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We humans have a deep, innate fear of the dark. We tend to feel more comfortable in the bright light of day that transparently reveals that which is around us, allowing us to assess and respond to people, situations, and things. There is something about the dark which adds the element of the ominous or disturbing. A screen door banging open repeatedly in daylight is a bother, needing to be closed tight lest the bugs get into the house. A screen door banging open repeatedly in the dead of night can leave us with our hearts banging out the same rhythm in our throats, tentatively tiptoeing towards it and taking deep, relieved breaths once it is safely closed and locked.

Blót-monað, the ancestors called it: Sacrifice-Month.* Or one could say (as the ancestors did, in their pragmatic way) Blood-month. It still goes on.

Deer-hunting begins this weekend here in Minnesota. Hunting opener is generally the first full weekend of November. (Just coincidence, I'm sure. Yeah, right.) Blood on the leaves.

It's the season of the Dead, yes, but let us not forget what the witches in their wisdom have always remembered: it's also the time of the Rut.** The fawns that Old Green Eyes sires right now will be born about Bealtaine, sure. Blood and spooge: Old Craft in the nutshell.

Before I sat down to write this, I had to wash the blood off my hands.

Seriously. I did.

Halloween is over and gone. The last of the soul candles have burnt out; the candy (thank Goddess) is all handed out; the squirrels have reduced the jack o' lanterns on the doorstep to piles of orange shreds. (“May squirrels eat his/her face” is one of my favorite curses, but obviously nothing to toss around lightly. Shudder.) But this, after all, is Paganistan. Don't go putting up those Yule lights quite yet. Around here, Samhain is just beginning.

Americans tend to do their celebrating in advance (Christmas begins the day after Thanksgiving and ends December 24th), but that's not the witch's way. Tony Kelly of the Pagan Movement in Britain and Ireland always used to say that the firedays aren't neat, tidy little dates on a calendar; they're extended tides of intensive change during the year. Like Yule, they all have their thirtnights, their witch's dozen of days.

Today's the Fifth of November. (“Remember, remember the Fifth of November: gunpowder, treason, and...what? There must be some reason to remember the season, but whatever it is, I forgot,” says the Kipper family.) Guy Fawkes' Day fell out of favor in America back around the Revolution, but did you ever wonder why Election Day is the first Tuesday in November? Back in the day, Election Day was a bonfire holiday. The harvest is in, but the winter weather hasn't closed in yet, so the tribe gets together to do its necessary politicking. The more things change....

All Hallows Eve falls on the 31^st of October – the night before All Hallows Day, also known as All Saints Day. It’s part of the Catholic calendar. All Hallows Eve is also, in this tradition, known as All Souls Night – a time for remembering the less saintly-dead. It’s this tradition that Mexican day of the dead festivities, and pumpkin lanterns would seem to belong to.

We know that Samhain was the end of the Celtic summer. However, as with all ancient festivals, the issue of dates is a tad compromised by the problems of calendars. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar came in, adjusting the previous Julian calendar and fine tuning when leap years happen. The reason for this is that the date of Easter is calculated (because the only reference to it is the Jewish lunar calendar) in relation to the spring equinox, so calendar drift was causing the Church some headaches.

Samhain is sometimes called the Witches New Year, as it's considered the beginning of the dark half of the year. Back in the day, it was a time for the final harvest (animals) and bracing for the cold months ahead. I'm a city girl, so many of the ancient traditions just don't work with me. Bonfire? Not without driving out to the sticks and either renting a cabin or freezing to death in a tent. Slaughtering animals? Yeahhh... no. Jewel does a pretty good job of that, but we do thank the animals when we eat. Battoning down the hatches? Oh, do you mean like when the landlord sent guys over to replace our windows a couple of weeks ago? Does that count? Storing up food? I've got coupons and pantry for that! And yes, there's a first aid kit and a blanket in the trunk with at least a half tank of gas at all times, plus I have my AAA card, credit cards and some cash in my wallet. That's how I prepare for winter!

On the secular calendar, it's tradition for many people to make a New Year's resolution, which oftentimes fail miserably. Besides the fact many of the resolutions are impossibly vague in the sense the issue to resolve has no specifics in attaining them (e.g., "I'm going to lose weight!", "I'm going to quit smoking!" or even "I'm going to restart my life!"), many resolutions are made while tipsy and/or because it's the popular thing to do. Therefore, I believe a resolution made on a religious holiday holds more weight, simply because you're not just telling yourself and your friends what you're doing, you're making a promise to deities - you are oath-bound!