink cider and nibble pumpkin cookies. In the pagan world this holiday marks not only a thinning of the veil between worlds but also marks the end of summer and the beginning of winter. For the kids it is just fun and, yes, we did visit a few houses to trick or treat.
As I see it, the entire concept of marking the year with holidays based on our relationship with the seasons and each other makes a whole lot of sense. I am not a pagan nor do I spend much time in church. The whole world is church for me, every square inch of it. I feel just as many goose bumps sitting in the church on Isle Au Haut as I do sitting in the woods near our home or watching the moon rise over Cadillac Mt. from the deck of the schooner or singing with all of you in the main cabin. It is all good energy to me. And as I watch costumed children running with joy through the gardens and woods of our local Camden nature park I know I am witnessing a far greater power than myself. Now that is cool.
Have a great day. Be well. Do good.
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