(I apologize for the tardiness of this post, it is still under construction)
Lughnasadh means “assembly of Lugh”. So my spirits and I gathered together in an assembly last night. At sunset on the full moon in August to celebrate the great God himself. It’s pronounced Lúnasa. I figured I would add that here.
Since I expect many people (like me) were mispronouncing it. I originally pronounced it LUGH GA NAH SHADDDD (I think I just summoned Cthulhu). There’s a whole bunch of different ways to celebrate this holiday. Including the fact that part of it has connections with the dead. Our Lord Lugh had apparently established his assembly as a set of funeral games.
In honor of the ancestors. So we were wrong all along. No, it wasn’t Samhain that is the time for the dead. Apparently Lughnasadh is. Which makes sense. My high priest even mentioned yesterday at Temple how odd it is, that so many cultures agreed that around August is the time of the dead.
In the old legends, Lugh was raised by his foster mother. The Goddess Tailtiu. She was the last Queen of the Fir Bolg. One of the old Gods and spirits of Ireland. They were the fourth supernatural group to inhabit Ireland.
Until the invasion by the Tuatha Dé Danann. Despite the invasion, she survived. And continued her work as Goddess of agriculture and sovereignty. During this time, Lugh’s parents, Cían and Ethniu (Feada) were forced to give him up. I won’t get into that complex story.
Only that his father was murdered. And Tailtiu accepted the responsibility of raising him. Keeping him safe from enemies the poor child was too young to know he had. Tailtiu cared for the young God for many years. But though she was a Goddess, she was still in human form.
When Gods take mortal forms, they are more or less subject to the same limitations as we are. It happens in many cultures. Even Jesus died. So did Heracles. And so did many others.
In her case, she died from clearing out all the plains of Ireland. So that the people could use them for agriculture. When Lugh buried her, more or less around this time, he created the Áenach Tailteann (Tailteann Games). It was known by many other names as well. And it was held in a townland in County Meath called Teltown.
Which was named in her honor. These funeral games are the original and true Lughnasadh.
How was it celebrated?
On the left, an image of Tailtiu and on the right, a representation of the warriors and later knights who would continue to play these games even after Christianity. Image via Ancient Pages from their article, ” Tailteann Games: Ancient Irish Version Of The Olympic Games “
The original games were similar to the Olympics of today. There were all sorts of games which included battles. Warriors testing their limits. Food, and even making peace with enemies or doing marriages was common here. Curiously, the Games were still being celebrated even in the 1930’s.
So the Tailteann Games are celebrated in two parts. As a cultural event which is largely secular now. Almost like a medieval fair. And the religious versions. The Pagan and Christian versions of it.
Known as the Lughnasadh (Assembly of Lugh) and Lammas (Lamb’s Mass). The lamb being Jesus Christ who is called the Agnus Dei or lamb of God. Because Lugh is also a savior God or hero, Jesus was the perfect person to replace him with.
Okay everybody, I’m busy as hell today. I have already celebrated a big ass Greek celebration in my temple. It’s called the Marathonia. And it was five feasts at once : Genesia, Nemesia, Kharisteria, Boedromia, and Panagon. Now I’m preparing for the Nemoralia.
As well as Lughnasadh. And everyone wants to be celebrated in the ways of their own cultures. Although the celts don’t seem to have a problem with Nemoralia being celebrated with them.
I think the charms I made for Diana Nemorensis (Diana of Nemi) remind them of clooties. Diana doesn’t seem to mind either. So the charms I made are clooties as well as her charms for healing diseases.
So long story short…….I won’t be writing an article about it (today). But if anyone wants healing, let me know. Healing is done on the Nemoralia. And I can ask the Tuatha Dé Danann for help in healing anyone who needs it too. Just let me know.
This would have been useful during COVID. I performed all manner of rituals in 2020 to stave off the tide of Covid. A group of friends would read the updates I put on the blog. So that wherever in the world they were, they could perform the rituals and offerings. This was a collective deterrent to our modern plague. In the end, the spirits I work with had me create a two part charm to ward it off :
1) A strange feather charm to ward off the spirit of death itself. To actually target death and destroy it with life.
And
2) A serpent Staff of Zeus I own
It’s a simple branch of a tree that I dedicated to Zeus. But in the Bible, Moshe (Moses) used a magical bronze serpent that was wrapped around his staff. It was a magical charm to remove the spirit of disease. I obviously can’t say that scientifically speaking that it worked. I have no evidence.
What I can say is this :
Florida was the very worst place in the US for the disease. Because the Governor here cared more about commerce than he did human lives. At some point there was a scandal where the rotten corpses of Covid infected bodies at a funeral home were piling up. Releasing corpse fumes near apartment buildings. And the numbers of deaths were far higher than reported.
