Dia De Los Muertos - The Hidden History

During this time of year, many people tend to be interested in the darker more scary stories and even histories of many basic legends or folklore. Tonight, I decided to write about a common Mexican-American belief that has carried over from Mexico and into the diverse culture we find here today in America. When I research stories I find interesting, I truly do my best to work diligently for the answers. Even when I don't like what I find, I still try to make sense of it and I post it for others to become more educated about other cultures beliefs.

Dia De Los Muertos- (Day of the Dead)

The Day of the Dead, or as it is known in the Hispanic culture “Dia De Los Muertos” was a ritual practiced by the indigenous people of Mexico and South America for thousands of years prior to the encounter with the Spanish Conquistadors in 1519, but the ritual was practiced at the end of July and the beginning of August per the Aztec calendar.  However, if you really look into it further you will see that the celebration that is practiced today, is more Catholic based than you would imagine. For being a ritual from an indigenous origin thousands of years prior to the Spanish Conquest, it sure doesn't look that way today. The origins of this celebration dates back at least three thousand years to the Aztec and Meso-American civilizations, however it seems unlikely that the way they practiced it then is as it appears in today's culture.

When the Spaniards first noticed this longstanding tradition from the native people they believed it to be an abomination and sacrilegious for their practices to honor Miccailhuitontli and Mictlatechutli.  

The Spanish immediately tried to eradicate any trace of the native people’s polytheistic beliefs, including their many traditions and rituals- as the Spanish believe they were barbaric and heathens for their "pagan" practices.

After forcing the natives to convert to the Roman Catholic Church, they destroyed temples of worship the natives have built for their gods. One in particular was a chapel for their goddess Tecuatlanopeuh which they rebuilt and blessed as a chapel to honor the Virgin Mary. The natives then began incorporating Roman Catholic idols such as Mary and combining them with that of their “Mother Goddess” Tecuatlanopeuh. It is known that the name of the “Virgin de Guadalupe” is actually more than likely a misinterpretation of the name Tecuatlanopeuh being the pronunciation of the name and "Guadalupe" is similar. This lady, "La Virgen de Guadalupe" has been long since associated as the second-coming Virgin Mary who was reported to have appeared in 1531  (note: this is the same year the story of La Llorona became known).

Traditions

Skull Decorating-  As far as the festival of “Dia De Los Muertos” goes, carved and decorated wooden skulls were symbols of the ancient trophy skulls displayed in the ways of their ancestors.  The indigenous people believed that during the ninth month of the Aztec Solar Calendar (August), that the souls of the dead came back from their place of rest in the afterlife. They  celebrated the lives of their lost loved ones during that time, believing that their souls had come back in a spiritual state to be close to them. Nowadays, the traditions to honor the "ancient trophy skulls" have changed into the practice of decorating "calaveras de azúcar," better known as "sugar skulls".

Flowers-The native people believed that their god of the dead held Cempazúchitl (marigold flowers) sacred, thus the flower of the dead were marigolds. It was believed that the scent of the marigolds helped draw the spirits back to the land of the living. 

Face Painting- The Aztec culture believed that life on this earth was more of an illusion, thus death was just another step forward into a higher level of consciousness.The skulls represented a positive symbol, not only of death but of rebirth.

Because of this belief, the culture of Mexico has continued to merge that original belief system  with that of both societies, the indigenous people and that of the Spanish. However, remember that the Spanish did not have or want anything to do with the indigenous “pagan” practices of the native peoples and yet, today whenever you see any sort of “Dia De Los Muertos” idols, symbolism or even decorations there is always some deep rooted Catholicism mixed in with it.  

Interesting isn't it? The shrines, amulets, crosses and decor, all of which are Catholic inspired themes, would have never been something the indigenous people of Mexico would have  used. Also, remember that the Spanish didn't believe in this celebration and thought of it as sacrilegious- so do you really think they would approve of this celebration today?

So you see, the Day of the Dead's origins truly had no form of Catholic symbolism back then, as it does in today's celebrations and festivals. The indigenous people had their beliefs ripped and torn from them and forced to convert into a newly appointed "religion" and belief system that was so foreign to them, thus corrupting and diluting their original cultural belief systems and turning them into the mixed celebration we see today. 

Personally, keeping the origins in mind, one would see that the two ideas being merged into one is really something neither side would have ever accepted.-  Just something to think about....

(Copyright- 2012) J'aime Rubio

Origin Of The Graveyard Shift

Have you ever wondered about the term "Graveyard Shift’’?

The term has come a long way from just being another time slot for laborers to come to work their shifts until dawns early light. The term has a quite unnerving and more macabre origin altogether.

