Why Are So Many People Afraid of Death? The History Behind Halloween.

When I arrived at Rainbow Bridge, I really didn't know the difference between Halloween and the Day of the Dead. My friends Here came from all earth faiths, cultures and backgrounds and we all got together to talk about the holidays that we celebrated with our humans on earth. It was fascinating! 

If you live in a place that has four seasons, you know that hard frost usually comes to the garden near October's end. The harvest must happen before the frost comes or the harvest will be lost. 2000 years ago the Celts celebrated Samhain to welcome the Fall Harvest at the end of each Summer. (Remember how I've said that the end of something is always the beginning of another?)  The Celts believed that on a particular night the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead became very thin and that they could communicate with the spirits of the souls who had transitioned. They offered up the harvest, for they believed that the souls of their dearly departed would visit, drawn back by the very power of their faith. They would have parties, wear masks, dress up in animal skins and tell fortunes. Ultimately the Celts were conquered by the Romans and around 600 AD. Samhain merged with Christian tradition and it became an annual routine to pray for the dead at harvest time.

The inspired Pope eventually declared November 1 as the annual day to honor the martyrs and saints. When November 1 became All Saint's Day, October 31st became All Hallow's Eve. A hallow is a saint, or holy person. E'en was the short version of "evening" and thus evolved "Hallow-een"! Did you know that?! I didn't!

The Irish Catholic immigrants brought All Hallow's Eve with them to the U.S. and "Hallowe'en" soon became a tradition. Meanwhile the Catholics and other Christians revered the date of November 2nd as All Soul's Day, a day when the dead are honored. Far away, south of the equator 3000 years before, the Aztec people were honoring their tradition of Dia de los Muertos: The Day of the Dead. It is sometimes known as Dia de los Santos (Santos = Saints) in Central and South America. This day which used to be a month-long observance, continues to be passionately celebrated. The beauty of it was --and still is-- that The Day of the Dead reveres those who have passed from this world into the next. It does not mourn their death, it celebrates their life! It does not fear. It is driven by love. It is a happy time, a colorful celebration of food and flowers, masks and processions, music, altars and candles. Other cultures too, from one side of the world to the other, established similar traditions and over time they blended together to become the holidays of today.  

In the fast pace of modern life, details can be lost and misconstrued. The beauty of these holi-("holy")-days can be smothered in retail consumerism and hype. Many people get caught up in the candy, the costumes, the haunted houses, eerie ghosts and scary ghouls. They completely forget about Heaven and the Harvest. They forget about the Souls who once touched their lives and the natural beauty of an edible organic pumpkin before it is carved into a jack o'lantern.

Mostly they forget the thinning of the veil.* They grow up as children fearing ghosts and goblins --- and they learn to fear death too. The souls of those who love them become the creepy phantoms. They are not often taught that life goes on and the souls of their loved ones live forever in a sacred place where they wait for the rest of us to Come Home. These children become adults who have lost faith in what they cannot see. In fact they become quite fearful of what they cannot see. They forget that they are never ever separated --- no not even by death -- from the ones they love. 

Sometimes you need to create new traditions for yourself when you are faced with loss and grief --- or if you are struggling with family issues and disappointments. Holidays can be difficult at best when your life feels empty or incomplete. One of the things you can do for yourself this holiday "season" is to celebrate Halloween as your very own Day of the Dead. Do not mourn the loss. Celebrate the life.  Build an altar, light a candle. Say your prayers. Invite your loved one to visit you and talk with them about your hopes, dreams and memories. Soak in the happy times of being blessed by someone in your life who loved you and who loves you still. Someone who taught you the meaning of love, not fear. 

Celebrate that love and know that love never dies. 

"Become as little children..."    

Matt. 18:3

* If you've read Book 1, you know how I love studying language. As I wrote the word VEIL I saw the word "EVIL," scrambled. I saw the world "VILE," scrambled. Then I saw the word "LIVE" and that's the one I'm going with!

"You Were The Teacher I Needed..."

"Reflections...Book 1. This is by far one of the Greatest Books I have ever Read, Touched my Heart and Soul, a True Masterpiece. The Whole Series, the books are truly inspiring....You were the Teacher I needed to find to open up the door that had been closed for so long..."  

~George K.

Click HERE to see more of our wonderful reviews and to order this and the other books in the Jack McAfghan Trilogy! 

Rainbow Bridge is not a "Real" Bridge...

There is one thing you need to understand in order to heal your grief....and you will understand clearly when you read "Reflections". Heaven is not up in the sky somewhere. Rainbow Bridge is not a long apparatus made of bricks and mortar and steel. Our loved ones live all around us... in the very same space... just on a different level of vibration, like a radio that has different stations and frequencies. Your best friend is right beside you where they've always been. The Bridge is a thin veil of love. Only Gone From Your Sight.

Heaven is all around you. You just can’t see us because We are vibrating at a higher level than you are. It’s kind of like a dog whistle. There is a noise, a pitch so high that the human ear cannot detect it but it is there nonetheless, for don’t you see all the dogs come running!

When we cross Rainbow Bridge we become only Love and Love is the highest level of vibration--the highest 'pitch' so to speak. This is why you cannot see Us. We are here, only gone from your sight until one day you are the same vibration as We are. When you vibrate in Love all the time you will not have to ask again if I AM here; you will know that I AM here with you.

~ Jack McAfghan: Return from Rainbow Bridge 

Available Worldwide on Amazon and through your favorite bookseller

All Dogs Need A Purpose: The Service Dogs of 9-11

(Excerpt from 

"Jack McAfghan: Reflections on Life with my Master" 

Chapter 15) 

"...A dog can wag its tail but a dog needs more than that. Just like a person needs a purpose, a dog needs a purpose too. We don’t feel good when we are just taking up space. Grady had been a successful therapy dog many years before. We all need to be successful at something for as long as we live.

