Happy Samhain

Happy Samhain,everyone.  Yes I know what you are thinking.  It's HALLOWEEN, but really Halloween is just a sanitized and commercialized version of a Pagan ( yes PAGAN) holiday, which honors the dead.  As I remember, this is the time of year when the veil between the dead and the living is at it's thinnest point and communication may pass between the two worlds.  Some say the door between the two worlds is opened and all manner of fairies and other "other-worldly" spirits may come into the land of the living.  Food was offered and people hid their true identities behind masks to avoid trouble. Parts of the holiday were assimilated into the Christian rituals that we associate with Halloween, when it became All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day.  I may be getting this wrong, but that's MY story and I'm sticking to it.

When the kids come to the door and yell "Trick or Treat!"  I smile and say "trick"   they don't get it.  The thing about the phrase is that the kids are mock threatening to play a trick on you if you don't give them a treat.  Kids theses days don't understand that.  They just think it means they get candy.  Sigh.  We used to carry soap slivers and put soap on the windows of homes that did not participate.  Don't tell anyone!  Do you suppose the statute of limitations has expired after more than 40 years?  I hope so!