Halloween Ritual Celebrations

WRITTEN BY JESSICA CARTWRIGHT

I meet a lot of parents who want to celebrate special occasions with their kids, but don’t love or feel connected to the rituals they grew up with themselves. They’re curious about how to make holidays and traditions feel more authentic to who they are now, and how they are choosing to parent their kids.

I say: Do what works for you! The beauty of creating a family is getting to create your own fun, new traditions.

And in our family, we’re all about rituals. Rituals are intentional actions that really anchor us in our gratitude and in the connection to our ancestors. They’re sort of a pause in our never-ending dayto-day to do something special that we can look forward to.

Rituals use to be a big aspect of our lives as humans, and now we are sorely lacking in them. I find that they help ease my anxiety, depression and listlessness. They are a constant that gets me out of some of the more mundane daily tasks of life, and remind me to stop and celebrate. Stop and breathe. Stop and honor. Stop and reflect. Stop and let my nervous system unwind.

One of my favorite rituals of the year happens to be in October when we celebrate Halloween, Samhain (“sow-inn”), All Saint’s Day.

“It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain. Samhain marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year.”

This is the season when plants die and death is in the air. It’s also believed that the boundary between our world and the other world is most easily crossed, a liminal time. The tradition of dressing up is believed to “have been a way of imitating, and disguising oneself from the spirits who some believed could take you back with them to their world. If they saw you looking like a spirit or deceased being they would ignore you as a potential candidate for bringing back with them.” [Tai Chi Foundation]

Interesting, right?

If you’ve read my articles before, you probably know that my family and I base most of our holiday celebrations on pagan traditions. Pagan, to me, simply means earth-based celebrations; celebrating in connection with the rhythms, cycles and seasons of the earth.

And that feels like freedom to me. It means that just because I don’t subscribe to a certain religion, doesn’t mean I don’t get to partake in the rituals and ceremonies surrounding it (trees and Santa around the winter solstice, pumpkins in late October, bunnies and eggs at Spring Equinox).

So, I encourage you to do a little research into any of the holidays you celebrated when you were growing up or ones you’re curious about celebrating now. Most have fun backstories, and choosing the ones that feel right for your family make celebrating them a lot more meaningful.

Some October ritual ideas:

Make an altar with pictures of loved ones passed. Last year, for the first time, we put up an altar with pictures of our ancestors who have passed. It was really powerful. We told our daughter about the generations that brought her here. I also asked both of my parents to come over and share a memory about their parents, which led to a fun and important moment of reflection and connection. You can leave your loved ones’ favorite snacks and goodies on the altar to continue to celebrate them.

Carve or paint a pumpkin. This tradition also has a fun history and connects us to the end of harvest season (anything that connects us to earth’s seasons and rhythms nowadays feels especially important and nourishing to share with my daughter). You can go for a classic carving, but one of my favorite things for young kiddos is to buy some mini pumpkins and put them out with paints and paintbrushes and let them have at it. Easy and fun!

Visit a local farm. Rocky Creek Farm is always a superb option for getting a pumpkin and connecting to the land. You can also visit one of our local corn or hay mazes to celebrate fall, pick up your pumpkin and support our muchappreciated local farmers. (As with everything in Bozeman lately, these places can get pretty busy—so be prepared for that, be kind, drive slow and let it be part of the adventure. And maybe plan to enjoy a nice adult cider afterward while the kids are painting pumpkins).

Prepare a harvest feast. Think apples, pumpkins, squash, anything that feels like fall. Put some marigolds on the table, or even make marigold chains with a needle and thread. Let kids paint pumpkins, have a fire, drink warm cider. Invite your friends and celebrate all the bounty that fills our lives.

Jessica Cartwright helps women going through big life transitions - whether it’s a new baby or wanting to show up differently in our lives. She does this through oneon-one yoga, meditation, energy healing, connection and guided international retreats. Find her at www. jessicaenergy.com or on Instagram @jessica.energy.