Gratitude Friday 10 31 25 All Hallows Eve

Yes it is Halloween. The holiday has roots in the Catholic Church, which designated November 1st as All Saints' Day. All Hallows' Eve, the evening before, was a time for religious preparation, including prayer and vigil. Name: "Hallow" is an Old English word for "holy" or "sanctified." Over time, the Christian observance blended with other traditions, such as the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. A historical note here, that kind of blending between religious beliefs occurs across history and is with us to day. Easter and Christmas also have significance on the calendar across human history. Humans have always been fascinated with things beyond our sense and corporal experiences. Today, I am finding quotes from favorite authors reflective of ghouls, ghosts and related miscellany of “other world ness.”

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature

“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.” ― Edgar Allan Poe, The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

“Some boys walk by and you cry, seeing them. They feel good, they look good, they are good. Oh, they're not above peeing off a bridge, or stealing an occasional dime-store pencil sharpener; it's not that. It's just, you know, seeing them pass, that's how they'll be all their life; they'll get hit, hurt, cut, bruised, and always wonder why, why does it happen? how can it happen to them?” ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

“The thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle.” ― Stephen King, Night Shift

“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?” ― Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial

“If we were always conscious of the fact that people precious to us are frighteningly mortal, hanging not even by a thread, but by a wisp of gossamer, perhaps we would be kinder to them and more grateful for the love and friendship they give to us.” ― Dean Koontz, Seize the Night

“Danny? You listen to me. I’m going to talk to you about it this once and never again this same way. There’s some things no six-year-old boy in the world should have to be told, but the way things should be and the way things are hardly ever get together. The world’s a hard place, Danny. It don’t care. It don’t hate you and me, but it don’t love us, either. Terrible things happen in the world, and they’re things no one can explain. Good people die in bad, painful ways and leave the folks that love them all alone. Sometimes it seems like it’s only the bad people who stay healthy and prosper. The world don’t love you, but your momma does and so do I. You’re a good boy. You grieve for your daddy, and when you feel you have to cry over what happened to him, you go into a closet or under your covers and cry until it’s all out of you again. That’s what a good son has to do. But see that you get on. That’s your job in this hard world, to keep your love alive and see that you get on, no matter what. Pull your act together and just go on.” ― Stephen King, The Shining

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” ― Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents... some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new Dark Age.” ― H.P. Lovecraft

Why do we love horror, ghosts and things that hide in the dark? Perhaps it reminds us of the temporary nature of all we experience. Perhaps it reminds us to live now. I am grateful for the dark as it helps me to cherish the light.

What are you grateful for today?