All Saints’ Day

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All Saints’ Day

Introduction

In this social anthropology essay, the issue I have decided to choose has been: All Saints’ Day. In addition to complementing it with the analysis of the relationship between life, death and culture with religion.

In the development of this topic, I will explain what meaning this important day has in people, particularly those who have lost some of their most beloved beings, what relationship does this celebration keep with religion … mainly, I have decided to focus on twoplaces where this day is celebrated: in Mexico and Spain, to be able to make an analysis of the holiday in both countries and at the same time they capture both its origin and meaning and the differences and similarities that they share. Based on this topic, questions such as:

• Is a religious festival really in Mexico in Mexico?
• In all societies, the same rituals are followed after the death of a loved one?
• Why do we celebrate the death of our loved ones every year?
• Do we follow this type of rituals, beliefs etc …, just to reassure us and make us believe that life is an eternal continuous where nothing disappears, but transforms?

Before addressing this issue, I will clarify the relationship that death has (this being the central theme of all saints) with life and religion. In this reflection, we could question the fear of death, what is after it, what unites life and death, or what is the meaning of life with death, why have we been born to die?…among many others.

Finally, I will show my reflection on the topic chosen throughout this essay, carrying out a series of conclusions as approached. To do this I have decided to support and base both the anthropological texts uploaded to the virtual classroom and those found in other websites.

Life and death

First, we have to keep in mind that the conception of life and death will depend on culture. Clifford Geertz argues that “culture is composed of psychological structures through which individuals or groups of individuals guide their behavior. ‘The culture of a society’ consists of what one must know or believe in order to act in an acceptable way for its members ‘. And indeed, according to your culture, you may have certain beliefs, traditions and customs.

In the case of death, this is part of the cycle of life, we are born to die, and our life should have no sense if death did not exist. In this way, I can answer my question about what relationship both keep. Thanks to death we realize that our life depends on a clock that marks time, which pushes us to take advantage of it, to live experiences …, in short, it is the one that gives life or meaning to life.

However, we have a terrible fear and respect for death, we live in a constant feeling of uncertainty and in a fearful state of alert, since we never know or when or how it will happen. It is not being able to control, or know what will happen next, which leads us to fear, fear of the unknown. Which leads us to ask ourselves questions like where are we going? Or is there something after death?, Hence the appearance of myths, rituals and reassuring beliefs, which Luis Enrique Ferro Vidal refers to: “These elements are threads of life hilvanated by men to find in transcendence an encounter with immortality and not be alone,It is to bring order to the disorder that causes death because when my habit appears, my being, my body moves me away from this time and this space.

By fading myself in this plane and a fear of death for the attachment to life and what revolves around ”arises, the existence of beliefs and rituals only have one purpose, reassure and reflect a state of immortality to never disconnectof life, and joining an eternal continuous where nothing disappears, but is transformed, since we are incapable and terrify the idea of finding themselves, without our most loved family and beings.

One of the peculiarities of death is that he plays randomly, you never know the moment when you will play play, for that same reason we always flee from it, we played the hiding place, avoiding it, and deceiving it, until it is practically impossible to runMore, he always ends up and winning the game, since, after all, it is she who allows you to play. It presents superiority over us, has the power to control our time, play, with us and with our life.

Religion and death

As Karen Janine Veizaga and Bismarck Pinto affirm through the Barsa Encyclopedia, religion is understood by the set of theoretical and practical relationships between man and a superior power of whom he feels to depend and who he pays acts of worship, eitherindividual, either collective.

But what relationship keep death and religion? As we have said before, not knowing about what will happen after death causes us fear, anguish for this ignorance …, which makes many people feel the need to feel refugees or wrapped up by someone. As John Bowker says: “Religion offers paradises in compensation to those who cannot face the realities of death and eternal oblivion. It feeds on futile hopes and offers, a guide from the death traveler to life ”. 

Many choose to follow the path of a superior being, hoping to feel accompanied and protected throughout life. For many it is him, the one who makes them believe in eternal life, having hope, faith and gives them strength to continue forward and not see life as a simple path that leads to death,

Another of the reasons why we cling to religion is because it promises us an eternal life, in which the resurrection fits, where death is a new beginning of life, a new opportunity.

