"See the eerie Darkness fall...
Hear the raven's Chilling Call...
Feel your skin begin to Crawl...
Season's Creepings, One and All!"
And so reads one of my favorite Halloween cards.
What is it about this time of year that makes us shiver with such frightful anticipation? Perhaps it is the distant howl of the wind, its icy fingers inching up our spine. Our senses, heightened by that anticipatory delight, relish in the stillness that is a bit too still. Not fully understanding for what, we wait, our hearts racing for the unseen to become seen.
We fix our eyes into the darkness, searching in the shadows that are not shadows, our heart skipping a beat, but we see only the tricks of the moonlight. We wait and watch, unaware we are holding our breath, in the not so stillness of the unseen, which is almost seen - in the imperceptible, that is almost tangible. If we reached out our hand we could touch it. But we do not dare for fear of what we might find.
The moon mocks our fear, as we laugh off our uneasiness and let out our breath. Though, warily we keep one eye over our shoulder, just in case. The chill in the air settles in our bones, along with the realization that perhaps we do not know what we think we know. That perhaps we are not what we think we are. That all that is cozy and warm is an illusion. And our imagination begins to take flight and rides the whipping wind thru the screaming trees, higher up across the sky and plunges rapidly into the depths of the blackness of night. The familiar looks unfamiliar now and our lighthearted laughter dies in our throats.
Strange singing is heard in each rustle of leaf as it begins its downward spiral dance of fall. In a play of light, a sudden movement catches the corner of our eye. We spin around, ready to confront our follower, yet, nothing. Or something? We no longer know. Our trust of the known has abandoned us and we begin to see that nothing is as it seems, ourselves included.
Our noses, burning with with the scent of mystery and magic in the air, smell the possibilities where everything is possible. And we can be whatever we want to be. We revel in the exhilaration of that freedom! A wildness overtakes us and we uncross our arms, and toss back our hair. Embracing this new vision of ourselves, we face the wind with a boldness of challenge and the moon smiles at our courage!
Tomorrow, the trees will return to being just trees, the wind will once again blow gently on our skin and we will return to ourselves and all that is cozy and warm. But for tonight, just this one night, we, too, meld with that mystery where nothing is what it is seems and exhilarate in the thrill of that freedom. A smile slowly spreads across our face as that familiar shiver of delight, again creeps along our bones.
Happy Halloween!
