Praying for the Dead Unites People of All Religions Worldwide

The origins of Christian Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts lived 2000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. They celebrated the new year on November 1, marking the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, Octobet 31, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, and they celebrated Samhain, in the belief that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth, causing trouble and damaging crops. But they also thought that the presence of the spirits made it easier for their Celtic priests, Druids, to make predictions. For the Celts, entirely dependent on the unpredictable natural world, prophecies were a source of comfort and direction during the frightening winter. To mark Samhain, Druids built huge sacred bonfires and everyone gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to their deities. For the celebration, they wore costumes, typically animal heads and skins, and tried to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier in the evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. By 43 AD, the Roman Empire had conquered Celtic territories, and in the next 400 years, two Roman festivals were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain - Feralia, a late October commemoration of the passing of the dead, and a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, whose symbol was the apple. The incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples on Halloween. On May 13, 609 AD, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established. Pope Gregory III (731–741) expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 AD, the church made November 2 All Souls Day, to honor the dead. It is believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse - All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-hallows Eve. In England, people gave soul cakes to the poor who came to their door, in return for the poor praying for their dead - thus was born "trick or treating." In the Austrian Tirol, soul cakes are still left for family souls on the table and the room kept warm for their comfort. In Brittany, people go to cemeteries at nightfall to kneel at the graves of their loved ones, and to anoint the tombstone with holy water or to pour libations of milk on it. At bedtime, the supper is left on the table for the souls. In Malta many people make pilgrimages to graveyards, not just to visit the graves of their dead relatives, but to experience the special day. Visits are not restricted to this day alone. During the month of November, Malta's cemeteries are frequented by families who pray at their family tombs. Among European Protestants, the tradition has been preserved. Even Luther's austere influence was not sufficient to abolish its celebration in what became Germany. It is the custom of French people to decorate the graves of their dead on the 1st of November. Polish and Hungarians go to the graveyards once a year to offer flowers and special grave lights. Among Czech people, the custom of visiting and tidying graves of relatives on the day is quite common. In North America, however, Protestant celebration of the holiday is generally secular, in the form of Halloween festivities, because Americans honor their dead on Memorial Day at the end of May. ~~~ In Mexico, La Dia de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead - was celebrated for 4,000 years by the Olmec, Aztec and Mayan cultures in the land that is now Mexico : they all shared a common belief in the afterlife. When people died, they didn't cease to exist, their soul carried on to the afterworld. The belief in the cyclical nature of life and death resulted in a joyous celebration of death, rather than a fear of death, which was simply a continuance of life on another plane of existence. Once a year the Aztecs held a festival celebrating the death of their ancestors, whom they believed wanted to be cheerfully remembered, not mourned. The Goddess Mictecacihuatl Festival lasted for a month, in July and August, during the corn harvest. The Spaniards conquered the Aztecs in 1521 and although they tried to squash the Aztec rituals, they failed. What they accomplished was a compromise. The Spanish succeeded in shortening the length of the festival to two days that corresponded with their own Catholic holidays on November 1 and 2. This change was a key point. The indigenous people attended masses on those two days to commemorate the dead, but they kept their native customs and traditions, too. Over the centuries, these traditions transformed into the present Day of the Dead, bestowing Dia de los Muertos with the color, joy, and fervor that has made it a world-famous holiday. The old Aztec Goddess Mictecacihuatl found a new identity as the modern " Catrina" - the lanky, skeletal female figure dressed in sumptuous clothing and giant ornate hats, who serves as a reminder that death is a fate that even the rich can't avoid. In Bolivia, many people believe that the dead eat the food that is left out for them. In Brazil people attend a Mass or visit the cemetery, taking flowers to decorate their relatives' graves, but no food is involved. ~~~ In China, Qingming has a tradition stretching back more than 2,500 years. It was formalized by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732 AD. Wealthy citizens in China were holding too many extravagant, expensive ceremonies in honor of their ancestors. Emperor Xuanzong curbed this practice by declaring that respects could be formally paid at ancestors' graves only on Qingming, a Chinese Spring festival that continues today as an opportunity to remember and honour ancestors at their graveside. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks and libations to ancestors. The rites have a long tradition in Asia, especially among farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming, or put willow branches on their gates and front doors in the belief that willow branches help ward off the ancient Chinese evil spirit that wanders the earth on Qingming. ~~~ There is no match for Halloween, All Saints or All Souls' Day in either the Jewish or Buddhist traditions. But both faiths have services to honor those who have died. For instance, remembering the dead is a part of the Jewish religion's three harvest festivals and Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. In Buddhism, spirits are welcomed in daily meditation. ~~~~~ Hinduism, like most Eastern religions, gives mportance to the new moon day for rituals and religious ceremonies. Hindus consider that this day links the present, past and future of all the living beings and they observe fasting and offer sacrifices for the departed souls of their relatives. They perform special pooja, or religious ceremony, for the peaceful rest of the departed souls of their forefathers. The new moon day that occurs in the middle of July is called Pithru Day, meant for remembering parents, teachers and all those who helped and guided them. ~~~ For Moslems, Mid-Sha'ban is the 15th day of the eighth month (shaaban) of the Islamic lunar calendar. The preceding night is known as Laylatul Bara’ah or Laylatun Nisfe min Sha’ban in the Arab world, and as Shab-e-barat in Afghanistan, Iran, India and Pakistan. These names are translated as 'records of deliverance or the night of salvation,' and the observance involves a festive night-long vigil with prayers. In some regions, deceased ancestors are commemorated. In South Asia, Moslems make sweets called Halwa or Zarda to give to neighbours and the poor on the evening prior to the 15th of Sha'ban. This custom of distributing Halwa is also practiced in Bosnia on the 15th night of Sha'ban. ~~~~~ Dear readers, in these times of too much religious suspicion and too many religious wars and sectarian deaths, it might help to remember that mankind shares many religious traditions. Praying for the dead is one. As we pray for our dead, let us pray for understanding and an end to religious killings.