Dead Day
November 2 is the day on which Catholics, Episcopalians, churches of the Anglican Communion, and some Protestants remember those who have departed for whatever their particular faith believes lies beyond this mortal realm. They call it All Souls Day, and/or the Feast of the Faithfully Departed.
However, while doing some web browsing earlier today, I discovered that in Mexico (and other Spanish-speaking countries?) it’s known as El Dia de Los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). The Spanish Conquistadors are reported to have witnessed it’s practice by that country’s indigenous people +500 years ago, and even then it was already at least 3,000 years old.
Is this where our modern-day practice of Halloween comes from? Or is it simply coincidence that they fall only 2 days apart? I’m a bit curious, but probably not enough to do any further investigation. So if you happen to know anything and would care to pass it along, that’d be nice 
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Modern pagans believe that sometime around October 31st that the door between the seen and unseen worlds opens up, and the dead may be contacted. The ancient Celtic name for this festival is Samhain, and it developed across the world from the ancient Mexicans. My guess is that something in the natural world encourages people to think that, whether it’s an astronomical event or something else, I couldn’t tell you. But I imagine something about the approach of the dark time of year may have something to do with it. Thanks for an intelligent and thoughtful blog.
Well Halloween is “All Hallows Day Eve” so I assume it’s directly connected to the All Hallows Day for the deadies. Having never been religious, and growing up in Australia where Halloween did not used to be marked at all, it’s a bit of a mystery to me! The Catholic church never made a fuss about this All Souls business either and the only mention it got in the Anglican mob was a heading in the prayer book! So you tell us the guff and we might believe it downunder!
This is a strange religious ritual that we believers follow. But most things religious do turn strange, don’t they? The older and more liberal I get, the simpler my beliefs are. When it gets too far away from “Love one another, do good to them who say evil things about you, feed the poor and be extra kind to children,” I tend to pull away.