In Transylvania the superstitions are so strong that still to this day many believe that the dead may come back to life as a vampire or undead creature if a stake is not driven through their hearts or their heads cut off.

Why would this superstition come to pass? Why would the myths of the undead, zombies and even vampires exist if there wasn't something that started them? Hundreds of years ago, and even thousands of years ago the medical technology was not capable to seeing when some were in a comatose state or not, thus people sometimes would be buried alive. Sadly, this attributes to the stories of people crawling out of their graves, after being buried. Remember in certain civilizations they did not embalm the bodies therefore their bodies were buried fully in tact.

Things to add to the undead and the zombie folklore may have started with the first mention of the undead creature in the fictional Sumerian story “The Epic of Gilgamesh” where it is mentioned that Ishtar cried out in a fury and stated,

"Father give me the Bull of Heaven,
So he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling.
If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven,
I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,
I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down,
and will let the dead go up to eat the living!
And the dead will outnumber the living!"

Ancient Sumerian, Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology all originated from Ancient Babylon and their polytheistic and pagan beliefs. These beliefs included the stories of undead, demonic and even vampire like creatures which are believed to be the precursor’s to inspire the famous vampire stories made famous in the 18^th century.

In the Middle Ages, the belief in a zombie like being thought of as the "Revenant" was wide spread. The belief that the souls of the dead would return to earth and haunt the living was very common, especially for those who were murdered. It was believed that they took on the form of a skeleton or a decomposing corpse and roamed the graveyard at night.

As far as the name zombie, it has nothing to do with a dead, reanimated corpse at all. In fact in Voudoo belief and lore the zombie is nothing more than a man or woman who is under the spell or control of another, basically doing the bidding of the one in control.

So how did the term graveyard shift even come to be then?

Graveyard shift comes from the time in the 1800’s when people would have one person, a night watch man sitting in the graveyard all night listening for the bell to ring.

What bell you ask?

Well you see, there were stories that when bodies had been dug up in old cemeteries to make room to bury more people in the graveyards they noticed many coffins had scratch marks from the inside of the coffin, meaning that some had been ultimately buried alive and had suffocated to death after burial.

This started a panic among many during the mid 1800’s. Writer and Poet, Edgar Allan Poe’s works, ‘The Premature Burial’, ‘ The Black Cat’ and ‘ The Cask of Amontillado’ mentioned scenarios such as being buried alive. This also caused more dread and fear during this time which actually influenced “safety coffins” to be created.

Many mention the practice of not being buried as deeply as usually, and in fact the hands of the dead would be sticking out of the ground. Then a string would be tied to the wrist of the dead person and a vast set of lines in a sort of network would tie into each other and be attached to a bell. When a certain bell would ring the night watchman would know where to run with his shovel to and dig up the buried person before they would suffocate. Some say the term "dead ringer" came from this very sort of incident, however that is just a myth. In fact, the term "dead ringer" is just another term for an exact duplicate or something that looks exactly like something else, or someone else.

Safety Coffins

In the case of the “safety coffins,” there were elaborate coffins affixed with all sorts of gadgets that would allow a motion from the body to signal an alert, raise a flag or even shoot fireworks to let the living know that they in fact buried someone who wasn’t dead. Some of these coffins were even designed with escape hatches, which would have been best used during the funeral and not so much six feet under, can you even imagine?

Although patent records show that the “safety coffins” were made and manufactured at one point there is no record of any one claiming to have purchased or used such a device, but then again…how would you know? The customers who bought them, died apparently so they couldn’t really give a review of the product.

So basically, there you have it. A quick history lesson for you today. Now you know where the mythology and superstitions first came from, how little by little anxiety and fear added to the dread of being buried alive, and how many attempted to prevent that from happening. I know a lot of people who do not want to be buried when they die, for fear of waking up buried alive. I believe a lot of this fear has to do with all of these stories and movies that have been inspired by these old macabre tales.

I don't know about you, but being buried or burned in an incinerator sounds about the same to me! Both sound equally frightening if you are alive when it happens. Thankfully with modern day technology we know that the doctors aren't going to send us to the mortuary unless we are really long gone, so don't let this story scare you. If you live in Transylvania though, I suppose it may be another story. I know one thing is for sure, I wouldn't want to be buried alive only to wake up thinking I am being rescued and find my rescuers driving a stake through my heart!

J'aime Rubio (Copyright 2011)

Idolatry- Ancient Times and Today

The Adoration of the Golden Calf by Nicolas Poussin:

 

Have you ever stopped and wondered what the true meaning of idolatry was? Where it's origins came from or even why it is considered wrong to many people? This article will touch on various answers to those questions.

