Samhain

So the festival of Samhain approaches and the shops are full of Hallowe’en masks, ghoulish get-up and all the accessories for kids to go around doing ‘trick or treat’ calls. I must admit I have mixed feelings about it all. Of course it’s good that this festival is celebrated. I live in a cottage down a dark lane where kids are unlikely to come calling. But if they did I would be pleased to see them. But I can’t help thinking that the whole occasion has become trivialized and that by going along with it we are in danger of missing the point.

It is the coming of winter, a dark time. Trees are losing their leaves and the spirits of the living world seem to become thinner and closer to the spirits of the dead.

So I don’t see it as a time for fun and games. My own marking of the festival will be more serious and solemn and will take place at midnight to acknowledge the coming darkness. But earlier in the evening I will have some pumpkin soup and put a candle in the window to mark the season and show any passing children, ghouls or other spirits of the night that they are in my thoughts.