Dangerously close to Hallowe’en and Seventh Star’s release of the audiobook of First Born and trade paperback of Descendant. Thursday’s going to be something else…
I plan to spend the day promoting the releases, then, in the quiet of the evening, as the season’s first flurries fall, spending some time in the small woodland shack my son and I built.
Behind the commercial trappings, Hallowe’en is first and foremost a time to honor those we have lost, who crossed over from this world to the next. Once of the curses of growing older is the lengthening list of loved ones who are no longer with us.
Since 2003 we have said goodbye to Kim’s mother, father, and grandmother; my father and grandfather, my friends Brent and John. My friends and colleagues are losing their parents and significant others. Respected peers are falling to the scythe. I have attended more funerals in the past 16 years than in the previous 37 years combined.
This is the part of growing older that is hardest to bear.
As a man of faith, I know that death is not the end for us. As a paranormal investigator, I have communed with spirits that have not crossed over. I know that the part of us that matters — our souls — are eternal.
In Risala, Ibn Fadlan recounted the following prayer, which was reproduced faithfully in the film, the 13th Warrior:
Lo there do I see my father; Lo there do I see my mother, my sisters and my brothers; Lo there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning. Lo, they do call me, they bid me take my place among them, in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever.
Our ancestors are all there on the other side of the veil, waiting for us to join them in the hereafter. At Hallowe’en, we relish in the horror of death, in cheap scares, and spooky stories, and believe me, I am a fan of all of the trappings of the holiday, but there is always a place of reverence for our family, friends, and heroes that no longer share this physical plane…
So, remember to take a moment to acknowledge those who await us. Raise a toast in their honor. They are as close to us now, in this witching season, as they can possibly be, until we join them on the other side…