Days Of The Dead
Days of the Dead or Días de los Muertos observance varies by region and by degree of urbanization. This celebration is a diabolic ritual and is not Christian nor is it biblical. The Days of the Dead is an ancient Aztec celebration of the memory of deceased ancestors celebrated on November 1 (All Saints Day) and November 2 (All Souls' Day). The souls of children are believed to return first on November 1, with adult spirits following on November 2. The holiday is especially popular in Mexico where it is a national holiday, and is celebrated in the Philippines, Brazil, in Mexican-American communities in the United States, and to a lesser extent in other Latin American countries.
The original celebration can be traced to many Mesoamerican’s native traditions, such as the festivities held during the Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli, presided by the "Lady of the Dead" (Mictecacihuatl), and dedicated to children and the dead. Real Christians are children of the Light and not of darkness and death. A real Christian would never celebrate death and dying. In the Aztec calendar, this ritual fell roughly at the end of the Gregorian month of July and the beginning of August. In the post-conquest era, the ritual was moved by Spanish priests to coincide with the Catholic holiday of All Hallows Eve. This was an attempt to transform the observance from a pagan and profane “holy day” to a Catholic celebration. The result is Latinos celebrate the day of the dead during the first two days of November, rather than at the beginning of summer. The modern festivity is characterized by the traditional Mexican blend of ancient, aboriginal pagan rites and Catholic anti-scriptural features.
Generalizing broadly, the holiday's activities consist of families welcoming their dead back into their homes (necromancy, an abomination to God), and visiting the graves of their close kin. At the cemetery, family members engage in sprucing up the gravesite, decorating it with flowers, setting a picnic, and interacting socially with other family and community members who gather there. In both cases, celebrants believe that the souls of the dead return and are all around them. The Bible states a soul either goes to heaven or hell and does not leave that present state until Judgment Day. Families remember the departed by telling stories about them. The meals prepared for these picnics usually feature meat dishes in spicy sauces, chocolate beverages, cookies, sugary confections in a variety of animal or skull shapes, and a special egg-batter bread, "pan de muerto" or bread of the dead. This celebration elevates the culture of death instituted by the devil.
Gravesites and family altars are profusely decorated with flowers (primarily large, bright flowers such as marigolds and chrysanthemums), and adorned with religious amulets and with offerings of food, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages. The dead spirits are elevated to a position of a god and given offerings, which is idolatry. The Bible states idolatry is an abomination to God almighty. Amulets are tokens or symbols that are supposed to ward off evil spirits. Amulets are a myth, which deceive people into thinking they are safe from evil. The precious blood of Jesus Christ applied to a sinner’s soul, the Holy Scriptures, and God Himself are the way a person can be kept from evil, the evil one, and evil spirits. A trinket has no power over anything.
Portions from Salvador, R. J. (2003). What Do Mexicans Celebrate On The Day Of The Dead? Pp. 75-76, IN Death And Bereavement In The Americas. Death, Value And Meaning Series, Vol. II. Morgan, J. D. And P. Laungani (Eds.) Baywood Publishing Co., Amityville, New York. Available online at: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rjsalvad/scmfaq/muertos.html
Flowers which are thought to attract souls of the dead are brought to the offerings. Toys are brought for dead children (los angelitos, or little angels), and bottles of tequila, mezcal, pulque or atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or the deceased's favorite candies on the grave. Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto, or sugar skulls and beverages such as atole. The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrenda food, so even though the celebrators eat the food after the festivity, they believe it lacks nutritional value. The pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Mixquic, Pátzcuaro and Janitzio, people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives.
In the town of Pátzcuaro on the Lago de Pátzcuaro in Michoacán the tradition is dancing with colorful costumes, often with skull-shaped masks and devil masks in the plaza or garden of the town. At midnight on November 2, the people light candles and ride winged boats called mariposas (Spanish for "butterfly") to Cuiseo, an island in the middle of the lake where there is a cemetery, to honor and celebrate the lives of the dead there. In some parts of the country, children in costumes roam the streets, asking passersby for a calaverita, a small gift of money; they don't knock on people's doors.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times…a consulter with familiar spirits (séances), or a wizard, or a necromancer (a person who communicates with dead spirits). For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD… Deut. 18:10-12.
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Deuteronomy 18:9-12
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD.
Halloween is a pagan holiday of necromancy in which modern-day witches, wizards, and warlocks practice communication with demons. The Roman Catholic Church blended unscriptural practices with this pagan holiday, calling it All Hallows Eve followed by All Saints Day. A true Christian has no business honoring the devil by celebrating or practicing any part of this unholy day.
