Every year as Halloween approaches, our maples drop their leaves, the marigolds turn to seed, and the landscape changes from brilliance to black and white. Like clockwork a northern wind races across our bare fields and one can hear it howling through the cracks. While observing all this external starkness we move indoors and begin to question our mortality.

Starkness aside, I like to think of the darkness ahead with some excitement. Not black magic darkness, but the drive to go within and search ourselves: the type of darkness that leads to clarity. These transitional days are a time to wander along the edge of the woods and peer in, unlock some of the mystery and find our own path within the labyrinth of life.

How might we prepare for the season’s shift? Perhaps take a meditation class or get back to your yoga practice. Reflect on your inner most desires. Sink into your own self and feel what it is to be you. Let go of the flashy gadgets. Let go of the rush. Let the shift within begin with nothingness.

In my sleepy town, Halloween is a time to be playful, to add your own twist to the spooky natural world. It is the witching time that calls us home to ourselves. There is often a bit of vamping too. We may include a dash of red, but still, we marvel in the black ahead.