All across the globe there are memorials dedicated to the dead. No two places celebrate the same; there are different names and different venues; there are different times of celebrations; there are different lengths of celebration. I chose to look more closely at three different memorials to the dead. The first is the Hungry Ghost Festival which takes place in China. It is a month-long celebration with the most important part set on the 14th day. The second memorial I chose was Día de los Muertos, celebrated in Mexico. This is a day to honor and come together with dead relatives and friends. The final memorial is the Jazz Funeral that takes place right here in the United States. The funeral procession is accompanied by a brass band and the mourning turns to celebration after the body is in the ground. No place remembers the dead the same way, but we all do it.
In China both Buddhists and Taoists celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is part of a larger celebration known as the Hungry Ghost Month. The 14th day of the month is the most prominent and known as the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is believed that throughout the Hungry Ghost Month the gates of hell are opened. They are the most open on this night and it is when hungry, wayward ghosts come and visit the living. Believers in this will refrain from going out after dark under the fear that they may encounter a ghost. They are even especially careful around water – “ghosts of people who die by drowning are considered especially troublesome especially when they wander the living world” (Mack). Actually, all over Taiwan, Ghost month is observed with a great deal of superstition. It is believed to be unlucky to also travel, get married, or hold funerals during the month. (Taiwan)
The festival is held on the 14th day during the seventh lunar month. That rounds out to be about July 14th. The Hungry Ghost Festival will begin will a parade. There are decorated lanterns in various shapes and sizes. Some of the shapes include boats and houses, and they are placed on top of the decorated floats. The paper lanterns are taken to the water where they are lit and released. The purpose of the lanterns and boats are to give direction to the lost souls and ghosts who are beneath the waves; also, to help the ghosts find their way to the food offerings put out during the festival. The paper lanterns will eventually catch fire and sink.
At some Hungry Ghost Festivals, like the one that takes place in Keelung, Taiwan “a Chinese character of a family’s last name is placed on the lantern that the family has sponsored. It is believed the farther the lantern floats on the water, the more good fortune the family will have in the coming year” (Mack). The gates and tombs of cemeteries are left open and unlocked to let the dead have access to the living world. (Taiwan)
There are two stories about how the Hungry Ghost Festival originated. One story of origin comes from one of Buddha’s disciples, Mulian. Mulian asks Buddha how he can help his mother’s suffering and hunger. During life, his mother had been greedy with money and refused to help the Monks. When she died she was reborn into Avīci, the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
The ghosts could never eat because: a. the food would either burst into flames when they touched it or b. their throats were too thin and delicate. Buddha taught him to make food offerings for the ghosts, so they would stop stealing his mother’s food. The other story writes that: Mulian traveled to hell on lunar July 15 to offer food and ask that his mother be released. His filial piety paid off and she was released, leading to the tradition of burning incense and offering food during the Hungry Ghost Festival. (Mack)
Buddha’s disciple took the path of the hungry spirit to rescue his mother from her sufferings. On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, July 15, there were five fruits and a hundred delicacies offered in ten different directions to the ghosts in the space he was in. He was able relieve his mother’s suffering. Both legends encompass the Chinese spirits of forbearance, charity and filial piety. (Taiwan)
Due to the origin stories, families place food on altars during the Hungry Ghost Festival. The food is meant to appease hungry spirits. There may also be paper offerings such as fake money, cut-out cars or paper watches in metal basins on the altar – “the paper in the bins is set on fire, and the offerings are meant to provide for the ancestors in their afterlife” (Mack).
Día de los Muertos, in one sentence, is a Mexican holiday where families gather together to honor their loved ones who have died and help guide them back into the mortal world for a day of celebrations (Clark). According to GarciÌagodoy, Día de los Muertos is celebrated anywhere between October 28 and November 4. In several cities, the dead are welcomed home with firecrackers. Special churches bells will sound off when it is Día de los angelitos, typically on November 1st, and a different set when it is Día de los Muertos, typically November 2nd. Once they have reached home they are met with hours of companionship with their living relatives and friends around.