Halloween originated in the British Isles as a pagan Celtic harvest festival of Samhain. Irish, Scots, and other immigrants brought their versions of the tradition to North America in the 19th century. Celebrated by Gaels, Neo-pagans, Wiccans, and Druids on the evening October 31, being the traditional first day of winter. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent.
Halloween is most popular in Ireland, also known in Irish Gaelic as "Oíche Shamhna" or "Samhain Night.” The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, a pastoral and agricultural festival of fire. It was a time when the dead revisited the mortal world, and large communal bonfires were lit to ward off evil spirits. Halloween did not become a nationally recognized holiday in America until the 19th century because Bible Believing Christians preached against this celebration. North American almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries make no mention of Halloween in their lists of holidays. The migration of nearly two million Irishmen, following the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849) brought the holiday and its customs to America. Scottish emigrants from the British Isles, primarily to Canada before 1870 and to the United States thereafter, brought their version of the holiday to North America.
Samhain is pronounced "sow" (as in female pig) + "en" because "mh" in the middle of an Irish word has a "w" sound. It is known in Modern Irish as Lá Samhna, in Welsh as Nos Galen-gaeof (that is, the Night of the Winter Calends), The Scottish Gaelic spelling is Samhuinn, and in Manx as Laa Houney (Hollantide Day). The same word was used for a month in the Celtic calendar, and in particular the first three nights of this month, the festival marking the ending of the summer season. The name is also used for one of the sabbat feasts in the Neo-pagan wheel of the year. Bealtaine, Lúnasa, and Samhain are still today the names of the months of May, August and November in the Irish language. Similarly, Lùnasdal and Samhain are the modern Scots Gaelic names for August and November.
Samhain was the original festival that became "All Saints' Day" in the Catholic calendar. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day to replace the pagan festival of the dead. It was observed on May 13. Later, Gregory III changed the date to November 1. The Greek Orthodox Church observes it on the first Sunday after Pentecost despite this connection with the Roman Church. Since the Celts, like many cultures, started every day at sunset of the night before, this became the "evening" of "All Hallows" which was eventually contracted into "Hallow-e'en" or the modern "Halloween."
In some types of paganism, particularly Wicca and Druidry, Samhain is one of the eight annual holidays or sabbats. In some Wiccan denominations this feast, celebrated in the northern hemisphere on October 31st or November 1st and is observed in the southern hemisphere on May 1st. This holiday, along with Litha, is one of the most important among Wiccans (witches) and public Samhain rituals invariably attract large gatherings. It is the last of the harvest festivals (after Lammas and Mabon); in some traditions, it symbolizes the death of the old god. Yule (winter solstice) also commonly portrays this symbolization. Wiccans believe on their holy day of Samhain (also called “Hallowmas”) the material world conjoins with the world of the dead. At this time the spirits of the dead, walk amongst the living. The dead can return to the places where they once lived, so some traditions provide food and entertainment in their honor. Click here to read about Dia De Los Muertos.
Wiccans believe the symbolism of “the veil between the worlds is thin" is integral to their belief system, but not all take the saying as literal. According to Starhawk (The Spiral Dance, 1979) Samhain is "the night when the veil is thin that divides the worlds…the gates of life and death are opened and to the living are revealed “The Mystery” that every ending is but a new beginning.” In other words, modern day pagans and witches believe Halloween is the night when the dead leave the underworld to visit their old haunts to reveal to mortals that death on earth is the beginning of another life. True Christians know this is a lie of the devil in which lost souls are deceived into believing in the falsehood of a death culture. Death on earth without Jesus Christ is the beginning of the second death in hell, not a new beginning.
In parts of western Brittany Samhain is still heralded by the baking of kornigou, cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his "cuckold" horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld. The Romans identified Samhain with their own feast of the dead called the Lemuria. However, this was observed in the days leading up to May 13. With the blending-in of Catholicism, the festival (originally tied to the Roman festival in May) became All Hallows' Day on November 1st, followed by All Souls' Day on November 2nd, after which the night of October 31st was called “All Hallow's Eve.” Catholicism built on the pagan foundations rooted in these British Isles. The remnants of the festival dedicated to the dead eventually morphed into the pagan holiday known today as Halloween. It is not a “Hallowed” time in any scriptural sense of the word at all.
In addition to its agriculture significance, the ancient Celts saw Samhain as a very “spiritual” time. Because October 31st lies exactly between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice, the ancient peoples, with their reliance on astrology, thought it was a very potent time for magic and communion with spirits. The "veil between the worlds" of the living and the dead was said to be at its thinnest on this day. So the dead were invited to return to feast with their loved ones (séances). The dead were welcomed in from the cold, much as the animals were brought inside. Ancient customs range from placing food out for dead ancestors, to performing rituals for communicating with those who had passed over to the underworld (necromancy and séances).
