The Natural Death Centre has since 1993 organised an English Day of the Dead for the third Sunday in April, with a different theme each year - in 1993 a festival and exhibition; in 1994 suggested acts of remembrance and rituals for people at home; and in 1995 an open day at all the woodland burial sites. In the following article, freely adapted from a piece by Pamela Openshaw, the case is made for the English Day of the Dead - but other countries in Europe might also like to recognise such a Day.
Life is noisy and bright, death is silent and dark. To the light we attribute goodness, to the dark fear and evil. Moving from the darkness of winter to the lightness of spring is a good time to think about death. When all about us springs into life, with new shoots, leaves and bulbs, spring lambs and new life all about us, our thoughts turn to fertility and love. spring is a time of newness and birth. But the flip side of all this is of course death, for death is waiting in the wings. It is precisely within this time of renewal and hope that we should reflect on death, not only on the death of all our loved ones, but just as vitally on a more personal recognition of our limited time on earth. In thinking about our mortality, we can reflect on how we would like to be remembered for the years after we have gone.
Some argue that before the influence of Christianity in Europe we celebrated a Pagan Day of the Dead, just as many other cultures do. We could follow The Natural Death Centre's lead and reintroduce such a celebration throughout Europe at this hopeful time of year. It is more in keeping with our culture, and avoids confusing it with Halloween - the latter based more on a medieval concept of death, populated by demons, witches and many other images of terror, all of them negative. Here in Europe we could reintroduce this festival celebration, modelling it more on the Mexican Des Dias de Muerios Day of the Dead).
This Mexican festival is celebrated in strong contrasts and in a very positive rejoicing way, with not only a sense of love and respect for the ancestors, but also a celebration for the continuance of life, family relationships, community and solidarity. The Mexican people even find humour in all of this and there is nothing sombre or macabre about the event.
If reintroduced into our cultures we could base our celebration on the Mexican model by making it a time of reunion, when the dead are invited to return to their loved ones and to accept offerings left for them. In Mexico they display the dead one's favourite foods and drinks - maybe even a good cigar. All is carried out with great tenderness, laughter and good intentions. Public altars are erected, on which items may be placed as reminders of the deceased individual's character. A special 'bread of the dead' is baked (pan del muerto)
This personal expression of remembrance transcends any ties with orthodox religions - Catholics, Jews, anyone may participate in the outpouring of affection and remembering. Facing the inevitable reality of one's end is simply embracing it, and giving it full reign - although some will consider this festival disrespectful, since much dancing, drinking and feasting takes place.
Every culture must learn to deal with death in order to survive and thrive. If we set aside one day each year and ascribe a name to it, as with the English Day of the Dead, and celebrate this day, marking it as a day of reflection and celebration, surely our attitude to death will gradually change. We will see that it is within the natural order that death follows life and that death is part of life. One day we will surely come to respect and honour death and realise that death is an aspect of life to be experienced.
Stanislav and Christina Grof exemplify this hope in the book Beyond Death - The Gates of Consciousness:
'The individual dying in an ancient or pre-industrial culture is equipped with a religious or philosophical system that transcends death, and is likely to have had considerable experiential training in altered states of consciousness and in symbolic confrontations with death. The approach of death is faced in the nourishing context of the extended family, clan, or tribe, and with its support - sometimes even with specific and expert guidance through the successive stages of dying. The situation of an average Westerner facing death is in sharp contrast to the above in every respect.'