One of our friends was a veteran rescue dog from the World Trade Center. He had many stories about rescuing people from the wreckage. We learned a lot from him. He told us that when the buildings went down many rescue workers arrived on site, including specially trained dogs from all over the country. He was one of them. The mission of the dogs was to find survivors and victims. All too soon the unfortunate time came when no more could be found. At this point many of the dogs became listless and depressed.* They refused to eat or drink. They failed to thrive. They did not feel the desire to live because they were simply not able to fulfill their purpose. Being able to do something we’re good at prolongs our life and promotes our sense of well-being. 

If we don’t have a job to do, a task to accomplish, or someone to serve on a regular basis we will create our own opportunities. We will chase lizards and rabbits, obsess about squirrels and other mammals, bark at everyone who passes by or rearrange the rugs in the house. We can always find something to do if our humans don’t need us or provide us with work to do..."

In memory. 

May we never forget those we lost and what we learned.

* What we did not choose to share in our book came from a reliable source at Ground Zero. The only way to keep the rescue dogs on task and moving forward when no more casualties could be found was to replant body parts and scents in the rubble so the dogs could continually have a measure of success. Success is everything to a true service dog. Much like humans, when we "retire" we need another job to do or we lose our momentum for living.   

Picking Up The Ashes: Entering the Twilight Zone of Grief

Picking Up The Ashes: Entering the Twilight Zone of Grief
Click the link above for actual video footage of the scene which will open in a new window.

Excerpt from Book 3, Chapter 20 "Jack McAfghan: Return from Rainbow Bridge"  

"It was the first time she went to the park without me. She had just been to the vet to pick up my ashes. It was raining that day; pouring just like it poured the morning that I passed. I knew right where she would go. She would always go to Grandfather Tree when she was having a bad time or needed to sort things out in her head. She sat down under the mulberry, which was thick with big leaves, so thick that the rain rolled right off of them while she remained dry underneath. She thought of me, her mind playing like a cinematic movie, reviewing the fun times we had shared. Her thoughts began to crescendo as she remembered the suffering of our final hours together. I did not want her to go to those memories.


Suddenly a car pulled up into the parking lot behind her. She heard a door open and close. It made her stop sniffling a little bit but she was kind of upset because she really just wanted to be alone. Who in their right mind would be out in this rainstorm? A moment later she turned her head and her tear-filled eyes to watch as they walked by.  It was a woman walking with her Afghan Hound under a big red umbrella. What kind of person comes out to the park and walks in the pouring rain, she asked herself again. And an Afghan Hound? Kate had never seen an Afghan Hound in these parts. None of it made sense and she wondered if she was dreaming, but she wasn’t. I sent the rain. I sent the woman. I sent the Afghan Hound. I sent the red umbrella. Remember what I said about things that make no sense?..."  


The Jack McAfghan Trilogy will heal your grief. Available on Amazon Worldwide and through your favorite bookseller. Visit http://amzn.to/2vSuPwb to see our five star reviews. Start feeling better in a matter of hours by starting with Book 1 "Reflections" 

When You Grieve For One Who Grieves

Sometimes it is harder to witness one grieving than it is to grieve for yourself. Sometimes you grieve more for them than they grieve for themselves because you tend to project your own feelings onto them and it distorts and magnifies the grief.

Yesterday she heard the familiar "THUMP" of the bird hitting the window. She ran outside and it was a young adult female cardinal. So beautiful. It had died instantly having broken its neck in the impact.  

She went inside to get a soft towel and returned for burial proceedings. She admired its feathers, its beak, its regal beauty as she wrapped the bird. She prayed for it and spoke with it as she carried it to the fence at the back of the yard, the place where the cardinal and her mate would often frolic and play.  

As she dug the soft hole, she cried softly. She covered the beautiful creature with the dirt which she sifted through her fingers so that it would land gently upon the tangerine-colored wings. 

After she went back into the house, she tried to re-focus on her tasks at hand there. In a matter of moments there was the "CHIRP CHIRP" of the male cardinal. He was at the back fence flitting around. "CHIP CHIP CHIRP CHIRP".  Oh this made her cry again, harder. It was not a happy chirp. She imagined what it must be like for the cardinal's partner to not know what happened. To be confused and lost and alone. She wondered if they had a nest -- of eggs -- or perhaps of little ones who still needed their mother in order to survive. She had hopes that cardinals do not mate for life so that this beautiful red boy would be able to find love again. 

Throughout the day she would hear his CHIRP and she would be so unhappy for him.  

But today, there he was. CHIRP! CHIRP!  Flying around with another girl. Humans take a long time to heal and four-leggeds heal 7x faster. Birds heal almost immediately once they know what's going on.  Mr. Cardinal had seen the whole thing. He knew what had happened. He did not waste any time in grief for as soon as his lady passed, she joined him in spirit.  

Birds and animals know more than you think they do and they are capable of knowing more than you know.  They would say to you this: 

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."  

Jalaluddin Rumi

Read my books and I will help you understand how we go and how we come back and what happens in the middle of it all. 

Jack McAfghan: The Trilogy is available worldwide on Amazon and through all major booksellers.  

Don't Be In A Hurry. It Takes Time to Heal.

There is a period of one to two earth years that humans are to refrain from making big decisions. It’s because you don’t always make the best decisions when you are grieving. Those who make decisions in haste often live to regret them. You must move through the time of suffering, strengthening your faith and being willing to grow through the grief in order to be able to see things differently. As you grow, your blind faith will continue to open your eyes. You will see everything in a whole new light when you come out the other side of grief. 

Then you will be able to make very good decisions for yourself, better than ever, because of what you learned.

"Jack McAfghan: Return from Rainbow Bridge"