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Helen
Registered User
(10/30/01 9:38:20 pm)
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Samhain, Hallowmass, Halloween ...
As I'm actually awake for the literal first few hours of the day - midterms are fuuunnnnn - I thought that I'd wish you all a good holiday. Any special plans?
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Robin
Unregistered User
(10/31/01 10:23:54 am)
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Samhain
I'm going to a huge Pagan festival at a local club, which also happens to be an old vaudevilian theatre -- really gorgeous place. Nothin' more fun than a room full of carousing Pagans!
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Laura
McCaffrey
Registered User
(10/31/01 5:50:06 pm)
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Trick or Treat
We had our annual get together - all of us with kids about the same age, six and under. We had a potluck. The kids were dressed to the nines and were howling and running around like crazy - "kidnapping" adults to put in the stew pot. Probably this part was more in the spirit of the season than the trick or treating! Then down to the little village to beg candy door to door in the snow. All the best. Laura Mc
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Terri
Registered User
(11/1/01 9:10:45 am)
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Re: Trick or Treat
For me, the most important celebration this time of year is the Mexican Day of the Dead. Following that tradition, I make an alter on a table in my house with pictures of loved ones who have died, flowers, candles, memorabilia, etc. as a way of honoring their memory. Traditionally, one leaves out food and/or drink,so I pour little glasses of beer for my grandparents, coffee for my mother, and candy for the little ones who died way too soon.
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Kamui
Unregistered User
(11/1/01 11:06:30 am)
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Re: Day of the Dead
When I was young, growing up in south Louisiana, November 1st was our day to honor the dead. We would parade down to the local cemetery and decorate the graves. At home we'd have altars with lit candles, bread, flowers. There would usually be a remembrance service at the church. It was something I took for granted until we moved away and I came to realize not everyone does these things. Now I'm in Boston, and I miss the "old ways."
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Terri
Registered User
(11/2/01 6:25:43 am)
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Re: Day of the Dead
Nov. 1st is the Day of the Dead out here in Tucson too. I didn't realize that southern Louisiana also has the tradition. That's very cool.
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Laura
Registered User
(11/2/01 7:33:38 am)
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November 1st and the dead
Between my remembered Roman Catholic upbringing and the occasional Anne Rice novel (guilty pleasure), I've long had a fondness for early November -- not quite as good as Guy Fawkes Day, but that's another story. :-)
For those who may not know, the Roman Catholic calendar of feast days designates the first as All Saints' Day and today, the 2nd, as All Souls' Day. All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation, meaning attendance at mass is compulsory. World Book Encyclopedia, 1992, explains further: "Roman Catholics are required to attend Mass and to "refrain from unnecessary servile work" on this day."
Here's some selected further information:
Solemnity celebrated on the first of November. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.
... Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. ... At first only martyrs and St. John the Baptist were honoured by a special day. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; ... In the West Boniface IV, 13 May, 609, or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. ...
Full text can be found at:
www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm
All Souls', the Catholic Day of the Dead, explained:
From:
www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315b.htm
The commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on 2 November, or, if this be a Sunday or a solemnity, on 3 November. The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy and all the Masses are to be of Requiem, except one of the current feast, where this is of obligation.
The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass.
... In Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, priests on this day say three Masses. A similar concession for the entire world was asked of Pope Leo XIII. He would not grant the favour but ordered a special Requiem on Sunday, 30 September, 1888.
...
Hope that was helpful! :-)
Laura
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Kamui
Unregistered User
(11/2/01 8:53:58 am)
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Re: Day of the Dead
I wouldn't say we have the exact same tradition--ours is a strange mix of Creole and island religion and Roman Catholicism. We sort of "do both" and cover our bases. We do the church services (as Laura noted) and the ::ahem:: more ritualistic things as well--like visiting Marie Laveaux's tomb, along with the graves of family members, to keep them happy (and dead--that is, if they're happy, they won't haunt us!) A strange way to grow up, I must admit.
And Guy Fawkes Day can be quite fun too! Not in Louisiana, but in Great Britain surely--or is it also celebrated in some places in the States?
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Kerrie
Registered User
(11/2/01 11:29:08 am)
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Re: November 1st and the dead
November 1st in recent years meant hearing my father say, "Don't tell your mother." I guess he didn't want to go to mass as much as we didn't, and calls my mom a "Good Irish Catholic." Of course, this is coming from a man who would like to either be placed on a boat which is set on fire when he dies or just left on the top of a mountain when he gets old. These days I can't say that I feel any connection to any paths, any ancestors, any traditions. It feels more empty, like a lost day, kind of sad. I know more about where the traditions I've followed for years originated, but feel even more confused about what to do about it.
Forest frosts,
Kerrie
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Kamui
Unregistered User
(11/2/01 1:05:16 pm)
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Re: November 1st and the dead
I think no matter how much you know about the origin(s) of your traditions, or others, how you "celebrate" or even whether you celebrate is a very personal thing. You have to decide which traditions mean something to you, which you feel less connected to, which you want to pursue, which to lay aside. Maybe you can combine a few and start a new tradition. (My husband Scott and I are in that process now, coming from such different backgrounds.) As long as it means something, it's worth doing. When it ceases to mean anything, when it becomes hollow, just an echo of something long past, then you move on.
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