Return of the Souls
Celebrating death with comforting fall holidays
After losing my parents, something shifted in me that built comfort with the idea of death. Believing that their spirits are still around and visit brings me much peace of mind. And the idea of lighting candles and feasting in their honour feels so right this time of year.
Autumn is a time of year when many religions think about death. It is the period when agricultural societies prepare for the change of the seasons from summer to winter, the harvest and rotating of crops. Days turn from lighter to dark. And some cultures believe this is a time when there’s a thinning of the veil between the land of the living and the dead. Thus two big celebrations to honour the dead fall in the fall: The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and All Souls Day.
Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated between October 31 and November 2 where the souls of dead relatives are welcomed by their families back to our world for a brief reunion. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on Oct 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours, with adults following on Nov 2. The holiday is celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those with Mexican heritage around the world and includes a joyful celebration full of food, drink and decoration. Día de los Muertos is a blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture and is believed to orginate back almost 3,000 years to the rituals honouring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Traditions include festive gatherings honouring the deceased using calaveras and cempazúchitl (marigold flowers), building ofrendas (home altars) laden with their favourite food and drink, telling stories and funny anecdotes, and visiting graves with gifts for the departed.
All Souls Day streams from ancient Europe, where pagan celebrations of the dead consisted of bonfires, dancing and feasting. The festival of Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and was marked by great gatherings and feasts. During this time it was imagined that portals to the otherworld would open. Some of the pagan customs were unofficially adopted them into the Christian holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, celebrated on the first two days of November. In medieval Spain, people would bring bring wine and pan de ánimas (spirit bread) to the graves of their loved ones on All Souls Day. In the 16th century, these traditions were brought to the New World. Today’s traditions include covering graves with flowers and light candles to illuminate the souls’ way back to their homes on earth.