All Soul's Night & Day of the Dead

I still vividly remember seeing a cemetery in Germany lit up with candles on the night of November 1st. It's Allerheiligen (All Saints) and Allerseelen (All Souls) there and in many traditions, to honor the beloved dead, and for Catholics, the martyrs of the faith.

It comes at the solar descent (diminishing) that lasts in the Northern Hemisphere until Winter Solstice (Dec 22nd). There's a natural melancholy to Fall/Autumn, with the warm palette of the dying leaves, before they gather in piles and begin to decay. The colors are orange, for harvest and black, for the dying time. There's some sadness with the loss, but also a celebration of what stays with us, as gifts from these ancestors.

Starhawk writes in her latest Washington Post column, Halloween's Deeper Promise,, "In Mexico and Latin America, Halloween converged with indigenous traditions to give us Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Families visit the graves of their loved ones to clean them, offer marigolds and libations, and picnic."

This is my favorite time of year, when I feel the solar descent vitalizes my introspective nature. Candles make it magical, and as planets go into the fire sign Sagittarius, the inner fire is lit. Tomorrow (November 2nd), Venus and Mercury ingress into the swift sign of questing, instinctive knowing and visionary ideas for the future. I love this from Starhawk on this time, "Form your own vision of the world you want to bring to birth, and let it gestate in the dark. Then labor to bring it into being. The ancestors will aid you: the generations to come will bless you."

I'll be thinking of my Dad, my husband's parents and other relations, including an orange kitty called Tommy that was my companion for ten years -- and celebrating their spirits with candles and flowers. Will you be marking the occasion?