Halloween in San Francisco

I just got home from a Samhain (pronounced "sow-wen") ritual tonight.
Samhain is the European (Celtic, I believe) version of the Day of the
Dead - the time when "the veil between the worlds", between living and
dead, is at its thinnest and contact is most likely. I don't actually
believe that literally, although if I had lost anyone recently I might
be more inclined to believe it, or at least, *feel* it. Still, I like
to take the time to reflect on myself, my life, my relationships, the
world, and so on, that ritual gives me.

We did a "journey", which is an internal visioning process where a
leader guides you to a place, or to meet certain persons, etc. Our journey
was to The Place Between The Worlds, where we were to meet loved ones
who have passed on, or ancestors. I reflected on the fact that at 50 years
old, I still have never lost anyone truly dear to me. My grandparents
died in the 1980s and 90s, but I wasn't very close to them by that time,
and hadn't been for many years. Ours wasn't a very close-knit family, and
there were a lot of rifts. I have been extremely lucky in not having lost
any friends at this point, either.

So I started to think about the only "people" I have lost, which are
several cats throughout my life. And I cried, not for the first time,
about a cat who died when I was about 9 or 10. Sometime, I'll write that
story, but it requires a TW and I don't feel like getting everyone all
weepy right now. I still grieve about that cat, some 40 years later!

We were then to meet and ask our ancestors (those related either by blood
or by beliefs, values, etc, ie, a spiritual ancestor) how we could bring
good energy into the world. Then we all did some magic work around trying
to get Bush defeated on Tuesday. (Usually, the spiritual stuff I do
isn't so blatantly political, but this one seemed too important to ignore.)

When it was over, I walked to the public transit station to go home,
still dressed in my ritual garb. However, I didn't feel the least bit
self-concious about it - hundreds of people passed by in their various
and wonderful Halloween costumes. There was a woman in a peacock
costume - all blue except for the huge fan of real peacock feathers
fastened to her butt. I joked with her that she was a transgendered
peacock since she was clearly a male peacock!

Halloween night in San Francisco is a big, BIG deal! Thousands crowd into
the Castro district (which is the city's gay area, although people of all
persuasions go to participate), dressed in costume to party the night away
on the street. I didn't attend the street party, because I don't like big
crowds, I'm an old fart, and also, because some people get extremely rowdy
and even violent. Even in the most gay-friendly city in the world, there
are violent gay-bashings in the Castro on Halloween. I guess some people's
baser instincts come out when they're in disguise.

Mostly, though, people seemed to be in a good mood, and I enjoyed walking
around in the festive atmosphere.

When I got home, I fed my beasties and then, out of habit, let Smudge
out on her leash. About 5 minutes later, I slapped my forehead, asked
myself WHAT WAS I THINKING, and brought her right back in. Sorry, Smudge,
it's not a good night for kitties to go outside. I live in a very sedate
neighborhood, so actually, something nasty happening to my cat is unlikely,
but it is midnight and the more rowdy kids are out now, so who knows. I'm
not taking any risks. So now Smudgie is snoozing on the monitor, not
looking any worse for being kept in this night.

Happy Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Souls Day!

Joyce

wrote:
Happy Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Souls Day!

Sounds like a lovely night! One day I'll have to find one of those
nearby. Hope your magic works!

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

wrote:
Happy Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Souls Day!

Sounds like a lovely night! One day I'll have to find one of those
nearby. Hope your magic works!

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

wrote:
Happy Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Souls Day!

Sounds like a lovely night! One day I'll have to find one of those
nearby. Hope your magic works!

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

Happy Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Souls Day!

I'm on the edge of Beverly Hills in California. I could hear the West Hollywood
celebration from my house. It's supposedly the biggest Halloween party in the
world. Oddly enough it's a gay Halloween event. The only people getting bashed
are gay-bashers.

I stayed home, gave out candies and watched a cool show on the original celtic
and pagan Halloween rituals, interesting. When kids saw my skunks I told them I
just dressed my cats up ;-) I also carved a skunk pumpkin.
http://www.mary.cc/images/skunkiepumpkin.jpg It looked cool lit up but my
camera couldn't capture it.

The only bad thing is that the kids didn't take all the candy so of course I
had to eat some :-( It was yummy :-)

Happy Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Souls Day!

I'm on the edge of Beverly Hills in California. I could hear the West Hollywood
celebration from my house. It's supposedly the biggest Halloween party in the
world. Oddly enough it's a gay Halloween event. The only people getting bashed
are gay-bashers.

I stayed home, gave out candies and watched a cool show on the original celtic
and pagan Halloween rituals, interesting. When kids saw my skunks I told them I
just dressed my cats up ;-) I also carved a skunk pumpkin.
http://www.mary.cc/images/skunkiepumpkin.jpg It looked cool lit up but my
camera couldn't capture it.

The only bad thing is that the kids didn't take all the candy so of course I
had to eat some :-( It was yummy :-)

Happy Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Souls Day!

I'm on the edge of Beverly Hills in California. I could hear the West Hollywood
celebration from my house. It's supposedly the biggest Halloween party in the
world. Oddly enough it's a gay Halloween event. The only people getting bashed
are gay-bashers.

I stayed home, gave out candies and watched a cool show on the original celtic
and pagan Halloween rituals, interesting. When kids saw my skunks I told them I
just dressed my cats up ;-) I also carved a skunk pumpkin.
http://www.mary.cc/images/skunkiepumpkin.jpg It looked cool lit up but my
camera couldn't capture it.

The only bad thing is that the kids didn't take all the candy so of course I
had to eat some :-( It was yummy :-)

Mary wrote:

I'm on the edge of Beverly Hills in California. I could hear the West
Hollywood celebration from my house. It's supposedly the biggest
Halloween party in the world. Oddly enough it's a gay Halloween event.

Nobody said that gay folks don't know how to throw a party!

When kids saw my skunks I told them I just dressed my cats up ;-)

LOL!! That's a good one!

Joyce

Mary wrote:

I'm on the edge of Beverly Hills in California. I could hear the West
Hollywood celebration from my house. It's supposedly the biggest
Halloween party in the world. Oddly enough it's a gay Halloween event.

Nobody said that gay folks don't know how to throw a party!

When kids saw my skunks I told them I just dressed my cats up ;-)

LOL!! That's a good one!

Joyce

Mary wrote:

I'm on the edge of Beverly Hills in California. I could hear the West
Hollywood celebration from my house. It's supposedly the biggest
Halloween party in the world. Oddly enough it's a gay Halloween event.

Nobody said that gay folks don't know how to throw a party!

When kids saw my skunks I told them I just dressed my cats up ;-)

LOL!! That's a good one!

Joyce