Happy Day of the Dead tomorrow, it is Halloween, the time when the veil between those living and those departed souls is the thinnest, so communication can be made with loved ones, or as the movies tell it, with those in the past who have a grudge against you.

It is a time where you are able to seek guidance and solace from a family member spouse or child, or a time where those whom you wish ill will towards through neglect carelessness or malice, come to visit and haunt.

Either way they come to say that you are not alone.  Should we be scared? Should we celebrate Halloween? Or should we shut it away as some nonsensical over-commercialised anti-Christian fad?

Halloween is short for All Hallows Eve, a celebration that marks the day before the western Christian feast of All Saints – or All Hallows Day and initiates the season of Allhallowtide which lasts three days, concluding with All Souls Day. The church traditionally would hold a vigil on All Hallows Eve when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself. It does hold strong Catholic roots when they remember those who have gone before us to enter our heavenly home.

All Saints Day is on November first where Catholics celebrate the triumph of the church in Heaven and the lives of the saints on earth. 

The very next day November second is All Souls Day where the church commemorates all the souls of deceased family members, the ordinary men and women who had lived good lives and were waiting in purgatory until they were worthy to enter heaven like the Saints.

When we think of the memory of those gone before us, it naturally leads to thoughts of our own mortality and the focus on the end times death, judgment, heaven and hell so it can naturally add to the atmosphere of gloom.

But really our focus should be since we must all die at some point and according to the church are destined to judgment – how do we choose to live?

The tradition of visiting grave sites of loved ones to clean and bestow the area with flowers is common in other cultures. 

Whilst cleaning, prayers of intercession can be offered to clean the souls of loved ones and enable their passage from purgatory into heaven.

After someone dies it is normal to see or hear them. 

Some people also report sensing their smell or warmth of someone close to them, or feel a strong sense of their presence.  Sometimes these feelings can be very powerful and be comforting sometimes they feel disturbing. It is not wrong to acknowledge and feel the presence of a loved one especially in the early days or weeks that follow.  It can be said that some souls find themselves a little lost, especially if their death has come unexpectedly. 

If it was sudden to all still living, then it is probably equally as sudden for the soul who has passed and it may take some time for them to get themselves to a point of acceptance and acknowledging when to move on.

All hallows eve can be a comforting time to say all the things that weren’t said before they passed.  It can be a time to clear the air to share ones love not admitted to or gratitude not expressed.

The modern day Halloween celebration came from the early traditions of America where the holiday was more about community and neighbourly get togethers than about ghosts pranks and witchcraft. 

Halloween parties focused on games and foods of the season – autumn in America, hence pumpkins and festive costumes.  Communities were encouraged to take anything frightening or grotesque out of the celebrations, so by the 1920 to 1930s, Halloween was a community parade and held in civic centres, then moved to the classroom or homes by the 1950s.

The practice of trick or treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the celebration in theory families could prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighbourhood children with small treats.

Since then it has continued to grow and now Americans are estimated to spend $6 billion dollars on Halloween every year making it the country’s largest commercial holiday after Christmas.

Here in Rarotonga we as a community don’t generally celebrate the commercial side of All Hallows Eve although there is a lot of commercial spending on artificial flowers to adorn our loved ones graves on All Saints Day annually and the flowers get larger and more stunning every year.

Hallows Eve like Christmas has suffered large commercialisation over the years, but for each, it is the coming together of family and friends of community and sharing is what we should remember.