posted October 27, 2005 07:13 PM         

although he'll get to dress
up just like the other kids,
he's gonna be dragon.
i'd like to approach it as
an opportunity to introduce
the spiritual into his life....

do any knowflakes have any ideas,
or practices on how to do this?

what can i do to show my son
that there is something holy
and spiritual about this day
of spiritual power?

thanks!

posted October 27, 2005 08:20 PM         

wow! great idea, we need some idea's

there's a cute history written up about Hallow's Eve and All Saints Day here http://www.ghostvillage.com/legends/2002/legends4_10192002.shtml

I will have to give this some thought

posted October 27, 2005 09:18 PM         

the night sky
Mars will be at its closest to Earth, before it's opposition on 11-7
also the Pleiades star cluster
the 7 soul sisters
the center of our Universe
the Fixed Stars
an hour after sunset 11-1
in the east, northest sky
the tiny constellation Aries
and maybe you can spot it in relation to the
the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia the Queen, and the planet Mars, and the tiny misty dipper shaped Pleiades

I don't know, I love to look at the sky
I hope it is a warm night
Let's image that
hehe

anybody got any idea's?

posted October 27, 2005 10:29 PM         

Here goes:

quote:

---

Jack, the Irish say, grew up in a simple village where he earned a reputation for cleverness as well as laziness. He applied his fine intelligence to wiggling out of any work that was asked of him, preferring to lie under a solitary oak endlessly whittling. In order to earn money to spend at the local pub, he looked for an "easy shilling" from gambling, a pastime at which he excelled. In his whole life he never made a single enemy, never made a single friend and never performed a selfless act for anyone.

One Halloween, as it happened, the time came for him to die. When the devil arrived to take his soul, Jack was lazily drinking at the pub and asked permission to finish his ale. The devil agreed, and Jack thought fast. "If you really have any power," he said slyly, "you could transform yourself into a shilling."

The devil snorted at such child’s play and instantly changed himself into a shilling. Jack grabbed the coin. He held it tight in his hand, which bore a cross-shaped scar. The power of the cross kept the devil imprisoned there, for everyone knows the devil is powerless when faced with the cross. Jack would not let the devil free until he granted him another year of life. Jack figured that would be plenty of time to repent. The devil left Jack at the pub.

The year rolled around to the next Halloween, but Jack never got around to repenting. Again the devil appeared to claim his soul, and again Jack bargained, this time challenging him to a game of dice, an offer Satan could never resist, but a game that Jack excelled at. The devil threw snake eyes—two ones—and was about to haul him off, but Jack used a pair of dice he himself had whittled. When they landed as two threes, forming the T-shape of a cross, once again the devil was powerless. Jack bargained for more time to repent.

He kept thinking he’d get around to repentance later, at the last possible minute. But the agreed-upon day arrived and death took him by surprise. The devil hadn’t showed up and Jack soon found out why not. Before he knew it Jack was in front of the pearly gates. St. Peter shook his head sadly and could not admit him, because in his whole life Jack had never performed a single selfless act. Then Jack presented himself before the gates of hell, but the devil was still seething. Satan refused to have anything to do with him.

"Where can I go?" cried Jack. "How can I see in the darkness?"

The devil tossed a burning coal into a hollow pumpkin and ordered him to wander forever with only the pumpkin to light his path. From that day to this he has been called "Jack o’ the Lantern." Sometimes he appears on Halloween!

---

And heres an article I believe for the Catholics on how to redeem haloween.

posted October 28, 2005 11:18 AM         

and i have done, but haven't found much....

where i live, people've always spelled
it halloween.

it's a holy night before a christian holiday.
it's also called samhain for earth religions.

i'd like to introduce it as an event for
being more in contact with sacredness
of the earth, with the propinquity of
the other world, to my babe.

Lotus had a nice idea for connecting
it with the night sky....that's
a good thought.

posted October 28, 2005 12:27 PM         

thanks very much for that article.

it does emphasize the holy nature
of halloween, and forgiveness
and honoring our ancestors.

i liked how it related halloween
to the jewish belief in resurrection
of the dead.

the article provided some very good
connections for me...
such as the notion of JC's having
overcome evil....

which can be applied to the violence
of some halloween traditions, such
as horror films and grisly settings,
emphasizing death and violence.

thank you for presenting that here...

it helps me see the spiritual in the
holy day, and formulate an appropriate
approach for my kiddo.

posted October 28, 2005 07:36 PM         

we are going to gather some stones, one to make our own teeny-tiny Stonehenge creation
and others stones
to build a cirlce, to burn things gathered from Mother Earth, such as pinecones, branches, bird feathers, whatever you wish, not too much,
just a simple burnt offering, and a few words said, to appreciate this beautiful planet, that we must not take for granted.

I thought it would be fun to see, what kind of stone monument the children might build.

Love and Light to ALL

posted October 29, 2005 12:45 AM         

Philbird, a dead bum, or just a smelly one (no pun intended)?

posted October 29, 2005 10:23 AM         

Philbird, very nice birdies, lol.

thanks Dean

Hedgewitch, lovely soul, how are you?

posted October 29, 2005 09:36 PM         

that is an awesome site, thanks