The time around Halloween marks the midpoint between the autumn equinox and the midwinter solstice.
The celebration is a memory of a time when we were more connected to the earth’s cyclical movement around the sun.
We are surrounded by cycles. The moon cycles the earth. The planets chase the sun’s cycle around the galactic centre in spirals.
None of these movements are simple circles. There are in fact unfurling cyclical wave forms wherever we look, including the cycles of our own bodies, and recognising and marking these transitions is both natural and meaningful.
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At the time of Halloween, the Earth is at its furthest from the galactic centre, where a straight line can be drawn through the planet, the sun and the centre of galaxy.
This means that cosmic influences from further away are also at their most accessible to us.
In traditional cultures, this is often described as a time when the veil that separates us from the unseen world is at its thinnest.
At such a time, we might find it easier to get in touch with our intuitive wisdom, and to connect with those who are no longer embodied, as well as with our own shadow side.
In many pre-Christian traditions, such key points in the year were marked with bonfires.
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In England, the Church and the enlightenment teamed up to end such “pagan” practices, but never quite succeeded in eliminating them, and in the esoteric narrative Guy Fawkes is a sacrificial hero who ensured that the midpoint in the solar year wasn’t lost to contemporary culture.
Lanterns that were originally made from skulls were eventually replaced with carved beets or pumpkins. The making of effigies (and dressing up) continued, which has its roots in the practice of releasing undesirable qualities by burning a symbolic representation.
So on this day, I invite you to remember in you ceremonial marking of Halloween that:
Darkness preceded light
and she is Mother