Embracing the Energy of Change

As autumn winds down, we find ourselves on the cusp of seasonal change, where external transformations: shorter days and cooler air, mirror our internal shifts. This is a season for reflection, release, and renewal. It's also a time when various cultural holidays invite us to honor the cycles of life, death, and rebirth.

      This is the weekend where we are met with many celebrations and the invitation to gather as the weather cools down invites us in. We may not always consciously notice that this is a global and ancient practice to gather some warmth through connection with friends and family, just as we gather the last harvest before the frosts. This weekend, we are met with celebrations from different traditions, each offering unique ways to gather and reconnect. It’s a time to cultivate warmth through connection, both with loved ones and with our ancestral roots. Let’s explore three significant holidays: Halloween, Diwali, and Día de los Muertos. Though their origins differ, these celebrations share a reverence for the spirit world, ancestors, and the inevitability of change.

Halloween and Samhain

October 31st marks Halloween, a holiday many of us recognize for its costumes, trick-or-treating, and playful frights. However, its roots lie in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced “Saw-win” or “Sā-wn”), a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was believed to be at its thinnest.

For the Celts, Samhain was the New Year, a sacred moment to honor those who had passed and prepare for the darker half of the year. Costumes were worn, not to frighten neighbors, but to ward off malevolent spirits. While modern Halloween focuses more on candy and fun, Samhain remains a powerful time for introspection and honoring the cycles of death and rebirth. For those with Celtic heritage, let this be an invitation to connect to those ancient roots and bring a sense of renewal into your home.

Diwali: The Festival of Lights

November 1st brings Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, which spans several days of celebration. Diwali represents the victory of light over darkness and good over evil, symbolized by oil lamps (diyas) and vibrant decorations that light up homes. Traditionally, families clean their homes to welcome the gods, most notably Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.

Brightly colored clothing, intricate sand mandalas (rangoli), and ceremonies known as pujas are central to the celebration. Diwali culminates in a gathering of family and friends for a grand feast, sharing the light and warmth of connection as autumn deepens.

This is one of my personal favorite Hindi Holidays as it brings up the energy and respect for the light of life. This is in great contrast to the other Holidays around this time that may have greater focus on the darkness. And that darkness is valuable, it is from the darkness of the womb we came, and back to the darkness of the Earth we will go.

Día de los Muertos and All Saints Day

November 2nd marks Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a time-honored tradition in Latin and Hispanic cultures, where families honor their ancestors with altars (ofrendas), marigolds, and offerings of food, such as pan dulce (sweet bread).

While it coincides with the Christian holiday of All Saints Day, Día de los Muertos celebrates life by remembering the dead, recognizing that death is a natural part of the human experience and the greater cycles of time. Families visit gravesites, bring gifts to their ancestors, and celebrate with vibrant face paint, music, and food, recognizing that their loved ones are never truly gone—they live on through memory and spirit. I invite you here to feel this, and take time for your grief and loss. Make an altar for those you wish you could see again, see their photos, and honor them with candles, offerings, and music. This tradition I have learned more about and participated in the last several years living in New Mexico. Having the yearly space to make that alter of to remember those I have lost has given my grief a place of solace. Adopting this tradition with reverence of its cultural heritage and learning from my Latin mother-in-law and hispanic friends has brought value to my relationships, the ones between the veil and here.

Honoring Ancestors, Embracing Change

What ties these holidays together is a common thread: honoring those who came before us, paying respect to the unseen, and acknowledging the energy of change. Whether through Celtic New Year traditions, the lighting of diyas in Diwali, or the lively offerings of Día de los Muertos, these celebrations invite us to pause, reflect, and connect—with the past, with each other, and with the shifting season. The cultural cross over in all of these holidays is an honoring of ancestors, spirits, and the energy of change. As we step into November, consider how you can bring these traditions into your own life. How might you honor the change in the air and the shifts within yourself? As the world around us transitions from harvest to hibernation, we, too, are invited to honor the cycles of life, death, and renewal in our own way.