Salem’s Dance of Universal Peace on Friday, November 1, falls on the Pagan holiday, Samhain (Oct 31 – Nov 1) and All Saints Day (Nov 1). Mariko and Christo of Eugene, young leaders from the Eugene dance circle will be guest leaders and Yara and Pam will lead the Ancestors Old dance for Samhain. The evening will celebrate the change in seasons and the Samhain and All Saints Day holidays and will include a ritual. The dance starts at 7:00 pm and is free. No child care is available.

All dance songs and movements area fully taught and all dances accompanied by musicians. Participants are free to dance or sit beside the circle and sing and do movements from their chairs, or just sit and listen. There is a social time afterwards.

For those of you who may not know, Samhain falls on the day between the fall solstice and winter equinox. Samhain is a pagan festival marking the end of summer, the harvest season and the arrival of winter and a time of the year when the veil between the worlds is believed to be especially thin. The Catholic Church created All Saint’s Day to honor the saints of the church and supersede the ancient Samhain festival. Halloween is the eve of All Saints (All Hallows) day. All Saints day has been adopted by many Protestant churches and has evolved into a holiday to honor deceased relatives.