Devon Hunter

In my belief system Samhain (known to most people as Halloween) is the last day of the year. It is the Day of the Dead; however, it isn’t a morbid holiday. It’s the time when you say goodbye to loved ones and pets, especially those who have transitioned to the next life in the last year; it’s the time to remember and be thankful for domesticated animals and harvested plants, because their deaths give the living sustenance; and it is a time for closure, reflection, and release, especially of the worries of the last year.

In the old days Samhain was a festival that took place over the course of three nights, but now it is focused down into one. In those times it was not only a time of emotional closure and thanksgiving, it was also a time of forgiving debts. If someone were destitute and could not pay back a debt, it was forgiven, so that the invididual could have a better chance of a fresh start (and thus resume being a productive member of society). Samhain is the night when the veil between this world and the next is the thinnest, so it was also a time to commune with spirits.

But Samhain was yesterday. Today is literally a new day. It’s funny, but I left my last boyfriend in October of 2006, so everything in my life revolves around November. My checklist for paying bills begins with November, my leases always expire in October (so my moves always happen around this time of year when I need/want to relocate), and my other personal cycles have thus aligned to this time of year. It’s an interesting coincidence (if coincidences exist) that I am aligned to the new year this way.

I feel refreshed, and I look forward to what is coming in the next cycle. I know most of you think of the year as having 8 more weeks, but when you finally catch up to me, I hope you are in as great a state of optimism as I am. I wish you happiness, plenty, prosperity, and fulfillment NOW, whether you’ll accept it in November or not.