I
feel cheated,
I really do. In other places, people have a day just for their beloved
dead grannies, but do you think good ol’ Christian America would be so
considerate and kind?
Not!
Everyone
but us!
In Babylonia and ancient Greece there was the Feast of All Souls. In
Rome the ancestors were celebrated every February. The Buddhists hold
their Feast of the Dead on April 15. And even China and Japan have their
annual Feast of Lanterns -- just for dead people.*
But
not us, oh no!
When
I was growing up,
my poor family had to sneak around the graveyards on Memorial Day, and shoot
furtive glances left and right to make sure no one was watching.
Then
we'd drop flowers
on the graves of our non-war-hero ancestors, and scurry away ASAP
before we were caught red-handed honoring someone who didn’t die in a
war.
(For
those of you outside the US, America’s Memorial Day is technically a day
for honoring dead soldiers, not ordinary grammas and grampas.)
But
since I now have Samhuinn to honor my dead, I feel lucky in a big way. I can openly
feel fuzzy and warm about them again, commune with them, love them up from this
side of the veil (which is swirling ever and ever thinner even as I
write).
SO, HAPPY SAMHUINN TO ONE AND TO ALL! (Aren’t we lucky?!)
__________________________
* Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. of Folklore, Vol. 1, p.
38
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