One tradition we have created is based on the original meaning of Halloween. It is considered the day that marked the time of year when the seasons were changing from the golden fall to the winter season, a time when we have the opportunity to connect in a deeper way with ourselves. With this change of the seasons, the celtics felt the veil between our departed and our world is the thinnest. Rather than experience that as a scary time, it was celebrated as an opportunity to remember our ancestors and accord them respect.
draw the family tree as a visual
So with that theme, my daughter Faith and I go through our family three on my side and my husband’s side. I use that time to tell her stories about my grandparents and also my husband’s father who died much too early and she never got to meet him. We talk about what traits may have been passed down from them to her and we give thanks as each generation paves the way for the next generation.
set up the idea that they have ‘gifts’ from the family that they can build on
In the car yesterday, Faith out of the blue said, ‘Isn’t everything amazing – I mean we can drive in cars, how do they get that part on the end of matches that makes a fire?’ All of the ease we experience in life is invention after invention building upon each other. And each generation builds upon each other so Halloween is a time when we remember to honour and celebrate our departed loved ones.
