Halloween – Embrace New Experiences

Halloween, or All Hallows Eve. One of my favorite holidays.

The tradition of Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain where people lit bonfires and wore costumes to ward off ghosts. Later in the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as the day to honor all saints, which incorporated some of the Samhain traditions. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve and eventually Halloween (Halloween 2024, History.com, https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween). Now it’s a holiday to carve pumpkins and for kids to dress up in costumes and receive a lot of candy by trick-or-treating. My neighborhood is a target rich environment for trick-or-treaters.

In Mexico and many Latin American countries, El Dia de los Muertos is an important holiday that goes back to the Aztecs, which dedicated an entire month to the dead. Families unite to honor their ancestors or those who passed, and death’s inevitability is to be accepted rather than feared. This annual holiday features skeletons, altars, flowers, fruits and dancing and singing. Death’s morbid side is buried under music and remembrance. The Aztecs celebrated this at the end of the Gregorian month of July and the beginning of August. However, after the Spanish conquest, the Spanish priests moved the celebration to coincide with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve. As a result, Mexicans now celebrate Dia de los Muertos the first two days of November. The tradition notes that Heaven’s gates are opened on October 31 so the spirits of children can rejoin their family for 24 hours, and the spirits of adults can do the same on November 2 (Origins of El Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, The Sopris Sun, https://soprissun.com/origins-of-el-dia-de-los-muertos-in-mexico/).

I always loved Halloween as a child with decorating the house with Mom in September and then bringing in a motherload of candy after trick-or-treating. Over the past two decades, I’ve become fascinated and enamored with El Dia de los Muertos celebrated in Mexico. While Mexico City has an amazing celebration, the mecca for Dia de los Muertos is Oaxaca. I’ve always wanted to experience it in Mexico so last year I traveled to Oaxaca from October 29 – November 5 for true immersion. It was absolutely amazing and a better experience than I could have imagined. The festivities and parades, and music and weddings, and colors and food and Mezcal was incredible. It was the trip of a lifetime and one I highly recommend. While I’m not a Tequila fan, I became a big fan of Mezcal.

I’ve mentioned this before and I will emphasize it again – if you can travel outside the US for a vacation to experience another country and culture, do it! There is so much more of the world I want to see and I am pursing my business to be able to afford any vacation I want, whenever I want, for the rest of my life. Being retired, I want to enjoy the rest of my life. That’s why I am here. This was a very motivational trip.

This Halloween I am staying home and handing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters stopping by, which are several hundred in my neighborhood. I have a lot of Dia de los Muertos decor now adorning my house, which brings back such great memories. Now, time to prepare for this evening and then back to my journey.

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