Happy Halloween, My Pretties

Its is a day of sugar anticipation and excitement here Chez Nous. Add to it that HM took Thing One to see the Habs play last night you can throw hockey thrills and overtired to the mix. I'm tired too. More coffee pls.
Ok..so as y'all know I am not a christian and this day is also a real holiday for those of us that don't subscribe to the Judeo-christian tenets. Its Samhain baby!
In actuality, Samhain (sah-win or sow-win) can be a rather somber affair even if it is the New Years of paganism. Its the end of the year and a time to say goodbye and also a time for remembrance of those who have passed or gone before us. A time to honour our ancestors and give thanks to them for preparing the way for us. Of course there is that whole "time of year that the veil between the physical plane and spiritual is thinnest" thing and those with the abilities may be able to make contact in some way. Here is more info from others more learned than I: http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_np.htm
I was asked by a friend if I was doing the whole Samhain thing this year and for a minute I wasn't sure what the friend meant. Was I attending a gathering? Was I going to conduct a ritual? Was I going to eat lots of candy? All of the above?
As a green witch with Wiccan leanings but not entirely so(lets call me eclectic), I am pretty lackadaisical in observance of the sabbats. I do not perform a lot of rituals or work lots of magic or cast circles for the fun of it. I try instead to see the holy in every day when I can. I try to stir my cooking sunwise, for example, rather than widdershins, because I try to encourage the positive. I subscribe to the idea that "all acts of Love and Pleasure are My ritual" for observance and that the best way to daily honour the higher powers is to love, laugh, and encourage others to do the same. Sooo, no..I have planned no rituals to conduct in the back yard alone after my kids go to bed though I have lost my aunt in the last year. BUT I did decorate to celebrate that which is Samhain, in joy. My Jack O'Lanterns light my yard for the ancestors. Tombstones, though funny, symbolise that others have passed on. Ghosts, skeletons.....they also symbolise death and the mythology that The God has died but will Return with the Sun. All of this is done with a sense of fun, welcome, and humour underlying it. This year, that is my ritual.
Blessed Be to all who pass and many be your happinesses.
Mote It Be An' Harm To None.