Halloween!

I love Halloween. For many people it seems to be about death, dying or the dead but to me it's about life. Yes I remember those who have passed over but I also remember that I am still here, I am alive and that is my celebration.

Over the weekend, we threw a children's party - mixing traditional games with a few news ones, and modifying some old birthday favourites (Pass the Parcel - Trick or Treat style), we dressed up, decked the halls and made Pumpkin Lanterns to boot. The kids had a ball but the adults seemed vaguely mystified - two guests brought birthday presents...

"what so you're just randomly having a party?" we were asked

...hang on..."it's HALLOWEEN!"

There still seems to be a lot of bad feeling and confusion; it's over commercialised, Americanised, it has roots in Paganism and should therefore be feared...be afraid...be very afraid, tee he he. People don't seem to know whether to celebrate or not but all are compelled to prepared for those that do, inevitably spending a fortune on sweets which will last them for months.

For the Celts it was the last day of the year or New years Eve. Okay our calenders and beliefs may have changed or adapted since then but everyone recognises the onset of Winter - feels that little bit more lethargic, reaches for an extra layer of clothing or helping of pudding... The Summers warmth has come to an end and at some level we all feel and experience that.

I say we celebrate...

...the end of one cycle and the beginning of another...


Happy Halloween!!!

Fantastic Mr Fox

Last night while out visiting some friends and family, a Fox crossed my path. It's was a youngster, not yet having reached full size but sinewy and athletic looking, graceful and agile. He emerged from the shadows in the East, loped across the road, disappearing into the undergrowth to the West.

The Fox is a keeper of magic, healing, shapeshifting and invisibility, a keeper of the between times and the sacred energy they hold. The Fox can act as a guide in these realms, teaching us the art of camouflage, that we may see or here things otherwise missed. It suggests that knowledge is power and that I should be wary with whom I share it. This will prevent the unnecessary obstacles created by others and allow me to accomplish tasks more quickly. It is a time of undercurrents that I now enter, the Fox is here to see me through unscathed.

Anna and the Bear

It was the strangest dream...

I was living in a raised cabin in the forest, it was sparse but homely surrounded by trees. There were houses on the horizon but I was immersed in my beloved woods. My cousin had joined me overnight and when I awoke in the morning, she was still sleeping. There was something I needed to find, I knew it was important and leaving her to rest, I left to begin my search.

On leaving the cabin I noticed a Bear below me and decided to go a different way. I traipsed across the footbridge, some four foot off the ground, and the Bear ambled along below me. She wasn't threatening in any way and I knew she could reach me if she chose to. I entered one of the houses above and watched through the glass of the patio doors, as the Bear settled herself on the deck to wait.
I was looking through records, files and folders, searching for something that was mine. Something that had been hidden from me. I decided to return to the cabin, thinking maybe what I sought was within.

Anna had been smoking and the straw mattress was ablaze...I looked for an extinguisher in vain, knowing that I could lose everything. Bear tried to smother out the flames with her vast mass to no avail...the cabin was lost. I was offered a suit of rooms in which to stay, while my cabin was rebuilt...

"I don't want this," I shouted, "I just want what's mine!"

She entered as they all do... seeking sanctuary...
A little peace was all she asked for...
A little peace...
So that is what I gave her...
A little peace...
And when she leaves that's what she'll take with her...
A little peace...

A little piece of me.