Autumn is a time when the bounty of summer transitions into winter; things fall away- to be reborn again in the spring. October is a particularly special month, in that all that passed from this world during the year, moves into the next. The ancient ones named this Samhain. During this time, it is said that the fairy portal between worlds opens so that spirits can move from this plain to the underworld. It is during this time, however, that spirits are also free to roam the Earth, just for a short time and our loved ones who have passed are most capable of contacting us. Many rituals surrounding Halloween are taken from this pagan holiday.

On my way into work this morning, i noticed how the trees were orange and yellow and dotted the sky with splashes of color on either side of me. I happened to see a deer on the side of the road that must have been struck by a car last night. It’s back leg stood out from the metal barrier, as if it was trying to crawl away from the road, and died during that effort. My heart broke, as it always has, for suffering and death. This time, however, while I was pondering the poor demise of this beautiful animal, I was taken with the thought of death itself. Long have I been fearful of death; to the point that I researched serial killers, just to try to understand the fear of their victims and to try to ease the pain of those poor souls lost in such horrendous ways. And it was this fear of death the hit me so strongly today, as I looked at this once living animal, now dead. I find it fitting that on this Samhain, I am come to the realization that death- scary though it may be- has happened to me many times and will happen to me yet again during this incarnation. To fear the inevitable is to fear life itself; for without death what is life?

I honor my ancestors today, I honor my own life and existence, I honor the death that will find me eventually as I too, become a spirit transitioning perhaps on this very day, at another point in time.

I pray that we are all able to open our hearts to all sides of the spirit; to the light and the shadow, to the breathe and the lack of breathe, to the knowledge and the ignorance that comes with this beautiful existence.

Samhain blessings to you.