Blessed Samhain

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." --Shakespeare, "Hamlet," Act 1, Sc. 5

Fig. 1 Something Willy this way comes

First order of business: Blessed Samhain to all, and I bestow wishes for a truly Happy Halloween free of too many tricks (I know we all enjoy a few here and there) and tooth decay. Be careful around midnight, for the veil between this world and the next is thin and ethereal, and there are many spirits roaming about who may be looking for you (or looking out for you; they're not all bad) and will surely find you if you are not properly dressed up. Unless of course, you miss dear old grandma or deceased pet parrot and want them to visit with you for a little while.

That's exactly what I did last year, in fact. I stayed up late into the silent night and set up a basic circle, lit some candles, grounded myself, cast a protection spell, invoked the cardinal directions, and meditated for a bit. It was just like my normal everyday Buddhist meditations except with really cool accessories. It got me in the spirit, anyhow. Plus, I dedicated some heart time toward all those importnant soulds in my life who have left this earthly sphere of existence. Nothing dramatic, no pointy hats or boiling, toiling cauldrons. Just me and the veil, and nothing in between. I felt connected to my family, my ancestors, and yes, my beloved pet parrot, Birdo.

This year, I woke up at 5:45 in the morning, very much by chance, and was elated to see that the sky had cleared up for the first time in days. I hauled my new telescope (dubbed Nye-Tyson of course) outside into the 80-degree humidity of this terrifically hot Floridian October. For an hour and a half before dawn, I scanned the bright stars of Orion, Canis Major, Taurus, and Perseus, finding star clusters, nebulae, and planets not found at 10:00 at night this time of year. I sipped my tea and found the Orion Nebula with my new higher magnification eyepiece (nerdgasm!) and stood in absolute awe at the wispy, ghost-like clouds of gaseous dust wrapped around the Trapezium set of stars within it. At that moment, the view presented an image very similar to the one I have in my mind of souls crossing that ethereal veil of Samhain night.

Fig. 2 Communion

What better sight to find on the morning of Halloween than the constellation costumes of the stars dressed up as dogs and fish and scorpions and swans? What better way to commune with the inner pagan--one who respects and wonders in the natural cycles and celestial shows of the cosmos?

As has happened on almost every occasion of stargazing, I spotted several meteors streaking across the dark colbalt of the sky, like diamonds cutting into glass. The more time you spend outdoors on clear nights, the more you appreciate how common a phonemonon meteors are, and the more you thank the Universe for an atmosphere that burns them up before they cause cataclysm on the Earth's surface. As a result, meteor sightings never lose their cosmic allure... even if the metallic rocks themselves most definitely do since they disintegrate entirely in half a second.

Tonight, I will be watching a Bollywood movie about a boy who befriends a ghost--a ghost who just happens to be Amitabh Bachchan!--and frequently pausing it to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Hindi-speaking spirits and little kids dressed like Hannah Montana: one is definitely more scary than the other. As soon as that's over, I think I'll pause before bedtime and perform that little ritual again. This time, out under the stars.

Fig. 3 Celestial trick-or-treaters