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Pagans, Saints & The Dead
Nov. 1st, 2003 09:39 pmAll Hallows Eve, All Saints and Day of the Dead.
I call them a triumvirate of very twisted holidays.
You start with All Hallows Eve - or as we call it nowadays, Halloween. In spite of the Christian significance it has today (All Hallows Day meaning All Saints), it can actually be traced far back into Celtic Ireland and their celebration of the end of summer and of their new year - Samhain. I'm trusting it was a pretty pagan celebration. They believed that the spirits had a kind of free card on that night and were on the prowl looking for bodies to possess. Hence the tradition of people dressing up to look horrific. I mean, if you were a spirit with only one night to find a body to possess for the next year, would you choose one which looked like Freddy Krueger? The Celts agreed with you and tried their best to look undesirable. If you are one of those people who can't stand costumes - think about all those restless spirits looking for a nice body to inhabit. Perhaps that will provide you with enough motivation for next year.
The Catholic Church picked it up, along with a bunch of other stuff, from the Romans (who offered sacrifices on that day in order to give rest and peace to the dead). A Pope around the 7th century created the holiday (thus making it a staple of the Catholic calendar) in order to replace the pagan festival or as I call it, Christianize it.
All Saint's Day is pretty much still seen as a date to honor all the saints in Heaven and Earth. Yes, the Heaven. As I mentioned above, it was also the first day of the Celtic new year and the beginning of winter for them. It's a church going day to many still and a biggie for Catholics (don't forget this Pope really likes his saints - with all due respect).
In other parts of the world November 2 is the Day of the Dead and it is a big deal. In Mexico it's a day to party and there are skulls on every corner. It has become a tourist attraction of sorts, but the spirit behind it is sincere and true. In Brazil more flowers are sold than any other time of the year. People go to the cemeteries, clean and decorate graves and go to mass to remember and pray for their loved ones. It's also considered a bad omen to be born on this day. The curious thing is that on this day it's believed the dead can more easily bridge the gap between their world and ours - much on the original spirit of Halloween.
Three days. All honoring the dead one way or the other.
Curiosity: Where I come from Day of the Dead is also knows as St. Never's day. So when somebody says never here - it pretty much means November 2nd.
Chen
I call them a triumvirate of very twisted holidays.
You start with All Hallows Eve - or as we call it nowadays, Halloween. In spite of the Christian significance it has today (All Hallows Day meaning All Saints), it can actually be traced far back into Celtic Ireland and their celebration of the end of summer and of their new year - Samhain. I'm trusting it was a pretty pagan celebration. They believed that the spirits had a kind of free card on that night and were on the prowl looking for bodies to possess. Hence the tradition of people dressing up to look horrific. I mean, if you were a spirit with only one night to find a body to possess for the next year, would you choose one which looked like Freddy Krueger? The Celts agreed with you and tried their best to look undesirable. If you are one of those people who can't stand costumes - think about all those restless spirits looking for a nice body to inhabit. Perhaps that will provide you with enough motivation for next year.
The Catholic Church picked it up, along with a bunch of other stuff, from the Romans (who offered sacrifices on that day in order to give rest and peace to the dead). A Pope around the 7th century created the holiday (thus making it a staple of the Catholic calendar) in order to replace the pagan festival or as I call it, Christianize it.
All Saint's Day is pretty much still seen as a date to honor all the saints in Heaven and Earth. Yes, the Heaven. As I mentioned above, it was also the first day of the Celtic new year and the beginning of winter for them. It's a church going day to many still and a biggie for Catholics (don't forget this Pope really likes his saints - with all due respect).
In other parts of the world November 2 is the Day of the Dead and it is a big deal. In Mexico it's a day to party and there are skulls on every corner. It has become a tourist attraction of sorts, but the spirit behind it is sincere and true. In Brazil more flowers are sold than any other time of the year. People go to the cemeteries, clean and decorate graves and go to mass to remember and pray for their loved ones. It's also considered a bad omen to be born on this day. The curious thing is that on this day it's believed the dead can more easily bridge the gap between their world and ours - much on the original spirit of Halloween.
Three days. All honoring the dead one way or the other.
Curiosity: Where I come from Day of the Dead is also knows as St. Never's day. So when somebody says never here - it pretty much means November 2nd.
Chen
