How the Holy Spirit Can Use the Season of Halloween

A Spiritual Version of "Trick or Treat" for Growing Adults

Is Halloween "pagan"?  Well more human than pagan, I think.

The origin of Halloween is "All Hallows Eve", the night before All Saints Day which celebrates the formal saints as well as the unrecognized but saintly departed souls.  It was believed that on the night before the holy day, the souls of the less-than-holy would walk the earth with a special viciousness, intimidating the good and faithful and seeking retribution on those with whom they still felt were their living enemies.  So people started leaving little offerings of tasty foods outside their homes in an attempt to "buy off" the malicious spirits of the deceased that they has somehow wronged in life.

Can this very human expressiion of "guilty conscience" EXPECTING retribution (a phenomenon that we are each so familiar with) be reconciled with what ACIM teaches?  Are there any lessons we can get from the annual tradition?

The Course tells us that the Holy Spirit can use the seasons to assist us in our awakening whenever we're willing.  So here's a little mind-experiment that you can take into meditation, if you're willing:

1.  Be as a little child -BUT NOT ALONE - holding tightly to the highest protective presence that you trust (the Holy Spirit, Jesus, any truly loving soul).

2.  Allow these questions to pass through your mind, KNOWING that you are not only completely safe but also doing a potentially tremendous healing and just LET the guests who come in response to appear (you can consciously see them as tiny beings - like the little kids that they really are :-):
     - What "ghosts" still haunt you?
     - What "monsters" still pursue your days?
     - What dark and forbidding "mists" of fear still block your path?

3.  Keep reassuring yourself that you are safe throughout the process understanding thst this is sacred "work" and so it will be supported by all the power and comfort of the universe.

4.  EXPECT A TREAT!  (No trick. ;-)

I love you.  (You're beautiful.)

Carmen