Divination of the future was also commonly practiced during this believed, magically potent time; since it was also the Celtic New Year, people focused on their desires for the coming year. Certain traditions, such as bobbing for apples, roasting nuts in the fire, and baking cakes, which contained tokens of luck, are actually ancient methods of telling fortunes. Apples were the fruit of the Other World, a land sometimes called Avalon or Avallach - the Isle of Apples. They were often used for magic and fortune telling. A young woman would peel an apple all in one paring, and throw it over her shoulder on Samhain Eve. The peeling would take the shape of the first initial of the man she would marry. Eating an apple in front of a mirror while combing your hair will conjure your true love's image in the mirror. Another tradition is "dunking for apples.” Apples are placed in a tub or barrel of water, and dunkers will try to retrieve these apples with their teeth. Those who succeed will have good fortune the following year.
Hazel nuts were also used in matrimonial divination. Two groups of "Sweetheart" hazel nuts were placed within the hearth fire; one group was marked with the names of the village's eligible maidens, and the other with the eligible bachelors. As the nuts popped, the names of the pairs were romantically linked. On a more somber note, people sometimes placed a hazelnut with their initials on them in the hearth fire. If the nuts were missing the next morning, the unlucky person would not survive that year. Hazel is a sacred tree in Irish and Scottish paganism. In Ireland, nine hazel trees grew around the Well of Segais, where the sacred Salmon lived. This was the Celtic source of all wisdom. Hazel nuts on Samhain availed seers of that sacred wisdom.
In paganism, the jack-o-lantern symbolizes a dead soul who can enter neither heaven nor hell. Originally, a turnip was carved out and a burning coal from hell was placed inside for lighting the lantern. The dead would walk the earth on Samhain with a turnip lantern in order to see their way to their haunting grounds. Ireland grows some big turnips. They were used for lanterns in previous generations and are much harder to carve than pumpkins. Irish immigrants to North America switched over to using pumpkins instead of turnips for jack-o-lanterns to celebrate their pagan holiday. North American pumpkins were larger than Irish turnips and easier to hollow out.
Druids
For Druids the three days of Samhain have a special quality about them. The veil between this world and the world of their Ancestors was drawn aside on these nights. For those who were prepared, journeys could be made in safety to the 'other side'. The Druid rites were concerned with making contact with the spirits of the departed, who were seen as sources of guidance and inspiration rather than sources of dread. The time when no moon could be seen in the sky was the phase called the dark moon. This time ruled for pagans because it represented an hour in which their mortal sight needed to be obscured in order for them to see into the other world. Druidry, as a religion of magical practice evolved out of earlier pre-Druidic cult practices.
In 50 BC, Julius Caesar wrote Druidism originated in Britain, and although some claim that Druids could be found across much of Europe, from Ireland in the west to Anatolia (now Turkey) in the east, scholars now believe this is unlikely. Druids were native to the British Isles, Ireland, and western Gaul (now France). Thousands of years later a classical writer claimed Druids met in caves, and the symbolism of caves and animals acts as an inspiration for Druids. They revere Mother Nature and understand caves symbolically as the womb and the potential for rebirth. The references to Druids from medieval Irish literature make no mention of sacrifices. They described the Druids of Ireland as the wisest and most learned people of their time, who acted as advisors, wizards, and magicians.
Although the Druids have always been associated with stone circles such as Stonehenge, some academics dismiss this idea. Historians used to say that the Druids could not have used Stonehenge and all the other stone circles in Britain, because the Druids were the priests of the Celts, and the Celts only arrived in Britain in 500 BC. Since no stone monuments were built after 1400 BC, they pointed to the gap of nine hundred years separating the last of the stone circles from the arrival of the Druids. However, in the 1960’s many historians changed their minds. They believed the origin of the Celtic tribes was far more complex than originally presumed, and suggested instead that early, or Proto-Celts were in Britain as early as 2000 BC - when the great stone monuments were still being built - and that they could well have been involved in their theme or construction.
In the 1940’s and 50’s the Ancient Druid Order attracted to it two figures who would act as catalysts for the explosion of interest in paganism experienced today. Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols both joined the Druid Order. Later, Gardner became the seminal figure to promote the religion of Wicca (witchcraft) while Nichols – enthused by Robert Graves’ White Goddess, which described his discovery of a Druidic tree-language - developed Druidism by focusing its concerns on Celtic lore and mythology. Together they elaborated an eightfold cycle of observances, which now lies at the foundations of both Wiccan and Druid practice.
