We’ve arrived at that point on the Holy Wheel of the Year where the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. It’s time for Samhain, Halloween and All Saints Day. Time to party with the dead.

Our Ancestors knew this to be the time of blurring earthy boundaries. We can commune with the other realms – move between the worlds – during this liminal season if we pay attention to non-rational phenomena occurring in our environment while keeping a joyful and reverent attitude.

The Beloved Dead talk. We hear them whisper in a breeze or appearing in a dream. The Ancestors walk. We can see them as shadows or specters just at our peripheral vision or flickering in a play of light. This is the time to remember there is more to this world than what is seen.

Navigating liminal spaces and connecting with the dead and the ancestors requires a reverent spirit of joyful gratitude toward those who came before and irreverence for those current constructs that keep us tied to the mortal world.

Moving between the worlds is possible if we are open to new expressions of ourselves – play tricks on our egos, dress up as our alter-egos, do outrageous pranks that bring laughter and good spirits to the community. Trick and treat.

Fully live a while you are alive because death is inevitable – a dark, liberating truth. But this is the spirit of the season even as you live through and with your ancestors. So acknowledge and celebrate the ancestral contributions to your own life, make peace with your dead and honor and remake family the traditions in your own ways.

Gratitude to all beloved dead, ancestors and relations at this time of darkness and transformation. May we all find reverent joy and irreverent expressions of celebratory community during this sacred season. Blessings from the Blue Dog Temple. Namaste!!