At all levels we can say that there are 4 belief systems that base the meaning of death and the "beyond" in a common way, and they are based on the need that the human being feels in transcending his own existence. And these systems are:

• The near other: this model is a very similar universe, that of the living, in which it is possible to constantly meet again, well through dreams, reincarnation and even possession. This system can be found in Siberia’s shamanism, America and especially in black Africa animism.
• The hereafter: this system is based on a world that cannot be returned, of which there is no return. It is a very different, distant world. This model was on which the beliefs of ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt were based.
• The resurrection of the flesh: this model is based on the absolute and total perfection achieved by the human being once dead. Both Zoroastrism and Mazdeism and Semitic religions (Islamism, Judaism and Christianity), are based on it.
• The hereafter does not assume the form of a space: this system is divided into intervals, marked by the time that takes place between the reincarnations of the same spiritual being. It occurs cyclically and can be more or less durable. In this model the entity is sometimes reincarnated in human or other in spirit, until perfection is achieved. Buddhism in an example of religious belief based on this system.

As for these four models, with respect to death, we can realize that regardless of your religious beliefs, ritual practices … religion is something as universal as language, seeks the "general order" of human existence and shares somesame objectives with others, which are, first, to help the human being to have their life a happy sense and objective, and second, to overcome the duel (for family members and relatives of the deceased). They all help you replenish after that great loss of a loved one, help you face it, eliminate stress and pain, overcome the void that, initially, our mind foresees impossible, to finally manage to find againPeace and tranquility.

All Saints Day

Next, we are going to address the primary theme of this essay:

Mainly we could define all saints day as a Christian celebration, which takes place on November 1. We must not confuse it with the commemoration of the deceased faithful, held the next day (November 2), or with the celebration of the American FiestThe following days, its celebration is not entirely religious, so we will focus on the two days after October 31.

I have decided to focus on two places where this party is celebrated, Spain and Mexico.

On the one hand, we wonder what is the origin of this religious festival? Well, all the saints are of Latin origin, it is celebrated internationally and has its celebration on the first Sunday of Pentecost. According to the Catholic tradition, on November 1, all the people who have passed the purgatory are remembered, they are in paradise and enjoy eternal life;However, complementing the day of all saints, on November 2, the day of the deceased faithful, it is remembered to those who have ended their earthly life, but who continue in purgatory without even being able to access Paradise.

In Spain, as in many other places in the world, many people take advantage of this date to take flowers to their deceased, going to the cemetery to pray to loved ones who have not been with us and at the same time feel, for a few moments, for a few moments, that they are there, that day is scheduled to reunite.

However, this party varies depending on the different national regions, such as:

• In the Canary Islands the so -called “Night of the Fianos” is celebrated, which is a holiday in which the streets of the peoples are filled with bonfires, music and dances.
• In Galicia, however, the "Samaín" is celebrated on the night of October 31. This holiday consists in decorating houses with death -related ornaments, since according to tradition Samaín night disappears between the world of the living and that of the dead.
• In La Castanyada, a traditional Catalan party that dates back to the 18th century, families gather around a table and remember their deceased loved ones while they eat roasted chestnuts. This tradition is also celebrated in some parts of Levante and in Aragon.
• The “Tosanto” party, which is held in Cádiz, has one of its most representative parts in the competitions held in the markets. The positions represent scenes of everyday life, funeral and commemoration of the deceased taking advantage of the products they sell. An original idea to which the purchase of seasonal fruits such as chestnuts is added, and of course the visit to the cemetery to pay tribute to loved ones.
• In Soria he is celebrated tonight with the work "The Mount of the Brushes" that takes place in one of the Montes de Soria. During this holiday the reading of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s legend is reproduced with puppets, Templar monks, skeletons and other spectra.
• In Jaén, in the town of Begíjar, the neighbors go out with the street full of porridge that use to cover the locks of the houses of the houses. Tradition says that this rite serves to scare evil spirits.
• On the other hand, in Malaga, specifically in the town of Maro, which belongs to Nerja, they celebrate a particular Halloween that they call Maroween. They also celebrate a gastronomic party with roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes, mixed with witches and terrifying theme costumes.

As we can see, the amount of religious rites and traditions held throughout these days is infinite when remembering our deceased, we accompany them during this day to remember them and feel that they are with us.

On the contrary, in Mexico, although this party continues to have the same meaning, they share a series of rituals and traditions around the celebration of this day, completely different from ours, which has caused it to become one of the traditionsmore popular and extended from Mexico, as well as a great tourist attraction.

