We are approaching the Days of the Dead; All Saints’ Day on November 1st, and All Souls’ Day on November 2nd. These are ancient festivals of remembrance, times to bring to mind those who have gone before us — the saints, those who’ve helped us, friends and family members who have recently passed, and our ancestors.
In much of the modern world, these days have been reduced or forgotten, overshadowed by the commercial noise of Halloween, the eve of these festivals. But there’s something valuable in recovering their meaning. What happens when we deliberately turn our thoughts toward the dead? Do we, in some sense, reconnect with them?
As I discuss in my book Ways to Go Beyond and Why thy Work, festivals link us by morphic resonance to those who have celebrated them before us, and these particular festivals connect us to our spiritual and physical ancestors.
Many cultures assume that the living and the dead remain linked... through memory, through prayer, through love. In parts of Africa, China, and Japan, this isn’t seen as strange or supernatural, but simply as part of the fabric of life. Perhaps we in the West have lost something by neglecting that awareness.
In this brief talk, I explore these themes — not as doctrine, but as an invitation to reflect. What might it mean, personally and culturally, to restore a sense of continuity between the living and the dead? Could our lives become richer, perhaps even happier, by acknowledging that connection?
For links to streaming services and details of ceremonies in cathedrals and churches in Britain and Ireland, see choralevensong.org
