Wow. Suddenly this fall I am seeing skeletons everywhere. Skeleton lawn decorations are all the rage here in Wisconsin and the popular twelve-foot skeletons tower over many homes. I wonder if skeletons have taken over the whole country? The world?
In recent years I have noticed that a lot of people go all out decorating for Halloween, sometimes even more than they do for Christmas. There is something about the macabre that captures the human imagination and gives rise to all kinds of jokes and imaginary creations such as animated skeletons, vampires, and the walking dead.
Halloween originated with Samhain, a three-day ancient Celtic pagan festival that marked the end of summer with its bountiful harvest, and ushered in the long, cold winter. The Celts believed that during this period of time, halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds was at its thinnest. This belief was carried into Christian tradition with All Souls' Day honoring the faithful departed on November 2nd, and The Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday when families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives.
There are a variety of ways to celebrate Halloween, the season of fall, and the thinning of the veil. I prefer pumpkins and chrysanthemums to the fake graveyards and gory mannequins favored by many of my neighbors. I also like to think that the thinning of the veil between the third dimension and the higher dimensions creates opportunities for us to connect, not only with our departed loved ones, but with the angels, spiritual guides, and all the Company of Heaven.
I have a vision for future Octobers, when, instead of celebrating the physical aspects of death, people will celebrate and connect with worlds beyond the veil, where higher beings dwell in peace, love, and harmony. If this is the time when the veil between this world and the next is thinnest, it must be the best time for prayer, meditation, and invocations. It is the best time to pray: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." That prayer may mean different things to different people, but to me it means a permanent thinning of the veil, so that we on earth will live peacefully, according to God's will.
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