Halloween - In Between Time

Some say that at Halloween the veil between the worlds becomes thinner for a time. Perhaps it is because Halloween is a liminal, or in between, sort of time.  Halloween was called Samhain by the Celts. In modern Gaelic, Samhain is the name for the month of November.  It’s also the traditional beginning of the winter season. Halloween is really Samhain Eve, or the night before the beginning of November and an entry into the time of winter and the darker time of the year. It’s a time when the light is fading and we are encouraged to go inside, literally and figuratively. It’s also a time when images of the supernatural are invoked, surrounding it with an otherworldly type of energy.

There is something mystical about the in between times. Samhain/Halloween is in between summer and winter. All places and times that are in between are magically potent. Because it is neither summer nor winter but something in between, it is symbolically connected to both. In magical thinking, that also connects it to both ordinary reality and spiritual reality.

Some other examples of in between times and places are: midnight, noon, dusk, dawn, thresholds, gates, Midsummer Night, Winter Solstice, and May Eve/Beltane (between winter and summer) and of course, the time of gestation when babies are living in both worlds – the spiritual and the physical, awaiting entry into this one.  Even at the time of death, there is a period where many have seen their loved ones “between the worlds” as they ready themselves for that transition. These in between times are also traditionally associated with mystical themes of angels, spirits, fairies, and magic. Think Shakespeare and his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

This week allow for an immersion into this deep space of liminal, numinous, in between energy, this time when the veil between the worlds is thin and we can feel both the invisible as well as the visible. Allow your sensitivity to increase. Feel the essence of this time of living in the in between. Relax and really listen to the stirrings of your own soul.

This week's Happy Healthy You! podcast with Aleya Dao will inspire you to find your own connection to spirit all year long.  Namaste and Happy Halloween!