Momentary Magic - A Hallowe'en Recollection

A Hallowe’en Recollection

As a kid, Hallowe'en was one of my all time favorite holidays. I loved every thing about it. The mystery, the dressing in costume, the being out of doors after dark, and yes -- the CANDY! Candy was SOOO much better when I was a kid, than it is now.
It was also a way to kick off what seemed to my young mind to be the "Holiday Season". The beginning of the much anticipated triumvirate…Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Somehow, I got out of the habit of observing Hallowe'en. It became a night where my husband Mike and I would watch an old classic monster movie and wait for trick or treaters who never came. And then a few years back I happened to be meditating by the fire on Hallowe'en.
       The sun had set, and though it was fairly early in the evening Mike was asleep in his armchair in the library. I had gone into the living room and was sitting by the fire, staring into the flames, allowing myself to soar over the countryside looking down on Hallowe'en celebrations across the land. It was a nice little flight of fancy. After a while, I got up and wandered toward the Kitchen to make dinner.
I felt someone rush up behind me, and I jumped out of the way thinking Mike was playing a joke, trying to scare me. But when I jumped aside, I felt the energy rush on past me. I looked around at a room void of any person but myself.
“Very funny,” I said to the room at large. But then just to make sure, I tiptoed down the hallway to the library to peek at my husband who was sound asleep, as I expected. He wouldn't have been able to get back into his chair so quickly and not without a tremendous amount of racket.
Was I a little spooked? Only a little because my thinking mind jumped in to analyze what had taken place, and declared "that was spooky".  But my initial FEELING was that the energy seemed mischievous, and more like a prank. There was a spirit of fun to it. Like someone rushing up and shouting "Boo!" --then running away and laughing. Only when I thought about being approached by something unknown that felt so tangible, did I experience a spooky feeling. But more in a fun way. You know?
It reminded me of what Hallowe'en was like for me when I was a kid. The thrill of mystery and the unknown. Being outside at night. Feeling a gust of wind and seeing the leaves blowing through the air and tumbling and skipping across the grass. Sometimes there would be a bright moon, sometimes not. And always the first light snow of the year.
The neighborhood looked so different by the light of street lamps which changed perception of color. The air was full of the scent of Autumn leaves and the freshness of night air. The sound of wind rustling through trees added to the mystery.
And the sidewalks were filled with kids scurrying up to houses, knocking on doors, with the harmonic sing song of "trick or treat" floating through the air from multiple sources.
There was a sense of freedom and a sense of adventure. A night given over to make believe and imagination. A night of heightened perception, and expectations.
Having been visited by a "playful spirit" on Hallowe'en night was a gift. It reminded me what is was that made that night special to me as a kid. A mysterious sense of spooky fun!



This essay originally appeared in my blog Tea With Whimsy on October 24, 2012. This current version was published in Hearth & Heart Vol 1 2015 Autumn Edition  Copyright Rita Tortorello  2015  I wanted to share it here in honor of Hallowe'en.

For more information on Hearth & Heart visit Pegana Press.