Throughout the GarciÌagodoy reading, she speaks of the dead no longer having bodies but not being dead; “generally speaking, the dead are not regarded as separate from the living. They belong to the same unbroken family” (GarciÌagodoy 3). So, even after death, the dead are still seen as part of the family and never forgotten. (Clark) (GarciÌagodoy)
It is a misconception that Día de los Muertos is the same holiday that American children celebrate on Halloween. A connection can be seen between the two with the way children ask for treats and threaten tricks, but the holidays are not the same. In modern day Mexico Día de los Muertos is celebrated by creating altars and presenting offerings for the dead.
No two altars during the celebration are going to be the same; “the altar for the dead may consist of stacked boxes or a box on a table. It may be a new petate (a reed mat). It may be suspended from a roof beam, as in Veracruz. It may be enormous and very elaborate or humble and very simple” (GarciÌagodoy 8). In homes, the altars are normally set up near a permanent one that families keep for devotions to their special saints. Usually they are set up in the living room or a bedroom.
For weeks before the celebration, merchants will sell goods in the market that can be used as offerings to the dead. They may sell copal, which is an incense that has been used for centuries during the celebration; they may have votive, wax, and tallow brown, yellow, and white candles that vary in length and thickness; they may have new incense burners and candleholders; there may be fruits and vegetables that are in season; additionally, seasonal flowers, especially the ubiquitous cempoxochil. (GarciÌagodoy 7)
The food for the ofrenda is the most labor-intensive part of the day. Some of the foods can take days to prepare, such as the moles. Moles are rich, spiced stews that contain vegetables and meats. There will also be Mexican sweets such as candied pumpkin served, and fruits called tejocote. Soft drinks, sweet drinks and alcoholic beverages are also available. There are 9 elements to the ofrenda:
- water slakes the thirst of the spirits and represents purity and the source of life
- salt, with its purifying qualities, is an invitation to the banquet, an element that retards the corruption of the body, and a symbol of wisdom
- candles, symbols of eternal love, faith, and hope, signify triumph for having passed into immortality
- copal, incense is an offering to the gods and to transmit praises and prayers
- flowers stand for love and the sun
- a petate is for rest, as that is where the spirit stops to enjoy the ofrenda
- toys are for the angelitos
- an image of an itzcuintli will help the deceased cross the River Chiconauapan
- bread/tamales/an itacate are fraternal gifts (GarciÌagodoy)
There are also offerings for the angelitos, those who died as children, on the altar as well. There may be toy or miniature sugar figures of animals or food. Adults may have new full-sized or miniature work implements. Everyone may receive new clothing or their favorite clothing (GarciÌagodoy 8).
Finally, communities will also dedicate an altar – and occasionally a whole day – to the anima sola, the lone soul who has no one to regale it. Elders of the town will go from house to house and collect items from the family’s ofrenda to create one for the anima sola. It is sweet; the whole town comes together for the souls that have no one to go to. There are some communities however that feel it is safest to set it up outside. No one knows where spirit is coming from: We cannot be sure that the wicked return from Hell, but, in case they do, we offer them their own ofrenda. Outside the house, on a narrow shelf or table, we put bread, chocolate and flowers. Those who have sinned may neither enter the house, not approach the blessed altar; they must remain outside. This altar is for errant souls, for souls in torment, and for orphans. (GarciÌagodoy 12)
The living are warned that once the souls have arrived at the altar, nothing is to be taken away from it. It is rumored that if you take something from the altar, the dead will pull your feet at night. Día de los Muertos is a great celebration because it helps to reduce the fear of death in the community. Children grow up seeing the festivities and know that no matter what they will still be loved. They don’t have to fear what will happen to their parents when they die, because it is their parents teaching them how to welcome the dead home every year. It has a positive effect on the community in that aspect. Día de los Muertos is a celebration because the dead would be insulted by mourning and sadness:
Día de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life. Día de los Muertos recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience, a continuum with birth, childhood, and growing up to become a contributing member of the community. On Día de los Muertos, the dead are also a part of the community, awakened from their eternal sleep to share celebrations with their loved ones. (Día De Los Muertos)
Día de los Muertos is also a celebration to thank god for a bountiful harvest. Everything that is being placed on the altar and cooked is ripe and ready to eat. It is god who provided them with the harvest and the ability to have the best crop for their loved ones. It is never the focus of purpose of the celebration, but some believe that a good celebration will lead to a good year; and vice-versa for a bad celebration leading to a bad year.