Definition

The meaning of idolatry has become diluted and sometimes lost in translation over the centuries. What once was considered idolatrous in one religion’s eyes has now become something now naturally accepted as normal. Many people say idolatry is an ancient practice and has no relevance this day in age, or does it?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, idolatry is defined as “the worship of idols,” or “blind or excessive devotion to something.” In fact, the Catechism of Catholic Church states: Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in the place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example Satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. "  

Also another publication states this, “An idol is an image, a representation of anything, or a symbol that is an object of passionate devotion, whether material or imagined.”-Insight on the Scriptures.  

So with that being said, it isn’t far fetched to say that the world we live today is encompassed with idolatry all around them, and perhaps they don’t even know it!

Idols of Today

Think about it, besides religious idols, which I will mention, there are other forms of idols all around us. When you turn on the television you are constantly bombarded with television shows about who will be the next superstar that the masses will “idolize” over. What about commercials telling you to be a certain way or to buy certain things in order to be happy?  Our thinking is in a constant state of being molded to be selfish in every aspect of our lives. We strive our entire lives searching for happiness in material things, thus we become the victims of idolatry- we idolize material possessions.

Now some of us may keep our eye simple, but what of those who may be overly interested with a certain genre of books, music or movies to the point we form an unhealthy obsession of it? It does happen, many times to younger ones such as young self impressionable girls becoming obsessed with the latest pop sensation on the airwaves or the hot guy in the latest blockbuster.

And what of the obsessed sports fan?  Those who decorate their entire house in their favorite team, never miss a game and would get into a fist fight with anyone who makes fun of their team….yes, you guessed it, another form of idolatry.

You could be radically obsessed with politics or even just putting your career before your family, by which you then become to worship what you do. I watched a woman on t.v. who spoke of her daughter who won an Olympic Gold Medal in an interview recently. She stated that her daughter’s event became her religion and that she sent her away for months at a time to perfect her sport in order to win. What did she win? She won a gold medal, the medal became the object of her worship.

You see, many of us have to admit that we at one point or another have fell victim to this enticing and yet very invisible vice, while we may not even realize it at the time.

Religious Relics and Worshiping Aides

Most people know the scripture within the Ten Commandments given to Moses in Exodus 20:4 which reads, “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth.”  Another scripture in the Bible adamantly states that "idolaters would not enter into God's kingdom."

So, if Israelites and early Christians did not partake in idol worship or the aids of objects during worship, and the Bible adamantly states not to worship carved images, why then would idols be incorporated into everyday worship in mainstream religions such as Catholicism and Christianity?

Roman Papacy of the Catholic Church, wanting to convert pagans into their religion compromised the commandments within the Holy Scriptures and allowed pagan influence to creep in. 

The Cross was among the first of pagan relics that was adopted into the Catholic Church.

“The same sign of the cross that Rome now worships was used in the Babylonian Mysteries, was applied by Paganism to the same magic purposes, was honoured with the same honours. That which is now called the Christian cross was originally no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and Egyptians--the true original form of the letter T--the initial of the name of Tammuz--which, in Hebrew, radically the same as ancient Chaldee, was

found on coins. That mystic Tau was marked in baptism on the foreheads of those initiated in the

Mysteries,  and was used in every variety of way as a most sacred symbol.”- The Two Babylons.

The Rosary was also a pagan idol symbol from ancient Chaldea. In fact, the Chaldean word “Ro” means “thought”, and “Shareh” meant “director.” They were also known in early Roman society as “remembrancers” being that you had to remember how many prayers you had to repeat in order for God to hear you. That totally goes against the very scriptures in the Bible that state for people to speak from the heart and not being repetitively speaking without meaning.

Amulets, crosses, statues of various gods, even ones of Jesus or Virgin Mary and Virgen de Guadalupe are all pagan and go against the very commandments in the Bible. Remember Jesus stated for his people to worship his father, the only true God. He told the people not to worship anyone or anything other than God, not even himself.

Whether you are a believer in the Bible or Christianity the facts within the Scriptures prove that idol worship did not originate with God, but with various pagan cultures that have infiltrated nearly every mainstream religion.

History shows that various cultures such as the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Sumerians and Chaldeans polytheistic beliefs and mythology all coincide with one another in their forms of idol worship and beliefs, based on their true origins dating back to Babylon. The Bible has always stood its ground that idolatry was not something to be practiced by a monotheistic believer. Various events and stories mentioned about acts of idolatry referred to in the Bible, were done by pagan groups who worshipped false gods,  and were revered as something detestable to God. Such practices of these pagan worshipers included ceremonial prostitution, child sacrifice, self- laceration to the point of blood flowing and even sexual orgies and drunkenness.