But he had his underlings change the numbers of deaths on the official website. So that he could justify removing the restrictions. So Covid was everywhere. And yet somehow, despite the fact that I lived in a neighborhood full of idiotic Trumpers. Who didn’t respect social distancing. Who didn’t wear masks.
The disease never made its way to where we lived. I had created the same feather charms and placed them in strategic locations around the neighborhood. I also anointed the street lights and anything else that could more or less pass as a “serpent”. So that they could ward off disease. I should also mention my mother is a nurse who worked with a greedy doctor that wanted to keep going to infected places to make money.
With no regard for his own family. Yet somehow, we never got sick. And death seemed to get away from us. So I leave it with you to make judgement on whether or not it worked.
Layla retrieving a bat for her team, The Clearwater Threshers, The minor league team in Clearwater, Florida for the Phillies
It’s official, the old girl is finally retiring. But her adopted sister Lucy is going to take over for her. Layla became famous on the internet in 2018. After the now famous video of her getting her Dad, Andrew Davis, a beer from the fridge went viral. Here’s the video.
Eventually people started to recognize them on the beach. Asking for selfies and other things. And then they met Justin Crawford a prospect for the Phillies. He asked for Layla to be the team mascot for the Clearwater Threshers. And everything changed.
Layla is one of our beautiful curiosities down here in Florida. One of those beautiful souls that help make life worth living. By carving a smile on our faces. Layla is now 13 years old. And Mr. Davis wants her to take it easy from now on.
But he’s training Lucy her sister, to take over for Layla.
Layla with her sister at the beach, image from Andrew David and shared on ABC 11 in New York
News story here
Enjoy your retirement Layla, you really are a good girl. The Bestest girl. Your Dad will now be fetching you stuff.
Mictlāntēcutli, the (male) Aztec God of the Dead, Via Art Station
Today we continue yesterday’s post on the original day of the dead. We have arrived at Miccailhuitl. The feast of the adult dead ones, or great dead ones. Now originally, it wasn’t just these two days. The Aztecs would celebrate the whole ninth month of their calendar as the month of the dead.
It’s interesting that this month coincides with Ghost Month this year. As far as I have been able to ascertain, this follows largely the same exact formula as the first feast. And they were both dedicated to the God, Mictlāntēcutli (our lord of Mictlān). Mictlān is the land of the dead. Well, the main land of the dead at any rate.
Because the festival is pretty much the same as the one from yesterday, I will instead talk about the journey of the dead. I will also talk about the modern incarnation of the feast. And what new modern additions there are. First we speak of the dead.
~ The Aztec Afterlife~
The Nine levels of the Underworld, With the beginning of the journey at the very top, At the very bottom is the soul finally crossing over into Mictlān from Plumas Atomicas
Introduction & Disclaimer
I’m going to try my best to explain a complicated topic like the afterlife. Specifically the Aztec afterlife. Now, I am not a true scholar. I am not an expert. I am not even initiated into these kinds of mysteries.
I do have, a passion for Mexico. And specifically Aztec and Mayan religions. Don’t ask me why. It’s just like me and the other Gods I worship. They called out to me.
And I responded. I try my best to research culture, religion, and even politics. And so try my best to reconstruct the faith in my own way. In a way where finances can afford me to use some of the resources. In a way that doesn’t exploit or mess with the religion.
In a way that doesn’t disrespect the Gods. Or the spirits who serve the Gods. I have a lot of information here. And it’s impossible for me to get every single part of it right. I also do not claim any ancestry.
My connection to the Gods is forged in spirit. Not always in blood. That shouldn’t matter. But sadly to the “gatekeepers” of Indigeneity, what blood flows through your veins matter more. So if you come here with disrespect, I’ll block you.
I won’t even bother to debate you. Debates are for intelligent people.
Basic Laws of the Afterlife
Now, where do I begin to even write about this?
I guess the basic principles. Aztec religion does not believe one’s moral code or behavior sends them to a heaven or hell. In fact I won’t even touch the subject of hell because that’s a touchy subject. Some Pagans believe in one (just not the name).
Others do not. But even the ones who do won’t call it hell. Because it evokes feelings of Christianity. And I don’t want to get into a battle of semantics on here. For the Aztecs, darkness and light, life and death, and even good and evil were interconnected to one another.
You can’t destroy one without the other. Because we all depend on a balance between all these things. Even when good Gods battle and defeat evil Gods, evil can turn around and win the next battle. Everything is a cycle. It was an interwoven pattern.
