Festivals of the Dead

festival-dead

The light is dying as the dark strengthens. Winter is approaching bringing with it darkness and wind-whipped stormy days and nights. This is a time and season to honor our family, kin, ancestors and the hidden spirits of the earth. It is a time to go inward and strengthen our connection with the Otherworld.

At this time near the end of October the natural world appears to be dying in its natural cycle of death and rebirth. During this period of time, festivals of the dead celebrated and acknowledged the ancestors and the dead in general with offerings of food being commonplace throughout many cultures.

Burnings—Feeding the Spirits

Feeding the spirits of the dead could be considered the supreme compassionate, ceremonial, indigenous religious practice. Nonetheless, there is still one dark blemish on this premier spiritual practice: down through history and throughout various cultures, there have been times when humans, even children, have become the sacrificial food of the gods.

Feeding the spirits or doing a burning is one of the shamanic/religious practices and power handed down to my wife and I by the late shamans Mom and Vince Stogan. Since this knowledge was and still is orally transmitted, I can only reveal a few things. Before we open the ceremony by calling in the spirits, I paint myself and my wife with red paint, symbolic of blood. Three plates of food and drink are always required: for the ancient ones, the spirits of the land, and most importantly, the forgotten ones. The plates are then burned providing “food for the Otherworld.” Contrary to Festivals of the Dead that are held once a year, burnings may be done anytime during the year for such reasons as beginnings and endings—funerals, memorials.

El Día de Muertos

El Día de Muertos, or the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival originated in pre-Hispanic cultures who believed that during these days of the year the souls of the departed would return to the realm of the living, where they could visit their loved ones.

“The celebration includes offerings of cempasúchil flowers, drinks and food for the deceased placed alongside their photographs and poems. Another traditional practice is the making of the bread of the dead and the sugar, colorful calaveras (skulls), decorated and labeled with names of people (living or dead).

“The creation of the altar is an integral part of the celebration, with many of the ceremonial objects and familiar signature items of Mexican culture to many outside of the country. Altars are often decorated with flowers, whose brief life span is meant to be a reminder of the brevity of life and whose bright, earthly colors are believed to be a guide for the dead back to their loved ones. Brightly colored and intricately cut tissue paper decorates the altar, waving like multi-colored flags. Offerings of sweets, fruits, and other foods are joined by the staples of bread, salt, and water. Grooming supplies, such as a washbasin and soap, may be provided for the spirits to tidy themselves up after their long journey.”[i]

Similar to burnings where we prepare a plate for the forgotten ones, the Maya Ritual of the Dead, Hanal Pixán, honors the solitary soul. In this case, a home altar is “dedicated to all deceased who have no one to remember them on Earth, or who had no known relatives, or relatives who showed no interest in them…. This simple offering is placed on a small table with a white tablecloth, together with a large white candle, a glass of water and a plate of food.”[ii]

Samhain

This honoring of the dead was the primary celebration in the Celtic calendar until the rise of Christianity in the 7th century. This was a transition time between summer and winter and a time to honor the dead—the ancestors as well as the spirits of the land. The “dead ancestors were, in many ways, still considered to be an active part of the living community. The feast of Samhain and the idea of a link between the living world and the Otherworld are inseparably intertwined. The communal feast was the main event of Samhain. On the eve of October 31 each year, communities gathered together to partake in a ritual feast.

“There were two widespread strains of customs when it came to preparing food for the feast. The first involved preparing some food to specifically set aside for the dead ancestors to consume. In some cases particular kinds of food were made for the dead, while in other cases a portion of the food prepared for the living was set aside for the dead. This act, by acknowledging the presence of the dead, was a means for the living to strengthen bonds with dead ancestors, retaining the souls of the departed as active members of the larger Celtic community.”[iii]

Winter Nights

Pre-Christian Norse celebrated and honored family and community throughout the whole of winter. However, there was three very specific times of Winter Nights for celebrating, sacrificing and for caution. And the reason for the caution; the first Winter Night, Vetrnætr, was also the beginning of Óðinn’s Wild Hunt which reached its peak around the Winter Solstice. This was a time of cold-whipped wild winter storms reflected by the imagery of Óðinn astride his eight-legged steed, Sleipnir, leading his spectral host across the night sky—woe to those that venture out on a stormy and menacing dark night. (Of course, good advice and common sense.)

The first Winter Night was celebrated around mid to late October. The second Winter Night was celebrated mid-January or mid-winter until it was moved to coincide with Yule (ON jól) on the Winter Solstice. The third was celebrated around the middle to the end of April honoring the beginning of the summer season The Norwegians and Icelanders divided their year into two seasons: the light (summer) and the dark (winter). All dates of the celebrations could vary depending on environmental conditions. The reason: they were in partnership with nature and listened to the sounds of the earth, the ebb and flow of the tides and the winds and the birds of the sky. They were not separated from nature like our society and culture, which is ruled by linear time and obsessed with calendar dates.

Vetrnætr, the first Winter Night celebration, was a blót (sacrifice/blessing) honoring the successful harvest and protection from the harshness of winter. It was a blessing and honoring of the fertility gods and goddesses, the dísir (a certain type of female deity), the ancestors, the landvættir (land-wights) and the hidden spirits of the earth; elves and faëries if you need a name. Basically, a blót signifies honoring the deities through sacrifice. It also meant to strengthen the relationship between the kin and the Otherworld. This celebration was also an occasion for heavy drinking.

The most common blót connected with Vetrnætr was dísablót honoring the dísir. Additionally, Freyr was one of the deities honored during this time of the year for a fruitful harvest and peace. In conclusion, as we hold our horns high filled with ale or mead an excellent toast during this winter season would be til árs ok friðar (for a good year and frith/peace) – Skål.’

[i] https://edsitement.neh.gov/october-2010-history-and-origins-halloween-and-day-dead-celebrations

[ii] Hanal Pixán, 24.

[iii] Jessica Richard, Samhain: How Ritual Formed and Formation of Irish Celtic Identity, 448.

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