Recall a story in the Bible of when Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments, and what did he find? The Israelites had fallen away from true worship of God and had melted down all their gold to worship a golden calf that had been cast.  It does not mention in that particular scripture the name of the god they were worshiping, although many scholars claim it could have been the lunar bull that was associated with the pagan Canaanite god, El.

In other stories of idol worship that was detestable in God’s eyes recorded in the Bible, names of the false god Ba’al (or Bel) was mentioned.  Ba’al or Bel was a god of the Babylonians, also referred to as Marduk, possibly Nimrod deified.  You see, many of these pagan gods we have learned about in mythology of various lands, could have quite possibly been your average human being who lived and died on this earth. It wasn’t until later on that others deified them to become ‘immortal.’

Where did this idol worship come from?

Idolatry of gods and goddesses

If you search through any culture you will find mythology of gods and goddesses to which civilization’s  performed idol worship. The Aztecs, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Sumerians, Norse, Celts and even American Indians all believed in their individual gods and deities and worshipped them, also by carving amulets and even statues to honor them. They would make sacrifices in their gods name in order to appease them in hopes of being blessed. 

In these mythological stories you learn that most of them are actually very similar in stories besides the difference in names. Why is that?

It is because long before mankind spread throughout the earth making civilizations throughout the globe, they at one point were all from one place, thus the various stories all came from one place. Over the years and passed down from generation to generation embellishments and changes transformed one unified story into many individualized stories to which all the different cultures of the world have claimed as their own. Have you ever wondered why it was that every single culture has a story about the Deluge? That is because they all came from the descendants of the survivors of that Deluge.

“Not merely Egyptians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, but also the Hindus, the Buddhists of China and of Tibet, the Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Druids, Mexicans and Peruvians, the Aborigines of Australia, and even the savages of the South Sea Islands,  must have all derived their religious ideas from a common source and common centre. Everywhere we find the most startling coincidences in the rites, ceremonies, customs, traditions, and in the names and relations of their respective gods and goddesses.”- The Worship of the Dead, London, 1904, p.3.

What Does History Say?

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)

A man by the name of Nimrod (son of Cush, grandson of Ham, great-grandson of Noah) is the one who started post-deluvian idolatry. Nimrod (Hebrew: maradh’), meaning “rebel”, was the founder and king of the first empire to come into existence after the Deluge. Nimrod’s kingdom consisted of the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar. Nimrod himself deified himself as a god above mankind. It has been suggested that the Babylonian god Marduk (Merodach), who was regarded as the founder of Babylon, was in fact Nimrod deified.

“Why, then, was he called Nimrod? Because he stirred up the whole world to rebel (himrid) against his [God’s] sovereignty.”-Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, by Menahem M. Kasher, Vol. II, 1955, p.79.

Under the direction of Nimrod, the building of the tower of Babel began.  Josephus wrote: “Nimrod little by little transformed the state of affairs into a tyranny, holding that the only way to detach men from the fear of God was by making them continuously dependent upon his own power. He threatened to have his revenge on God is he wished to inundate the earth again; for he would build a tower higher than the water could reach and avenge the destruction of their forefathers. The people were eager to follow this advice of Nimrod, deeming it slavery to submit to God; so they set out to build the tower…and it rose with a speed beyond all expectation.”-Jewish Antiquities, I, 114,115 (iv, 2, 3).

As the story goes, God was angered at Nimrod for the dishonor it brought him and the false worship to himself he was demanding of the people, so God frustrated the plans to complete the tower by confusing their language. In fact the word Babel means “confusion.” The scattered people then went throughout the earth and settled in various locations, taking with them not only their new language but also the the false religious beliefs and idolatry learned by Nimrod, with them. 

What about pre-deluvian times? Was there idolatry prior to the Deluge? Yes, by the time of Noah’s days nearly every person on the earth was considered to be full of badness, even to the point that God himself “felt regrets that he had made men in the earth, and he felt hurt at his heart.”- Genesis 6:6.  The earth had become so wicked and filled with corruption to the point that the earth needed to be wiped clean,  just as an eraser to a slate chalkboard. 

Where did the corruption start? Well, to be technical and accurate, we would have to go back even further in time to see that the true origin of idolatry did not come from earthly beings. No, it came from the spirit realm itself. If one is to believe the scriptures it was then when a spirit being (later known as Satan), developed a covetous desire to be worshipped like God, that his own idolatry caused the rebellion in the heavens. Then, Eve became the first human idolater by coveting the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. Since then, only a small fraction of mankind have remained free from idolatry throughout the ages. 

 Are you part of that fraction of mankind?

 (Copyright- Origins-What Does History Say) 2012