Before Samhain was Samhain to me it was just Halloween. I loved Halloween (still do in fact) when you got to make a cool costume and go out into the cool, dark night and run around with a lot of other kids in costumes and beg strangers for candy, which you ate until you puked. Of course as an adult it's more like going out to a cold, dark bar to beg strangers for sex and drink until you puke, but I digress.

Was it because I always was a witch that I was so attracted to this day, the Wiccan New Year and arguably the most important of the Sabbats? Perhaps. But I think it doesn't take a witch to get excited by the energy Halloween brings with it, when the veil between the worlds is thin and anything can happen, the most magickally potent time of year.

Jason Pitzi-Waters wrote this week at The Wild Hunt that Halloween has become Better Than Christmas as more and more people in the US embrace the celebration of this holiday. He offers a variety of sources who suggest that Halloween's popularity comes from a fascination with the frightening and the macabre. He quotes philosophy professor Cynthia Freeland: "When we know that we are safe, we can explore this dangerous territory, deal with it in a vicarious way, and feel brave and bold that we have come to grips with some aspect of evil, some aspect of danger in the world."

There may be a bit of truth to that but I think it's actually much simpler. When the veil between all worlds - the Underworld, the Faery world, and any other world you can imagine - is thin and magick is all around, it is only logical that even those who don't usually connect with other worlds or even believe in their existence can hardly help but feel something different in the air. Everyone feels the presence of something magickal, even if they don't know what it is. They feel the excitement and it stirs their blood. To me it speaks to the power and magick of Samhain if it is so strong that everyone can feel it. What else explains such widespread allure?

It's been a busy couple of months for me and I'm not as prepared for Halloween as I would like. But I am ready for Samhain. I can feel it.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:10 PM