Aztecs also believed in a twin soul. Part of our soul lives inside of our dead body. And that body is cremated to release the other soul to the afterlife. I have my own theories about why they destroyed this other soul but I will keep them to myself. As these are just theories I have and not fact.
What determines where a person ends up, had to do largely with how they died. For example, if a person died near water or drowned. Or had some kind of water based death. Or a disease connected to water such as leprosy, mange, and hydropsy. Or even if they were struck by lightning, they were considered blessed by the rain God Tlaloc.
People who die by water, go to be with Tlaloc in his underwater paradise. ” The Paradise of Tlaloc “ An ancient mural found in The compound of Tepantitla
They entered a wonderful, watery, paradise known as Tlālōcān. Even if a person was bad, the act of dying in this way blessed their souls. Hence why people who died in these ways went to heavenly or paradisal afterlives. Because of how they died, in a way that was pleasing to the Gods, they were given paradise. Others who were soldiers or women who died in childbirth had a different afterlife.
They were said to go to Ōmeyōcān. Where Ōmeteōtl, the God of life and duality sent them with the Sun God, and God of War, Huītzilōpōchtli. They became solar beings of sorts. And were part of his entourage. Helping to move the sun across the skies.
But this God is so powerful that even amongst the spirits he is greater than any sun. So full of light, that the souls of the dead had to shield their eyes from his radiance. The basic point here, is that these people went to heavenly paradise for one reason. They were made pure by how they died. Because they died in ways that were symbolic of those Gods that are mentioned.
So in a way they were ‘ touched’ by the Gods. Which took away whatever sinful or negative aspects they had in life. Because those aspects were destroyed by direct contact with the Gods. And the benevolent parts of the soul were purified by the same contact. This wasn’t a mere game of favorites.
Where the Gods simply said,
” This person died like this in honor of me. Therefore I shall bless them,”
If that were the case, everyone would have had an easy afterlife. Because all of their lives were dedicated to the Gods. And to their spirits.
It’s said that those souls that were with Huītzilōpōchtli had to shield their eyes from his radiance.
Everyone else who died of normal causes went to Mictlān. As well as those who were considered criminals or transgressed in some way. It was the common place of the dead. Also known as Chicunamictlán. They had to journey there for four years (human time).
Across mountains and vast landscapes. They needed supplies to make their journey.
A depiction of the burial of an Aztec Emperor in the 16th century, from Science Photo Library
Which is why so many people were burned with their possessions. They not only had tools. Goods and blankets, and other offerings meant to be for a traveler. They also had magical amulets and talismans. These were specially prepared by a priest. It allowed them to become immune to evil spirits. And to successfully cross every level of the Underworld. Until they reached Mictlān. But they also carried offerings for the God and Goddess of the Dead. In order to formally be accepted into the afterlife. This included a document prepared by priests.
The document said,
” ‘You see here that you are to walk, and they put him between the shrouds, and so they shroud the deceased with his blankets and papers that were ready, placing them orderly before him, saying; You see here that you have to pass in the middle of two mountains that are meeting each other;
And they gave the deceased other papers, saying to him:
You see here that you have to cross the road where a snake is guarding the road. And they gave other papers saying:
You see here that you have to go to where the green lizard is, which is called xochitonal, and they said to the deceased:
You see here that you have to pass eight moors; and they gave other papers saying:
You see here that you have to pass eight hills; and they said to the deceased,
‘You see here that you have to pass the wind of knives.’ ” – Bernardino de Sahagún
In addition to this, they were burned with their pet dogs. Such as the Techichi Dog. The Native Mexican ancestor of the modern day Chihuahua. This dog was so important, that it was venerated by the Toltecs.
The older civilization that preceded the Aztecs. Dogs were venerated almost on the same level as cats were in ancient Egypt. Almost. The problem is, these poor, loving little animals were also hunted and eaten sometimes too. They had a wide variety of uses in ancient culture.
And they were said to be natural guides to the land of the dead. And had many supernatural abilities. Just as cats are said to have.
The Techichi Dog
So once the deceased was cremated with their supplies, the dog was also burned with them. They weren’t the only dogs venerated and sacrificed however. The other is the Xoloitzcuintle or simply the Xolo Dog. The Mexican hairless dog. It almost looks like a jackal.
Both these dogs would act as a compass for them. And even protection from evil spirits. Similar to our concept of a familiar spirit. A Psychopomp animal guide. And again, this was a journey of four years in our human world.
In the world of the dead, one year on earth can last a long time. Some believe it to last at least a hundred years. Depending on what kind belief system you have. It was absolutely necessary to have one of these dogs burned with the deceased. To ensure a clear path across the spiritual land scape to the underworld.
