The Psychology Of Spooky Season 🎃

It never Comes as a surprise to me that adults seem to enjoy getting dressed up for Halloween more than the children do. That’s probably because most adults are still stuck with the same emotional capacity they had when they were 6 years old. That’s not a cheap shot, it’s something I’ve noticed across the board throughout My time as an intern counselor and life coach. To no one‘s own fault of course, we live in a society that values productivity over well being and frankly- emotions just get in the way of a lot of things. It makes perfect sense that the majority of people are begrudgingly floating through life completely disconnected from the reality of their emotions- unable to accurately identify them let Alone appropriately process them.

This is my theory of course but I think the reason why adults enjoy Halloween so much is because it is the one night of the year that it is socially acceptable to embrace all that has been buried within us and brand it as “spooky season”. You’re damn right- the human shadow is spooky af. But it seems as though the mental processing of a lot of this shadow occurs throughout the entire month of October. October is the 10th month of the year, after all, signifying the end of things. The month of closure. The month we finally lay these emotions to rest. Halloween is the day of the dead, after all.

So what has died? All the things we’ve outgrown. All the people, places, and things that no longer serve our future self. We lay to rest the narratives of self doubt, self betrayal and self deception. We usher in the month of thanks giving and gratitude. A metaphorical “breaking of bread.” If we follow the months of the year the way we follow the days of the week, we’d see the chronological order of how our soul renews itself. This rejuvenating quality of the human condition is one to be celebrated and honored as divine in and of itself.

Many people will be out tonight dressed up most certainly in some representation of their shadow (trust me, we can tell). I’m dressing up as a Viking Warrior- shout out to you Freya. Very telling of the person I’ve kept at bay. I only make these assumptions of others because I’ve analyzed them within my own psyche- as a conscious observer of the decision to be Freya and not as the one making the decision to be Freya. In any case, I‘d make the recommendation to plan some symbolic releases tonight. Let’s plan on letting go of all that which does not honor the divinity in us. All that does not propagate the well-being and continued growth of our character. Let’s lay to rest all the maladaptive behaviors, thoughts, and conditions this year has brought us. And on Monday November first, let’s start being thankful we did it.