History Of The Day Of The Dead

HISTORY OF THE DAY OF THE DEAD
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico; the holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and familymembers who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and all banks are closed. The celebration takes place on November 1, in connection withthe Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (November 2).
But, what about the history of the Day of the Dead?
Well many people think that it’s an innocent holiday but the reality is that it has aninteresting past. The 1910 edition of The Encyclopedia Britannica states: “The Day of the dead or All Souls’ Day… the day set apart in the Roman Catholic Church for the commemoration of the faithfuldeparted. Certain popular beliefs connected with the day of the dead are of pagan origin and immemorial antiquity. Thus the dead are believed by the peasantry of many Catholic countries to return to theirformer homes on the day of the dead night and partake of the food of the living.”-Vol. I, 709
The Encyclopedia Americana says: “Elements of the customs connected with Halloween or with the day ofthe dead can be traced to a druid ceremony in pre-Christian times. The Celts had festival for two major gods- a sun god and a god of the dead (called Samhain), whose festival was held on November 1,the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian ritual”-(1977), Vol. 13, p. 725
In fact on the night of Samhain, the witches and sorcerersperformed their worst spells, and great fires were lit to keep away from homes malevolent spirits.
These are some of the information based on Encyclopedias about the day of the dead, the bible says onEcclesiastics 9:5 that when the people died “they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages; Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished” and...