The animating presence of the ANcestors

In the liturgical world, we celebrate two big holy days this week – All Saints Day (on Wednesday) and All Souls Day (on Thursday). These religious holidays, however, often get eclipsed by the broader cultural celebration of Halloween, which holds on to vestiges of an older, deeper celebration. Like so many things in this culture, however, we seem to have lost touch with the more meaningful parts of our holidays and now are left with a somewhat superficial celebration that has lost its power and transformative capacity. And in a culture of consumerism, the meaning of things can easily get hijacked by profit (in the United States we will spend an estimated 12 billion this year on Halloween…).

But if we look at the origin of these days, however, it might offer us more of what we could use in our lives.

Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day all have their origin in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced “SOW-wen”). Samhain was a festival dating back at least 2000 years and it means “summer’s end.” 

At its core, the celebration of Samhain ritualized the end of the harvest season and the coming of shortened days.  But it also acknowledged what ancient peoples called “thin days” when the visible and invisible worlds met.  Days when the world of the living and the world of the dead seem to be very close to one another. And so Samhain is both a harvest festival but also a time to re-member ancestors and those who have passed on. The early missionaries to northern Europe recognized this resonance with the Christian tradition and introduced the ideas of AllSaints/All Souls as a way to assimilate people into their religious traditions.

Some of you may be familiar with the amazing pastor and theologian – Nadia Bolz-Weber who says that “Apart from those who have fallen in combat, Americans tend to forget our ancestors…But in the church, we do the very odd thing of proclaiming that the dead are still a part of us…and are even an animating presence.”

That’s what we celebrate during this time.

So the trio of holidays we celebrate this week (cultural and religious) really represents what the Celts contained in their one celebration on Samhain. Mind you, the Celts are not unique in this. Other cultures from around the world also have their own versions of days honoring their ancestors, and many of these cultures have a much richer understanding of our ongoing connection to ancestors than we do in the United States.

In St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews we are told that we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses” and the older I get I’m more and more convinced that he wasn’t just speaking in metaphor.  He meant that we have access to all those who have gone before us and that we can draw upon their lives and experiences to assist us.  And they actually want to assist us!

It’s probably not a coincidence that our modern era uses the term “the cloud” to describe the place where all the data is stored.  While I am not always sure where or what “the cloud” is, I do know that it requires the proper connection to access it. And once I have that connection, I can access it from anywhere. 

I think that this is similar to Paul’s idea of the “cloud” of ancestors – we can access them from anywhere, but we need the right connection.

Now we don’t just wake up one day and say, “OK, ancestors, talk to me!” Like any relationship, it takes intentional effort – especially if we haven’t done much of it. But with practice, we can become more in tune with how the cloud of witnesses moves and speaks.  

On my dresser, I have pictures of my deceased grandparents, my younger brother and now my parents – all people from my family who have passed on. They are people I speak to and consult regularly. I also seek the counsel and wisdom of other historical figures who have transitioned from this life, and I keep their images near my desk at work or in my car. And while I may not actually “hear” them speak to me, I feel them speak to me. You may have had similar experiences with your loved ones.

Furthermore, I have been deeply influenced by indigenous writers like Robin Wall Kimmerer who in her book Braiding Sweetgrass invites us to name the nonhuman world as “kin” (versus thinking of it as an object). In this vision, trees, rivers, forests, mountains, fish, birds, insects, flowers, plants and oceans also become ancestors who are trying to communicate with us. I do not pretend that because I read the book, I understand or can even appreciate the practice. But it is something I am more conscious of and trying to lean in to…

In our Halloween traditions this week, our culture tends to focus on what is “scary.” While I can appreciate that for what it is, my hope is that we can reclaim the comfort, connection and continuity that are meant to come with this time. Connecting with the ancestors should not scare us so much as bring us comfort and strength. When I think about those who have gone before, I know that I need their legacies of compassion, humor, generosity, simplicity and gratitude.  Times like this week help us to open our hearts, slow ourselves down and seek the more purposeful connection with those who want to make their wisdom and experience available to us (human and nonhuman alike).

In recent years, my two adult children, Jonah and Kateri, have taken to making altars at this time of year to re-member and welcome their ancestors – human and nonhuman alike. I’d invite you to do the same this week – to create a space for all of your ancestors to become visible and available to you. Let them speak to you. Let them guide you. Let them be re-membered at this time. And act on what they invite you to do.

Note: In the old times, the people used to take a coal or ember from the communal fire and put in in a hollowed out turnip outside of their house – as a way or warding off the unwelcomed spirits (during these ‘thin times’). This tradition later evolved to use a carved pumpkin (easier to carve than a turnip!) and gave way to our modern use of the carved pumpkin…