Theology
Druids believe Druidry is a spiritual path – a religion to some, a way of life to others – Druids share their belief in the fundamentally spiritual nature of life. Some will favor a particular way of understanding the source of this spiritual nature, and may feel themselves to be animists, pantheists, polytheists, monotheists, or duo-theists. Others will avoid choosing any one conception of Deity, believing that by its very nature this is unknowable by the mind.
Druid Festivals
At the heart of Druidism lies their love of Nature and of “her” changing faces as the seasons turn. Eight times a year, once every six weeks or so, Druids participate in a celebration that expresses “this love.” These seasonal festivals can be large public events with hundreds of adults and children gathering at sacred sites, such as Stonehenge, Avebury, or Glastonbury in England. On the other extreme, they can be very private events celebrated by a single Druid in their garden or living room, or by a small group of Druids and friends who have gathered in a park or garden.
These eight seasonal festivals consist of the solstices and equinoxes - four moments during the year which are dictated by the relationship between the Earth and Sun – and the four ‘cross-quarter' festivals which are not determined astronomically, but are related to the traditional pastoral calendar. The other four festivals are also related to the seasons, but are not tied to specific astronomical events. Instead, they have evolved from traditional festival times linked to farming practices begun in Western Europe thousands of years ago: lambing in early February, bringing the cattle out to pasture in early May, the start of the harvest at the beginning of August, and the preparations for winter at the end of October.
Many of the traditions of Halloween derive from pagan Druid customs. It is a time of prophesies, of disguising oneself to avert evil, of performing rites of protection from the dead and Otherworldly spirits. The ancient Druid practice was to circle the tribal Samhain bonfire with the skulls of their ancestors, who would protect the tribe from demons that night. In modern Scotland, children have inherited the ancient custom of disguising themselves in costumes. These "guisers" wear masks, or blacken their faces. They carve turnips in the shape of skulls and place a candle within, creating an eerie effect. The children travel from door to door, performing or singing for their treats. When they are not rewarded for their antics, they resort to tricks. Those with the Second Sight (Taibhsear, in Scots Gaelic) were often sought this night for fortune telling. These persons were invited to gatherings to entertain guests with their arcane arts. One method was to prick an egg and let the contents drip into a glass of clear water. The Taibhsear could read the shapes, much like a crystal ball, and predict the supplicant's future.
“Druidry and Wicca are two entirely separate paths.”
However, there are a number of similarities between the two paths, and some people combine Druid and Wiccan ideas or practices, just as others combine other spiritual ways with Druidry. This combination is sometimes called “Druidcraft.” Druidry celebrates the same eight fire festivals (Samhain, Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas/Lughnasadh, Fall Equinox) as Wicca, but not the moon cycles. The Druid Circles are less structured, and less firmly inviting - there is no, "I call you..." when summoning spirits, but rather, an invitation & waiting for the energy, e.g. of the quarters, to come into the Circle. Magic is not taught. Methods of personal growth are emphasized, including meditation and visualization. It is, in a sense, a gentler path. Druidry is solar -oriented, concerned with developing the intuitive, rather than outer developments, as in Wiccan magic work. While most Druid members are pagan, there are Catholic members as well. They dovetail together and complement one another.
Wicca is a religion as well as a spirit path. Wicca believes in a “Source” and worships its emanations of god and goddess. Their Circles are fairly structured, and honor the elements, the Guardians of the four Quarters (or directions) and the god and goddess. In Wiccan Circles, these powers are strongly invited to join them. In traditional Circles, they have 'cakes and wine,' which is seen as a sharing with the god and goddess, and an offering to them. Wicca works with the polarity of the god and goddess, as seen in the Priest and Priestess in Circle. Wicca practices magic, in which they work to change events-energies-situations according to their will. Wiccan is considered more female-oriented and lunar oriented. They celebrate the Eight Sabbat fire festivals, and the Full Moon (some of them also honor the Dark/New Moon).
Wiccan quote – “The invocatory oath that goes ‘Both men and maids are sworn, and consecrate the oath, With dance and draught till morn..." is part of an old English Oath sworn on a pair of horns,’ in what is obviously a custom of pagan origin… to help round out their callings to the ‘Horned Master’ ”…-- The R.J. Stewart quote is from "The Living World of Faery," by RJ Stewart.
To sum up Halloween: it is a pagan holiday of necromancy in which modern-day witches, wizards, and warlocks practice communication with demons. The Roman Catholic church blended their unscriptural practices with this pagan holiday. A true Christian has no business honoring the devil, the horned master, by celebrating or practicing any part of this unholy festival.
Manasseh...caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger (II Chron. 33:1-6).
And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God (II Chron. 33:10-13).
