Our cultural practice of Halloween has an interesting history and can be traced back to "All Saints Day" and the Celtic spiritual practice of "samhain."  The change of seasons celebrated on October 31st by the Celts was called "The Thin Time."  It was the end of the summer harvest and preparation for winter.  It was a time of the mixture of the lighter half of the year and the darker half of the year, where the culture's attention was turned to what is known as "shadow work."

The "shadow" is the "unobserved self."  It is the opposite side of our strengths, a part of ourselves we deny or hide.  Jesus, quoting Isaiah, describes it as "listening but not understanding, seeing but not perceiving" (Mt 13:14).  The shadow is not evil, but it will allow us to do evil without recognizing it as evil.

The "ego" is the conscious self, the part of the self that wants to be significant, noticed, and important.  By nature the ego is very defended and self-protective.  The ego must eliminate the negative to succeed and is also known as the "inherent narcissism" in each of us.  Jesus'  term for the over-defended ego and denied shadow was "the plank in your own eye."

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