Halloween: pumpkins and candles, spooks and spirits, tricks and treats. Parties and revelry.
But buried under the rituals of candy and costumes this time of year are much deeper rites for what was originally known as All Hallow’s Even or Samhain. And while this holiday carries within it the effort to confuse and ward off spirits who may cause harm – more importantly underneath the tricks + treasures is the primal need to honor those who have gone before us. To appease and quiet them, that they may rest in peace (and maybe even save a good seat for us over there in the Other World).
And in my experience, by paying homage to those who have traveled the road to awe** in our stead we also alleviate not only our fears around death, but possibly theirs as well. I say this because years ago I was gifted a deep teaching that made such an intense impression on me it changed the way I looked at not only life, but also death and dying.
How you die is vitally important.
Did you cross gently from the arms of a loved one, with eyes of love engaging you dearly, feeling calm and safe?
Were you suddenly jerked from your body in a violent murder, fear in your heart and revenge on your mind?
Was it peaceful, but lonely? Or maybe it was in a room full of family, and you couldn’t wait to release the chains?
Or maybe it was utter torture and pain, with deep sorrow in your heart for humanity.
For others still, it was after resolving difficult issues, filled with compassion and understanding, even for the wrongs others or you committed.
public domain, courtesy of the Graphic Faery
Yes: the state of mind you are in, the emotions you hook into, the feelings you seize upon with your last dying breath become personalized karmic fuel for the arc of you soul’s story. Each and every one of these unique moments of death and all the countless variations experienced, have a very important part in one’s Book of Life and what the next ‘chapter’ or lifetime may contain for each of us.
How you die is vitally important.
That person who died with unresolved hate in their heart for a cruel parent? Do they want to risk that they will be tied to them yet again in the next life, all in order to resolve the conflict? Compared to a person that dies with freedom and love in their heart, forgiveness for all – what they may invite the next time around?
M. von Schwind, public domain
What I was shown is that it is crucial whenever possible that a person passes surrounded by Love, to invite full release and peaceful surrender in the moment. And if you have strived to understand your deepest self, to have compassion for yourself and for others, to be brave + true … that karmic fuel carried over will be a great boon for you and those you die in connection with.
If you are reading this, you still have time for resolution + reconciliation. But for those who have gone ahead – what about them?
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So on All Hallow’s Eve, I always think back to this teaching I received – I look around and I see how we mask our own fears of death and dying, and underneath I see how we seek to alleviate the power that is tied up in this grand moment. When we honor the dead on this day of celebration we not only appease them, but we can serve to repair, if only in small part, any hindrances or shortcomings at the moment of their death. For Uncle Joe who died at war, send him a moment of love just now to assuage the crossing he experienced. Your nephew, who died an untimely death: honor him, send him Love in his moment of need and ease the hardship. The mother who tended you gently but could not release her demons in time: forgive her. The ancestors you never knew who died while they helped create new cities, cultures and systems: thank them.
Some will say it doesn’t matter, to try and make an effort to honor a long gone moment of death for those you loved or felt connected to. After all, the moment is gone, right? Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
I say – what if “they” are wrong?
I say it can’t hurt, after all it just creates more Love around and within you and your community in the here + now. And what if – what if, as so many believe – time is only a construct here on Earth, and in the shift between now and a new life, there is nothing to hinder our healing, no death that can hold back transformation? Then this would mean that any spark of Love cannot be extinguished, cannot be reduced. This would mean that the dead are dying for you to Love them.
Is there someone you’d like to honor? Or do you need help honoring yourself? Would you like to better understand the life you are living now, empowered by awareness of past lives? Freed from stagnant behaviors or beliefs that inhibit you? I can help; intuitive/ shamanic healing may uniquely support your transformation. Let’s work together. I take only a limited number of clients at one time, please inquire by contact me today at unshakablesoul(at)gmail.com .
** a fantastic short trailer for a film that burns the box on death, love + time:The Fountain.
