I participated in a SWEAT LODGE ceremony the other night, facilitated by SOTEMS, a wonderful community dedicated to healing practices in Australia, of which I am a member of. This particular ceremony was a seasonal sweat held to celebrate the Celtic festival of SAMHAIN. (Celtic literal meaning: end of Summer & pronounced SOW-an or SOW-in)

The festivals of Halloween, All Hallows day and All Saints Day originate from the festival of Samhain. The festival falls nearest to the midpoint between the Autumnal EQUINOX and the Winter SOLSTICE, which in the Northern hemisphere falls around the evening of October 31, and in the Southern hemisphere falls around the evening of April 30- May 1. (though if you want to be absolutely accurate it’s good to visit this site to get a grasp of the natural fluctuating dates of the equinoxes, soltices & midway points.)

Samhain is a festival of the harvest and a festival of the dead. A place was often set at the feast table for the dead and tales of the ancestors were told on that night. It marked the time to take stock of one’s supplies in order to get through the winter months.

An important aspect of the Samhain festival once was the central druid bonfire. The people of the village would solemnly light their own hearths from the bonfire, symbolising their connection and bonds to one another.

The Samhain and the Day of the Dead ceremonies are really seasonal specific. Their meaning is strongly linked to nature and should be celebrated at the correct time according to which hemisphere you live in.

So if you are under the Southern skies in 2008, according to this calendar you should be celebrating Samhain, contacting your dear departed or having your Day of the Dead feasts on May 1

Imagine sharing one another’s grief and sorrow over the loss of loved ones, but also sharing stories, joy and laughter in the same context.

Imagine familiarising our children with death and dying through the fun of art play and celebration.

Imagine honouring the gifts of life by honouring the dead. If we take time out to contemplate our own deaths we may in turn be prompted to think more deeply of our life path.

Let’s look at some of the symbolic aspects of the Mexican rituals and how might we use them or adapt them for ourselves.

Part of the Mexican tradition involves creating of an altar of offerings to the loved ones who have died.

The altar includes four main elements of nature — earth, wind, water, and fire.
Earth is represented by crop: The Mexicans believe the souls are fed by the aroma of food.

Wind is represented by a moving object: Tissue paper is commonly used to represent wind.

Water is placed in a container for the soul to quench its thirst after the long journey to the altar.

Fire is represented by a wax candle: Each lit candle represents a soul, and an extra one is placed for the forgotten soul.

The above is authored by Mary J. Andrade on her site Day of The Dead ,which is a great site with lots of information and photos of the the celebration across South America.

Ok, so many people in the West wouldn’t dream of creating an altar and may have all kinds of prejudices against the idea of doing so. But if you do feel this way try to think of an altar as a place or area where you might have already gathered some related cherished items. It may be a cabinet at home dedicated to your child’s sporting achievements, or even a scrap book containing mementos of your growing up. Creating an altar isn’t really so different. It is simply the purposeful grouping together of any number of objects in order to facilitate a particular outcome.

Creating an altar is a ritual in itself. It takes thought, reflection, creativity and usually a bit of time. Though how much time is up to you.

You could incorporate the altar idea into a decorated banquet table. The food on the table representing the Earth. Tissue paper decorations or even simply paper napkins, representing the wind. Bowls or jugs of water placed in the centre, and of course candles for fire to symbolise the souls of the deceased. I also suggest the idea of having one spare place set and served to represent all those deceased you are there to honour.

If you do have a separate altar, decorate it with plenty of colourful flowers as well as the offerings to the elements. Invite guests to bring the favourite foods, photos and mementos of their loved ones to lay on the altar, and encourage the telling of stories, the playing of music and anything else that will make your celebration special.

If you encourage the celebration to happen every year on the same day you will find special traditions may grow from small beginnings. Oh and I guess the best time to celebrate is at the same time as the Mexican celebrations, which are the first two days of November or the last day of October when Hallowe’en is celebrated around some parts of the world.

Another fun part of the Mexican rituals I like is the making and distributing of the personalised candy skulls so that the person may ‘eat their own death’.

The Ancient Egyptians referred to ‘returning to one’s Ka’ or ‘travelling in the company of one’s Ka’ upon death.

Imagine today the Ka being present as an ally. The Spirit guide that stands by your side, connecting you to the source of life and remaining by your side upon death.

A comforting thought when contemplating our own death or the death of a loved one.

This symbol is a most powerful symbol to include in our funeral rites.

To hide death in the background is bad for man.

Text of the Pyramids,1439

When death comes, it embraces the old like a child in the arms of its mother.

Papyrus of Ani

Can we better prepare ourselves by enriching the experience through art and/or ritual?

Why is death so hard for most of us to accept when it is the one certainty of a life’s journey?

I’m speaking from a non-religious Western cultural perspective because that’s where I come from, but I am aware that people from different religions and cultures do have some practices in place that make their relationship to death more palatable.

I’d like to explore some ideas, continuing on with the Ancient Egyptian theme of the soul, over the next coming weeks and I invite anyone out there to share their death dealing stories or recipes.

Below are some quick links I found related to Death and dying:

Death Online is a general information site from the museum of Australia on the facts of death.

A Natural death site from the UK with all types of information about more ecological funerals and burials. Even though a lot of the information is UK specific, there are relevant links for people in other countries as well.

Life Art, a company based in Australia who make eco-coffins which can be painted.

Ecopods are some of the coolest looking coffins I’ve seen. Again they are biodegradable. The company is based in the UK.

The deathclock site is funny though a bit spooky and coud be a good wake up call for some.

I also found this really great article by Celebrant, Pamela Gray about her thoughts and ideas on how to create a funeral personal and special.