Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. For me it is the most authentic holiday, one with a true air of festival, frolic, and fun. Unlike Christmas, preparation is minimal and expectations are simple — camaraderie and candy. The interpersonal dramas that tend to plague other holidays don’t seem to be an issue on Halloween, as our flair for the dramatic is sated in the area of playful ritual. By donning costumes we allow ourselves and others to interact with aspects of our personality that are usually hidden, giving all of us a chance to step out of our usual roles.
Halloween is an opportunity for us to dialogue with the dark or shadow side of ourselves. It is a night for hobnobbing with our devils and ghosts; for chatting and drinking cider with the monsters that frighten us. Halloween demands interaction with neighbors we might not know well, which results in a block-party appeal to the revels. On a ritualistic level, trick-or-treating may be read as a request that strangers, the unfamiliar parts of ourselves, give up their gifts to us.
Light and dark are not opposites, but two parts of the same cycle. In order to fully appreciate the light festivals that will come at the winter solstice, we must first see and know the darkness. It is the beginning of our perennial inward journey. On Halloween we believe the veil between worlds is very thin, thus great transformation is possible. But is it only the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds that thins, or is it the division between any two polarities in our minds, between any two realities that are struggling to coexist? This dark night may represent a resolution of paradox, a happy meeting of incompatible beliefs that initiates the healing required in order to let light back into our lives.
Magic and healing, particularly herbal healing, are also two parts of a whole. Working with personal and universal power is often considered magic. Healing with herbal medicine utilizes not only the physical components of a plant, but its unique life force as well. Part of the power of herbal medicine is that it is a path that leads to a sacred threshold. Spells are basically an acting out of our best intentions with a respectful request for help from the universe signified by including the energies we would like to engage. Casting a spell or performing a ritual serves as that crucial first movement, in this physical world, toward an intended outcome — the gesture that sets everything in motion.
In Simple Spells for Hearth and Home (Harmony, 2000), Barrie Dolnick lists three requirements for casting a spell: belief, intention, and allowing. Anyone who has worked with manifesting or healing is likely to be familiar with these concepts — believing that what you are requesting is possible; being as specific, clear, and objective as possible in your intention without being willful; and releasing control, trusting in the universe (or goddess or god) to fulfill your request in its own way, in its own time. Consciously incorporating these elements into your healing practices will enhance their potency. Acknowledging and requesting the assistance of the plants you are using also brings reverent mindfulness to your work and honors the universal power. Considering astrological aspects such as the moon cycles and the planetary rulers of specific days or hours, if appropriate, also aligns your purpose with universal momentum. Writing or speaking your intention as a statement or a prayer focuses energy. (Including a caveat "to do no harm" or "for the greatest or highest good of all involved" solicits protection for ourselves and others, deferring to the wisdom of the universe over personal will and safeguarding against the potentially tangled web of our own motivation while we are in the process of learning clarity.)
Just as the power of herbal healing can be increased by drawing on other energies, the power of manifesting through other magical rituals can be enhanced by utilizing the energies of appropriate herbs. Reference books, such as Magical Herbalism (Llewellyn, 2001) by Scott Cunningham, offer a comprehensive introduction. If you are familiar with herbs and have worked with them in other capacities, trust your own experience and listen to guidance from the plants as well as other sources as you experiment in creating your own rituals.
That which we don’t understand can amaze or amuse us. It can leave us in awe or in fear; eager to learn more or determined to discredit the source of our dis-ease. To make magic, we must allow ourselves to believe that we can be supported in all our endeavors and that it is okay to ask for help. When we speak to the universe with the directness of a child, the universe will respond. We, in turn, can experience anew our childlike wonder and delight in the world.
DISCLAIMER: Choosing a holistic approach to medicine means choosing personal responsibility for your health care. Herbs for Health offers a doorway through which to enter the realm of herbal healing, an invitation to further investigation on the part of the reader. It is in no way intended as a substitute for advice from a health care practitioner.