Deep in Hallows

We’re deep in the season of Hallows now.

Halloween is a memory; the true midpoint between the equinox and solstice still some days ahead, on the 7th. By then, the clocks will have turned back, and darkness will descend quite suddenly on the evenings.

This week always feels liminal to me, a between-time very like the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day: the world holds its breath, and everything is laden with meaning.

I’ve been doing my rituals. Took my annual walk in the cemetery on Halloween; gathered a spring of yew that will dry on my Underworld Focus for the next year and then be used to light the Hallows ritual fire for my circle, Dark Sun, just as last year’s will be used this Saturday when we convene for the 32nd consecutive year.

The middle days of this week of Hallowstide have brought gifts: a real rain storm November 1, and the sounds and scents that came with it. A rousing game of Dungeons and Dragons. Seasonal movies like The Halloween Tree and Practical Magic. Bright Jupiter and a waxing crescent Moon. Lovely Zoom rituals with the Saturday Morning Atheopagan Zoom Mixer crowd, and my local CUUPs group.

The Sun is low now, and the leaves are even more golden than the season has painted them. It will be gone by 6:00 and a sharp crispness will fill the air, with a hint of wood smoke as local fireplaces get going. Clawed trees against the last bloody smear of orange on the horizon.

It’s a bit eerie, a little timeless. Enough to pull your collar more tightly about your neck, lest shivers run the length of your spine.

A joyous and meaningful Hallows to you all.