Celebrations to Remember Dead

                              What underlies holidays in memory of the “spirits of the dead”?

The 1910 edition of The Encyclopædia Britannica states: “All Souls’ Day . . . the day set apart in the Roman Catholic Church for the commemoration of the faithful departed. The celebration is based on the doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from venial sins, or have not atoned for past transgressions, cannot attain the Beatific Vision, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the mass. . . . Certain popular beliefs connected with All Souls’ Day are of pagan origin and immemorial antiquity. Thus the dead are believed by the peasantry of many Catholic countries to return to their former homes on All Souls’ night and partake of the food of the living.”—Vol. I, p. 709. 

                                                                                  Samhain

The Encyclopedia Americana says: “Elements of the customs connected with Halloween can be traced to a Druid ceremony in pre-Christian times. The Celts had festivals 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. 

                                                                         Flood Connection

The book The Worship of the Dead points to this origin: “The mythologies of all the ancient nations are interwoven with the events of the Deluge . . . The force of this argument is illustrated by the fact of the observance of a great festival of the dead in commemoration of the event, not only by nations more or less in communication with each other, but by others widely separated, both by the ocean and by centuries of time. This festival is, moreover, held by all on or about the very day on which, according to the Mosaic account, the Deluge took place, viz., the seventeenth day of the second month—the month nearly corresponding with our November.” (London, 1904, Colonel J. Garnier, p. 4) Thus these celebrations actually (although you may not realise it) began with an honouring  of people whom God had destroyed because of their badness in Noah’s day.—  Gen. 6:5-7; 7:11.

               Examples of celebrations and festivals that contain elements of flood dead worship

All Soul's Day

Halloween, United Kingdom and United States

Dia de los Muertos, Mexico (Day of the Dead)

Pchum Ben, Cambodia

Gai Jatra, Nepal

Qingming, China

Obon, Japan

Chuseok, South Korea

                                                    The Above are a Selection, There Are Many More

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It should not amaze you that many of these celebrations have religious and even Christian associations, because there are many more pagan festivals that have been incorporated into so called Christianity, what should be thought about is this:   Is it right for a Christian to celebrate festivals that are wrong in Gods eyes?  Mark 12:29 and 30.  and  Matthew 5: 29 and 30.