This last week in October 2025, brings Halloween festivities. It is an ancient celebration, usually attributed to Celtic traditions and the end of Harvest Season, as the harsher elements of winter draw near. Over time, Halloween became a companion holiday to the Christian All Saints Day, set as November 1 in the 8th century, with Halloween, known as All Hallows Eve, on October 31. All Saints Day celebrates the lives of the Saints, with variations of meaning in different denominations and countries. These ancient celebrations coincide with Dia de los Muertos in Latin-America, as well as Spain, a tradition which celebrates life, honors the dead, and sustains their connection across time and space. Each of these holidays lend themselves to varying beliefs and possibilities of commingling and communication between the living and the dead. As October ends, Halloween ushers in these ancient rituals. Then we collectively enter November. and we have the first hints of the old year finishing up, and the faint feel of a new year on the way. Yet, Halloween, All Saints Day, and Dia de los Muertos, point to the ambiguity of endings. Every year, I see Halloween a bit differently, and this year it speaks of mystic connection and an exchange of blessings.
But what of all the "Evil" in the world? Certainly there is suffering. Wouldn't it be easy to just blame human suffering on an ultimate evil mastermind, who is bent on de-throning God. I remember a time years ago, when Larry Morris and I taught meditation classes, long before scientific research legitimized meditation and its verified benefits. Research ushered in the cultural acceptance of secular, or "medical" meditation. The spiritual benefits (which include the health benefits) have been recognized and practiced for centuries, but when we promoted meditation in the community, we were met with controversy. Within certain religious frames, there was a real block; their fear demonized meditation. We taught meditation classes that often included people whose families were convinced that a "silent mind" was dangerous. They asserted the mind should stay busy, because Satan would slip into the space of quiet and cause evil thoughts and desires! Twenty years later, we would joke that there were meditation centers on every street corner, and by then, many church denominations offered such classes. Now, here in California, meditation is introduced in preschool, along with various other calming strategies. My point is that modern life brings complexity, including complex knowledge, that can carry us beyond superstition and simplistic answers in our quest to live better lives, and our quest to end pain and misery.
Our collective interpretation of the workings of Life, shifts the frameworks of human understanding of whatever times we live in. The way we understand life now, and the way we view our collective past, is an ongoing--and quite possibly infinite--process. Yet, there is universal appeal in the I Ching quote: "The best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good." This week, consider your intuitive awareness of the comings and goings of Life and heart connections, beyond fear, threat, and changes of form. Halloween is a great time for a mystic encounter. (Susan Nettleton)
for poetry: https://poets.org/poem/haunted-houses
https://poets.org/poem/theme-yellow
https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/
https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/L/LevertovDeni/OfBeing/index.html
