Man, I sure do love me some Halloween! Unfortunately, it's really more like Beltane around these parts so it loses some meaning....but my goal is to infiltrate the minds of the High School kids I teach with notions of the pagan origins of Halloween and then when that's done go party like it's going out of style and try to think of some costume that will provoke laughter or something in folks....

:)

Sounds like the ceremony you're putting on will be good medicine bro!

Your thoughts and activities sound lovely

Here, I usually spend time out in the hills, offering a picnic to any (in flesh or out of it) who want to share. then there will be a Feast for the Dead at home with a space set at the table for the Beloved Dead and sometime today becomes quiet time for personal reflection

I grew up in Scotland where "guising" for Hallowe'en was one of our celebrated annual events. October evenings for me are still marked by the memory of scorched turnip (or swede - we hollowed these and cut faces rather than pumpkins). When guising, we were expected to entertain at a house before being offered a treat (usually ground nuts and apples) - or joining in traditional games - dookin' for apples, trying to eat treacle scones hanging from a string. The old traditions were there but the old context was largely gone. Nevertheless, it was still an evening of magic and enchantment for us as children and the sense of the spiritworlds and wonder being as close as the shadows under the trees and as strong as the scent of burning turnips marked it as a special occasion within the year

Now, Samhain begins the year, begins the winter and begins a whole season of occasions for the Dead. By Solstice, when the candles are lit in windows to welcome the unexpected visitors in for the Midwinter Season, the word will ahev spread and there will be no guessing jsut who - or what -might come to stay!

Samhain Greetings to everyone and good days and great fun and deep stillness for All Souls, Day of the Dead, the Festivla of Ghosts and all you celebrate at this changing time of year

I find it interesting how similar people's traditions/rituals are. More for the case of "we are all related" and "all things connect"

"Humankind has not woven the web of life...
We are but one strand within it.
What we do to the web,
We do to ourselves.
All things are bound together...
All things connect.
~Chief Seattle~