November first is the traditional start of the ancient Celtic new year. As a student of mythology, I find this to be an intriguing coincidence today,
on the eve of a new era in American politics and world citizenship. The ancient peoples of Celtic tribes would light signal fires in the hills on the preceding night, October 31, and make sacrifices to their gods, drink and carouse, and dread the passage of the deceased spirits back into the world of the living---and vice versa. Winter officially began on the first of this month; one can admire the Celtic desire to make the calendar year begin on the first day of a new season---call it a desire for symmetry and ease of change.
Samhain, they called it (
sow-in, if you need a pronounciation). The later Catholic Church co-opted Celtic holidays, necessitating the grafting of a newer spiritual meaning to the holiday, so it became the Eve of All Saints, or Hallowed Even---Halloween.
George W. Bush, that good Christian, probably thinks it's a devil's holiday, if he thinks anything of it at all. He should think more highly of it; this was the last Halloween of his presidency and he doesn't know it yet. Follow the ancient pagan logic of this: The old year, the old order of things in the world of men, has left us now. The spirits of the dead, in their brief visitation, may have included amongst their ranks the thousands killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the victims of 9/11/01, those who were homeless, or unable to access quality healthcare, prevented from easily obtaining abortions, exposed to toxic chemicals in their homes and workplaces, and so forth.
Bush won a recent poll of Scariest Movie Villain for his appearance in Michael Moore's F9/11---and with good reason. His likeness was a very popular Halloween mask last month---and with good reason. He will find tomorrow night very frightening---and with good reason: we, the living voters, will speak as one person, in one voice. Even without consulting with some pagan Druid priest, much less Nostradamus, I can prognosticate what he will hear us say to him: "You're fired."