Photo by me at the Festival in Seattle
After checking my calendar, I found that there are/were 4 celebrations happening over the course of 3 days beginning on October 31st and ending on November 2nd. I thought they were kind of all the same, but no. There are definitely 4 different things being celebrated. After a little bit of digging, I found this information:
- Halloween – One of my all-time favourite holidays. So much my favourite, I became a self-appointed Halloween tutor for our Aussie friends who have never in their lives celebrated our haunted festivities. You can see their costumes here and our jack-o-lanterns here.
- Samhain – Also celebrated on October 31st. It actually turns out that Samhain came first, and then Halloween as we now know it hogged the date. This is my favourite description of Samhain - “For it was understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground…the most magically potent time of this festival is November Eve, the night of October 31st.” Samhain actually looks awesome. I’m putting that on next year’s agenda. I also know someone who I can consult with on that. Suzanne…I’ll bring the apples!
- Day of the Dead in Mexico – this includes two days – All Saints’ Day (November 1st) and All Soul’s Day (November 2nd)
Mike and I went to Seattle for the Halloween weekend to participate in the Day of the Dead festivities there. We got to see beautiful artwork, shrines filled with fruit, bread and photos of the family and friends who have died, saw sugar skulls and saw an amazing dance of indigenous people in full costume. I would call the festival we went to a mini version of The Day of the Dead in Mexico. It is my dream to one day go and see and participate in the actual festival in Oaxaca.
The point of this holiday? It’s an invitation of the spirits of those who have died to come back for a short visit with their families, have some of their favourite foods and beverages (we saw a few bottles of Cerveza and tequila on the shrines) and then to carry on to heaven (hopefully. Heh. I’m not exactly sure how that works.) The souls of the children come first (oh dear.) and then the adults come on the 2nd. On the same days, there are the Catholic holidays – All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day. Rather than try to explain those holidays, I will be interviewing my friend/Catholic consultant, Catherine, for her version of these holidays.
Phew, that’s a lot of celebrating in a few short days. Good thing I took lots of photos at the festival this weekend. I’m merely a beginner in understanding the Mexican and Samhain customs. And I can’t wait to learn more.
More photos here of Dia Del Muertos in Seattle.
