Tonight is Halloween, a holiday that we mark by dressing up in costumes, go trick or treating, and celebrate all things that are dark, scary, or spooky.

Like many of the holidays we celebrate today, Halloween’s origins are ancient, and the traditions are derived from different cultures worldwide.

Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic pagan festival called Samhain, which was thought to be a time when the veil between the world of the living and the realm of spirit became very thin and that you could more easily connect with the spirits of your ancestors.

This idea is also central to Dia de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead”, a festival that began in Central and Southern Mexico thousands of years ago.

It is believed that on this night that the spirits of your ancestors returned to visit, and instead of grieving the death of your loved ones or the skulls and skeletons that are featured as scary or macabre, it is instead a colorful and bright celebration of life and a chance to honor the memory of those who have passed.

I recently found this photo of my sister and I when we were 3 and 4 years old dressed as the “Blue Fairy” from Pinocchio, after recalling a story I recently shared in an interview for @theglimmeringpod (episode drops 11/22!) that after my mother passed when I was still only 2 years old that the way she appeared to me reminded me of this character and our dressing as her was perhaps our way of acknowledging the presence of her spirit and honoring her memory.

Yes, this idea of the veil between worlds can be scary (thus the reputation of Halloween!), but it is also a beautiful reminder that exploring the dark is just as important as the light, and that death is an inevitable part of life.

So tonight- summon your ancestors, invite a “ghost” or spirit to visit, and look to the unseen as the veil thins between worlds.

Happy Halloween!