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Just like Christmas and Easter, Halloween originated from a pagan celebration. Most people know that Halloween or All Hallows Eve is rooted in the pagan festival Samhain or Samhein (meaning summer’s end) which, as any self respecting Druid or ancient Celt knows in never pronounced phonetically as sam-hayne but rather as your choice of the phonetic sowen, soween, saw-win, saw-vane or sahven. Also, just like Christmas and Easter, Halloween is ruled by and falls under the auspices of the planet Neptune. This makes sense since Neptune represents the higher abstract spiritual realms AND in the case of Halloween, the one time of the year when anyone can don a disguise and become an alter ego for a few hours. Did you know that Halloween is the oldest recognized and celebrated holiday of our contemporary world?

October 31^st is considered a cross quarter day situated between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. Just as it did in ancient times, this day marks the rising of the Pleiades, which held special importance to the Druids and Celts. It is commonly known and accepted that among the Druidic orders were Master Astrologers who had vast knowledge not only of the Earth but also of the motion of the Universe. According to the eminent scholar Fergus Kelly, a Druid was, "priest, prophet, astrologer and teacher of the sons of nobles". Julius Caesar acknowledged, “They also have much knowledge of the stars and their motion, of the size of the world and of the earth, of natural philosophy, and of the powers and spheres of action of the immortal gods, which they discuss and hand down to their young students.”

The practice of ancient astrology doesn’t hold much resemblance to our contemporary versions. An ancient astrologer would certainly observe the night sky but what went on in the Heavens at, and just before, sunrise and sunset held more importance. The ancients put much stock in the Fixed Stars and the portent connected to such stars and the heliacal and acronychal (first star to rise in the east after sunset) rising of them. The concept of planets was unknown to the old masters and accordingly, these heavenly bodies were referred to as moving stars since their motion was visible and could be tracked by the naked eye.    

Concerning the rising of the Pleiades, the Druids and Celts used the heliacal rising and setting of this star cluster to mark the beginning and later the ending of a season. Such is the case with October 31^st and November 1^st where the acronychal rising of the Pleiades signaled the month of mourning for the dead. Prayers for the dead were said on November 1 but the eve of October 31^st was the time for ‘ancestral communication’ with those who had passed over. On this night, the dead walked for the Druids believed that on the nights of Samhain and Beltane (April 30) all those who had died during the past year had the ability to revisit the Earth. Food offerings were made to the spirits of the dead on Samhain in order to appease them so they would go back to the underworld without causing any harm to the living. The modern custom of Trick or Treating and wearing costumes or ‘guising’ on Halloween is based upon the ancient safeguard to keep away any evil intent of the dead.

Throughout cultural history, the Moon has always played an integral role in determining the course of events. According to Celtic lore, the Moon of October is called the Blood Moon. It is strongly tied in with the element of Earth and the ideals of finishing things with practicality, paying attention to detail, and taking protective measures to guard what has been accomplished. Strong supernatural motivations are also connected to this Moon and those with the ability for clairvoyant prophecy can be strongly affected. The Druids and the ancient Celts held a special affinity for ‘triads’ and the number ‘3’ since they believed only numbers that had a ‘middle’ (in this case number 2; 1-2-3) had balance. The ancient magickal number associated with the Moon is ‘369’ which consists of the number ‘3’ and its derivatives ‘6’ and ‘9’. On a Divine level (but not numerological) for those of us on Earth, the Moon’s influence via the number 369 equates with commitment to the Earth as part of one’s Divine purpose. The October Moon of every year is a strong reminder of the quality of the harvest that we reap which is based upon our commitment to the Earth.

This Fall season on October 31st, The Moon will be Void of Course (not making any aspects) in the sign of Scorpio from 10:44 PM (ET) to 10:43 AM (ET) on November 1 (All Saints Day). The Void of Course Moon marks a time period when the propensity for supernatural happenings and contact are ripe so ditch the Ouija Board. The last aspects it will make before going Void of Course are a sextile to Pluto (4:49 AM), an inconjunct  to Uranus (6:13 PM) and a sextile to Mars also happening at  10:44 PM.  This would be a good time for some personal Soul searching as to whether you have been overreacting or overindulging in your life… how have you been tricking or treating yourself? The Moon phase is in New Moon Phase (0-45 degrees ahead of Sun): Occult energies may be impulsive, and aggressive, wanting "attention." There is a "reach out and touch response" where investigators sometimes feel a brush, tickle, or pressure from unknown sources. The Moon in Scorpio is good for investigation of cemeteries and matters connected to the dead as long as it is kept in mind that lower realm entities or demonics can be present. It is also good for investigation using psychometry.