In Mexico, the day of the dead, it is composed of two days, on November 1 (all the saints), the deceased children are commemorated, while on the 2 of the November (Day of the Dead), it is rememberedThe deceased adults. With respect to its origin, according to Hidalgo Pérez (2018), the key to its peculiarity lies in the fusion of pre -Columbian and Hispanic elements as a result of the arrival of the Spaniards, and also if we unite the arrival of Christianity, we see that thisparty is assimilated by the Catholic of the Day of Dead, incorporating some of the customs of that in the face of the impossibility of eradicating it. However, over time, the party has become a social act, where family and community take the opportunity to meet. In medium and small cities, and in villages and villages, the party retains a high religious content, while in large cities culinary customs prevail over the spiritual aspects of the party;However, rituals remain the same.

Regarding the decoration of houses, flowers are the most important in the ornament of graveOf the deceased, both personal, for example, food that enjoyed in life, some liquor, photographs … as traditional, among which we find candles, incenses, salt, dulce skulls, dead bread … all these referring in some way to thedeath.

On the night of the Day of the Dead, the family meets in the pantheon to share moments with the dead, during the morning and afternoon, decorate the graves with petals and candles, burn incense and pray. In most of the cities of Mexico, they have common characteristics regarding the celebration of this day, however, depending on the region, it may vary, some eat sugar skeletons, others are accustomed to putting wooden skulls, Brandes describes three characteristics that according to him, are unique, and only occur in this country: ‘The first, the name of the day of the dead;the second, the abundance and variety of fantasy sweet breads and candles;and the third the humor and joy present at the feast ‘(Apud. Alberro, 2004: 5).

Another belief is that the decrease in vessels of vessel.

One of the differences between the two countries, according to Manuel Alberro (2004: 2): “Unlike the Spaniards, who considered death as the end of life, Mexicans saw it as a continuation of life. For them, life was a dream, and only death could make them feel fully awake ”. But, regardless of what both countries believe about the meaning of death, they share the same objective that night, commemorate and honor their loved ones.

After the above, I consider an issue, has the celebration of All Saints Day to a party that lacks religious sense became? We see that in many countries it becomes a social party, where you disguise yourself, you meet your relatives, talks, remember past moments … In many places, over time, this celebration has prevailed the social component against religious rite, however in other areas it has remained.

conclusion

The theme of all saints in social anthropology includes many aspects, in which we can stop and analyze, since it is a very broad topic as we have been able to verify. Regardless of the density of the subject, the points that I have decided to discuss have been: the concept of life and death, as well as their relationship, definition of religion and relationship that it keeps with death, and finally I have explained from a general environment without entering intoToo much depth on all saints in Spain and Mexico, putting both countries compared. 

On the one hand, it has helped me to understand the meaning of death, why it leads us to do so many rituals, as well as that life itself would lack meaning without this. Analyzing the All Saints Day Festival has led me to reflect on the existence of different forms of expression of this feeling, different from what I know from my country. For example, he was not aware that in Mexico, he was going to eat at the cemetery with all family members to wait for his dead relatives to meet with them.

With respect to death, we show excessive interest in it, we inquire about it, we obsess too much, which causes us to waste time, and move away from what really matters, life, which we must takeThis, since death is something uncontrollable, so it would be absurd to constantly worry about it.

But just as there are different types of religions and beliefs in the world, it is normal that in each of them there is a different way of celebrating this special and emotional day. Although in my opinion, in many places, it lacks a religious sense due to the great influence of other celebrations that are not religious such as Halloween.

In summary, all religions on this issue share the same objective, which would be to commemorate their most beloved beings, it is the rituals that make the difference, the way of expressing that pain and in turn joy.

Bibliography

• Alberro, m.,2004, “The former Pagan Celtic Festival of Samain and its continuation at the Lay Fiest: 1-35
• Bowker, J., 1996, the meanings of death, New York: Cambridge University Press
• Ferro Vidal, Le., 2018, “Death Artifice. Life, death and one day of the Dead Otomí ”, Experimental Anthropology, 18: 43-53.
• Geertz, c., 1973, "The dense description: towards an interpretive theory of culture", the interpretation of cultures, Barcelona: Gedisa.
• Hidalgo Pérez, and., 2018, ”Day of All Saints and Faithful Dead”, Art and Hum: Digital Magazine of Arts and Humanities, 54: 8-341
• Veizaga, k.J. & Pinto, B., 2005, “Social representation of death in different religions”, Ajayu scientific dissemination body of the UCBSP Department of Psychology, 3 (2): 101-122.