Why do we Worship the Dead?

Day of the Dead, Festival of the Dead, All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Halloween 

Screen shot from Energy Works; spirit of design, health & lifestyle 

 Colourful macabre, painted, candied skulls embody or perhaps dis-embody the Festival of the Dead. It is a curious celebration that honors deceased loved ones. In some cultures it can last up to 3 days and most typically, follows the harvests of October or November.

 Japanese Buddhist custom refers to such occasion as Bon Festival, Inca religion calls it Ayamarca.  Peruvians, Pacific Islanders, Tonga Islands and Mexicans all have their own version. Historical research shows that even ancient Egyptians, Romans & Persians recognized their dead with celebration. Pitrupasksha in India is an integral part of the Hindu lunar calendar.

Also occurring around harvest time is All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead. In Mexico it is actually a national holiday when even banks are closed. Private alters are built, decorated with sugar skulls, orange marigolds and the favorite food or beverages of the departed. Graves are visited and gifts are left for those that have left this world. Scholars have traced the origins of this modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival that has been dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl (Lady of the Dead). In Brazil, where it is also a public holiday, citizens visit cemeteries and churches, while in Spain, there is the addition of parades, festivals and home gatherings. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, Asia, Africa and The Philippines. Throughout the world there is much feasting, singing, dancing and remembering. And of course there is Halloween.

Screen shot from
Energy Works; Spirit of design, health & lifestyle

Why do we worship so gravely, mockingly and reverent? 
 Because We Love.   Bereavement. Healthy mourning, a more celebratory way of letting go-  The Wake. Death days and festivals capture the very primal emotion of missing someone who has passed away. This act coupled by a surplus of food after harvest, visual expression of the dying season and physical death of a body, is the essence of human experience. We die. Our elders pass to the younger generation and we all have need of remembrance; because we love.

Many believe the dead will eat the spiritual essence of the food left out and that spirit, may be guided to this food - by colourful offerings of sugar skulls and candles. By donning grotesque masks and painted faces, it is believed the dead can easily integrate amongst the living, being with us, once more.

Is this odd? A desperate attempt to reconnect? Or, an incredibly cerebral way of dealing with such an emotional passage of time? Most people today know that these festivals have roots in ancient traditions that pre-date Jesus Christ—yet they have no qualms about taking part in a celebration that draws heavily on morbid pre-Christian superstitions.

Honouring past loved ones is understandable, but Halloween? "The two chief characteristics of ancient Hallowe'en were the lighting of bonfires and the belief that of all nights in the year this is the one during which ghosts and witches are most likely to wander abroad… Further, it was a Druidic belief that on the eve of this festival Saman, lord of death, called together the wicked souls that within the past twelve months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals "Halloween," (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

 Did professing Christians start following ancient Celtic practices? In 610ad, Pope Boniface IV established the Feast of All Holy Martyrs, held annually in the spring. In 835, Pope Gregory IV changed the date to November 1, and called it "All Saints Day" in honor of martyrs - for their faith.

The November 2 festival known as "All Souls Day" was established based on doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from venial sins, or have not atoned for past transgressions, cannot attain the Beatific Vision, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the mass" ("All Souls Day," Encyclopaedia Britannica)

What Becomes of the Dead? Many ancient religious traditions presume that the dead are somewhere other than in the grave. Many people assume that the departed dead are either in heaven, hell or some sort of intermediate conscious state. A lingering Soul. What, then, are the dead doing? The answer is neither mysterious nor spooky. In Christian faith, the dead are simply "sleeping" in their graves, unconscious, waiting to be called to resurrection. If the dead are unconscious in the grave—not alert as disembodied spirits in heaven—can we communicate with them? Many believe we can.

The afterlife sciences explore technologies - the words psychic, mediums and clairvoyants are common every day names. The Bible is loaded with angelic and paranormal experience. Religious circumstance separates the honor of deceased loved ones with that of the angry angels who followed Lucifer’s rebellion for they became demons. The Devil too, is dead. Regarding Satan with silly, spooky games that mock interaction with the spirit world is not the same as the deterioration of our human bodies, and the love lost, with death.

Halloween celebrates mischief, therefore it became an inevitable and acceptable time to settle old scores through the ancient custom of 'trick or treat,' The time of year that all the death observances occur, coincides when nature too is seasonally dying. Such recognition is ancient and primitive and not specifically pagan as proven because the majority of Festival of the Dead Cultures are Christian.

Every human person makes his or her own mark on the world. We leave behind legacies, infamy and stories. Some lives are remembered fondly as in the memories of all our beloved, and some lives leave wickedness, controversy and shame. Whether religiously pardoned or not, all of those who have passed have the potential to linger not only energetically, but also in our minds and hearts. It is no surprise, in my humble opinion, that the centuries of human existence is full of testimony regarding our willingness to worship lives past and I believe, deeply, that a magical thread of communication can remain.