OCTOBER 31 — Thinning of the Veil

Caitlin’s friend Shelley and I were just talking about the origins of Halloween—Samhain. She sent along a great link about all that, and about the “thinning of the veil” that supposedly occurs during this autumn/winter transition point: Halloween, Samhain, and the Thinning Veil. She said she was interested in paganism.

I said, “I agree. Connected to the earth, cycles of nature, the spiritual. And then greedy men had to turn it all into religion, for their own gain.”

Shelley: “Yesss.” She talked about having her husband read the link, because he was “all down on Halloween, hating the commercialization aspect of it, the excess. I couldn’t quite describe why I appreciate it and then that article made it really clear, how it’s this last remaining pagan holiday that’s widely celebrated, and wasn’t co-opted by the Church, aka the patriarchy. It’s really a big F U to all that. And a returning to a life more in tune with natural rhythms.”

In Mexico, these 2 days are called Los Dios de los Muertos, the Days of the Dead. People visit their departed loves ones in the cemeteries; they celebrate. Interesting to me now to remember that one of my first published stories was a musing on this holiday and how it compared to Irish Catholicism. I published “Afterlife” almost twenty years ago. The ending reflected my beliefs at the time, that there was “nothing but this moment.”

I’ve changed my mind, although I have no certain opinions anymore, other than that I do believe there is more to life than this life. I’ve believed that for a long time, and even more so these past months, when the signs I receive are outrageous and constant.

Last year on this day, we drove to Schenley Park in Pittsburgh. Andrew was going to play disc frisbee and she and I were going to go for a “walk.” A walk meant that I walked and she rode the little seated scooter she had recently bought for herself. But she didn’t have the energy for it, so we sat in the car and talked instead. It was a beautiful day. We were up on a hill with a view to the city. When the radio began to play “Monster Mash,” she got a crazy little burst of energy. She opened the door and got out and danced for a minute, happy.

The sweatshirt says I AM A CAT. The hood has ears.

My friend Diane just texted:

Thinking of Kitten. Thinking of how great she always looked in any costume she wore🎃
Such happy memories of your parties❤️

Caitlin as Audrey Hepburn was as good as the real thing. Caitlin as Mia Wallace, with a syringe sticking into her chest was typical bad ass Kitten.

( She would shake her head to know that I just had to look up Uma Thurman’s character name because I’ve never seen the movie. She used to get so ticked off at me, for not seeing movies. )

Here’s a little video I just took, of Henry wearing the costume she made in Pittsburgh two years ago. A. Red sweatshirt, bag of leaves, glue gun.

Happy Samhain. Keep your spirits aware.

–Maryanne

Author: kittenupdates

I am the author of CASCADE and LITTLE MATCHES: A Memoir of Grief and Light View all posts by kittenupdates