New Orleans, Louisiana is home to the Jazz Funeral. It is not a festival held once a year like Día de los Muertos or Hungry Ghost Festival. Typically, today, musicians, those connected to the music industry, police officers and firemen, African-Americans, and the victims of Hurricane Katrina receive Jazz Funerals.
Jazz Funerals evolved throughout centuries in New Orleans to become what they are known as today. It has become one of the most respected celebrations of the life of a loved one. One theory is that Jazz Funerals arose from military traditions, combined with traditions of fraternal societies. The fraternal societies had music accompanying much of what they did, like their feast days. These societies were also responsible for the burials of those who died. And they did so with all the pomp and circumstance. By the 19th century, military bands began to replace town bands and developed into brass bands; “these two trends combined to create the funeral with brass band accompaniment” (Tomb 20).
The second theory is that funeral process arose from the African slaves. Secret societies were responsible for burials of the tribesmen. Using music was a part of carrying out the burial traditions. They wanted to continue the burial traditions for their brothers and sisters that they practiced back home. It carried over the same to America. Certain social groups were responsible for the burials. Funerals were a major celebration of life and their souls were seen as free and no longer enslaved in death. As times passed, the roots of African burials became the concept of present day funerals.
The typical funeral will begin with a slow march from either the home of the deceased or the funeral home where the memorial is happening. The coffin may be carried by horse-drawn hearse or an automobile and is accompanied by friends and family of the deceased and a brass band. The brass band commonly consists of a tuba, trombones, trumpets, a clarinet or saxophone, snare drums, and a bass drum. On the way to the cemetery it is custom to play mournful or somber music.
Some of the slower songs may include “Nearer My God to Thee” and “Just A Closer Walk with Thee”. The music will remain somber until either the body has been entombed or until the hearse has left the procession. Once everybody has said their goodbyes the music changes to a swing beat. People on the streets are welcomed to join the parade. Tambourines join in as well and dancing is quite common. This change in mood is known as the “Second Line”. It signals that the soul has been released to heaven. The parade and swing music and dancing is seen as a cathartic release for mourners. The mourning of death is turned into a celebration of life. Songs that are played now are “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Didn’t He Ramble”. People may walk with decorated umbrellas and they may wave white handkerchiefs in the air.
Hurricane Katrina brought about one of the biggest Jazz Funerals in history. On August 29, 2006, in memory of the 1,700 victims of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi and Louisiana a memorial was held: The memorial was held at the Ernest. Morial Convention Center, where thousands were stranded without food or water just one year earlier. Led by Mayor Ray Nagin and Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, the procession included a horse-drawn hearse carrying an empty coffin, a brass band, fire trucks and the National Guard.
There was a moment of silence in the small community where the hurricane first made landfall, tolling bells at 9:38 a.m. to commemorate the breach of the first levee and an interfaith prayer service. (New Orleans)
Other notable Jazz Funerals recipients have been Danny Barker, Snooks Eaglin, Jim Henson, Anthony Lacen (Tuba Fats), Allison ‘Tootie’ Montana, Paolo Mantovani, Ernest ‘Doc’ Paulin, and so many others; the list could go on. The Jazz Funeral is seen as a salute to a life well lived and a passage into a better world.
Although nobody remembers the dead the same way, we all do remember the dead. That is part of what makes it special also. Some festivals resemble each other the way the Hungry Ghost Festival and Día de los Muertos do with setting out food. And I am sure not all funerals are the same as Jazz Funerals, turning into a celebration as soon as the body is in the ground. Some communities want to mourn in different ways. In the end, everyone remembers the dead and that is what is important.
