all hallows eve...

As autumn matures, my heart is moved by the hint of All Saints and All Souls Day. Once widely celebrated in sacred and secular circles, these two mystical liturgies are now all but forgotten in contemporary culture. The only remnant, of course, is Halloween. "Technically speaking, Halloween is the vigil of All Hallows Eve," writes Christopher Hill in Holidays and Holy Nights.

Halloween (has become) a big event for children and has grown bigger in the course of this century. But not much reflection is generally given to the relationship between Halloween and the Church feasts that are its origin... Technically speaking, Halloween is the vigil of All Hallows Eve. Vigils are the night face of the church. The practice of keeping vigils owes something to the old way of reckoning the day from sunset to sunset... In the two archetypal Christian holidays of Easter and Christmas, it is still the vigil that contains the actual transformative event - the movement of the Resurrection at Easter and of Christ's birth at Christmas. The theurgy - the sacred work - takes place at the middle of the night when the way is open between eternity and this world.
(pp. 46-47)

The popularity of our sanitized Halloween reminds us that folk traditions are deeply embedded in our collective unconscious. "Before the Protestant Reformation, all over Europe the feasts of the Church Year had been rich with popular customs. The Christian vision was incarnated up and down the scale of culture, from scholars creating great structures of intellect and theology, down to the places in the common heart where people dreamed, played and sang." (Hill, p. 47) We don't fully know how the Celtic rituals of Samhain (and other late autumn feasts) were observed except to say "some things stand out by their persistence in tradition: fire - bonfires especially - played a part. Divinization, telling the future, did too. Feasting and merrymaking took place, along with mumming (going from dwelling to dwelling in some kind of costume, along with ritualized begging and sometimes the enactment of simple drama.) (Hill, p. 52) 

What is clear is that by the Middle Ages, All Hallows Eve had become a magnificent festival of "somberness, delicious fear and firelit festivity." (p. 53) The best analysis suggests that rather than trying to replace or supplant the feast of Samhain, the Church chose to honor the truths of the pagan tradition, linking it with the doctrine of the communion of all believers. In this, folk tradition and superstition were sacralized and honored. Christine Valters Painter notes that all over Northern Europe this season is known as "the time of the ancestors." (Abbey of the Arts) As the calendar year ends with a gathering of crops and a growing darkness, our ancestors looked backwards in remembrance and gratitude. The German practice of Totenfest mirrors the Celtic All Hallows Eve as our faithful dead are remembered with thanksgiving, stories and feasts. Same goes for the Day of the Dead festivities in the Latinix world. Painters confesses that October is her favorite month both because of the invitation to honor our ancestors and: "...because of the quality of evening light which shimmers golden and radiant as each day comes to a close. I love the autumn for its call to release what does not serve but also to celebrate the harvest of my life."  Then she asks: what are we harvesting right now? What are we letting go of, and, what are we holding close in gratitude? This is one of the gifts I cherish in both All Souls and All Saints Day.

The other is the recognition these holy days afford me to nourish my yearning for mystery. Our whole culture feels this aching for an encounter with truths greater than mere facts. But we're now uncertain how to proceed. Halloween offers a sanitized version with scary stories and goblins. The chiller movies so popular at this time of year are another part of this longing. "We want mystery more than anything," Hill posits, "but we're thrown off balance" by our yearning.

The imagination falls short in imagining or describing the sacred thing it is approaching, and so we settle for making it scary - but the spook is simply a stand in (for something more profound...) the night side of God.

Once upon a time, the Church nourished mystery. We were intimately connected to the earth and its rhythms. Since the 60s, however, we have "ceded mystery to the arts, folklore and popular culture... (elevating) rational theology, ethics, charity, and social outreach" to the core. (Hill, p. 50) Consequently, many of us are driven elsewhere to taste the cool and refreshing waters of the unknown. That is part of what our sanitized Halloween has become: a playful ritual of
scary stories, costumes, goblins, and moonlight that merely hints at a deeper longing. Today trick-or-treat has become the "secularized vigil of All Saints and All Hollows Eve... acting like an impish little brother to the great vigils of the past, a small echo of their world transforming mysteries."

So, what to do? I am starting to collect photographs of my faithful dead to post on a homemade altar. I want to pray for my beloved dead - as well as those with whom I am still at odds. I also want to add images to my family altar of those in the realm of the arts who have shaped my soul. Saints like Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen have opened my heart and mind as much as many in my blood line. And I'll sit with them by candle light this year to see what their wisdom and memory holds for me. These words from the Book of Common Prayer are a starting point.

(In the semi-darkness we pray...)

Light and peace, in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us pray:

“Lord Christ, your saints have been the lights of the world in every generation: Grant that we who follow in their footsteps may be made worthy to enter with them into that heavenly country where you live and reign for ever and ever. Amen” (Book of Common Prayer. p. 111). 

Candles are lit as "O Gracious Light" is sung:

O holy radiance, joyous light, O splendid glory shining bright,
Immortal Father, heavenly One, O blessed Jesus Christ, the Sun.
We see the sunshine fade to night, and welcoming the evening light,
To Father, Son and Spirit raise our hymns of wonder, love and praise.
Unceasingly our tongues shall laud your worth, Begotten One of God,
O Breath of life: let all proclaim the glory of your wondrous name.
(Phos Hilaron, New Century Hymnal, Tallis' Canon)

Scripture readings for All Hallows’ Eve include:

+ “The Witch of Endor,” 1 Samuel 28:3-25; 
+ “The Vision of Eliphaz the Temanite,” Job 4:12-21; 
+ “The Valley of Dry Bones,” Ezekiel 37:1-14; 
+ “The War in Heaven,” Revelation 12:(1-6)7-12. 

Let us pray...

“Almighty and everliving God, you have made all things in your wisdom and established the boundaries of life and death: Grant that we may obey your voice in this world, and in the world to come may enjoy that rest and peace which you have appointed for your people; through Jesus Christ who is Resurrection and Life, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen” (“Book of Occasional Services,” p. 108). “

"You, O Lord, have made us from the dust of the earth and to dust our bodies shall return; yet you have also breathed your Spirit upon us and called us to new life in you: Have mercy upon us, now and at the hour of our death; through Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate. Amen” (“Book of Occasional Services,” p. 109). 

“O God, you have called your people to your service from age to age. Do not give us over to death, but raise us up to serve you, to praise you, and to glorify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (“Book of Occasional Services,” p. 109). 

Personal prayers and remembrances. Blessing followed by festivities:
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance up0on  you and give you peace. Amen.

credits
+ http://mjforster.com/all-hallows-eve/
+ http://www.maniacpumpkincarvers.com/jackolanterns/
+ my photo
+ https://fineartamerica.com/featured/crows-on-all-hallows-eve-arline-wagner.html
+ https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/its-time-for-catholics-to-embrace-halloween/2133/