Where Mictlān lies, nobody knows for sure. Some say that it’s deep within the very bowls of the Earth. And others say you’ll find it in the north direction. Strangely enough, in West African Vodoun, the place of the ancestors is also found north. So maybe there’s some truth to this.
And a dog shall guide them through the darkness
And the Celts and many others believed that the core of the Earth was home to a vast dimension. Many worlds and faerie kingdoms. And even kingdoms of the dead, all of them beneath the Earth’s crust. It was said that even in the lands of the dead, the Sun God travels. So they do have their own sun down there.
It’s not a perpetual darkness as most think. Special offerings were granted to both the Lord and Lady of Mictlān for the dead person. Because they ruled all of the nine levels of the underworld. And it was only they who besides the dog spirits, could guide the dead. The Nine levels are as follows :
Apanohuaia (or Itzcuintlán) The place of Dogs
The dog spirit carrying a scroll to make everything official on behalf of the human soul, before the God Xolotl
There was a huge river guarded by the dog headed God Xolotl. In this way he sort of has a similar function to Charon in Greek religion. He ferried the souls of the dead. Butif the person had treated dogs badly in life, he would refuse to cross them over. So this soul would be stuck on this level forever.
This is a strange region of mountains. And these mountains constantly crash into one another. And there were hills that crashed into one another. The dead had to find the precise time to pass through. Or else be crushed by the hills.
3. Iztepetl
The Hill of knives
This depiction is pretty accurate I believe this is for a soundtrack by an artist, notice the person wearing a T-shirt in the center, via Pepe Juguetero
Hills that were made entirely of sharp flints. That acted as daggers and knives.
This area of the underworld, was where the wind blows knives. And it was a place with a mountain range consisting of eight hills. Perpetually in deep snow. The dead had to climb a hill covered with sharp ridges to cross to the next level.
5. Paniecatacoyan
The Place where people fly and spin like flags
Via Mexico Desconocido from Aztec Murals
A place where bodies float like flags. This place was located at the foot of the last hill, Izteecaya. It’s name comes from the fact that there are powerful winds in this place. So mighty that they can drag souls across the landscape. Until they can finally move forward.
6. Timiminaloayan
The place of the Arrowed People
It’s said that it has a road haunted by spirits on the side of the same road. And they have invisible hands that throw arrows to strike and cut those who cross it. The soul must persevere. And continue the trek until they leave the sixth level.
7. Teocoyocualloa
Place where beasts feed on hearts
A place where wild animals, such as jaguars, tore open the chests of the dead to feed on the hearts. It’s not known to me whether this means the ghost dies permanently, or just gets fed on for eternity.
8. Izmictlan Apochcalolca
Lagoon of black waters
A road with a mystical fog that blinds all who go there. On this level, the spirits were completely loosed from their mortal coils. Now as non Corporeal spirits. The deceased had to depend on the dog to see through the fog. As well as swim to the other side.
And finally,
9. Mictlān
The God and Goddess of the dead receive souls in Mictlān via Mexico Desconocido
The final resting place for the dead. They would get here after crossing the nine rivers of Chiconauhhapan. And it was done. They could now rest. The Tetonalli or soul had found peace.
Once the soul was free, it presented itself to Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacíhuatl with the offerings given to them at their burial. The offerings are described here.
“ And when the deceased arrived before Mictlantecuhtli they offered and presented to him the papers they were carrying, and the bundles of teas and reeds of perfumes, and loose cotton thread and another red thread and a blanket and a maxtli (loincloth) and the naguas (skirts) and shirts…”. – Bernardino de Sahagún
The God and Goddess of the dead then spoke the following words.
“Your sorrows are over, so go to sleep your mortal sleep.”
And with that, the soul crossed over. And slept. But that’s not the end of it. It’s believed after a long sleep, the soul would awaken again. And live his life in the underworld. And in some cases even reincarnate.
Death is never the end. It’s only the beginning.
Aztecs on Reincarnation and the Nature of Mictlān
Flint, the Aztec symbol of renewal
The Aztecs as I mentioned before also believed in reincarnation. They also believed souls were recycled to return to the human world once more. I have to do a more in-depth study on Aztec reincarnation beliefs. But the gist of it is, that life cannot happen without death.
In other words, just as a computer needs to power down and rest, so does the soul of beings.
Just like the living need to take a nap or sleep at night to recharge. The soul cannot have true eternal life until it first experiences death. Immortality here, is the mere discarding of old shells. So that the soul can be given a brand new and more healthy vessel. From this point of view, trying to perpetuate life eternally in one body, is aberrant to the Aztec people.
Akin perhaps to a clean body wearing soiled clothing forever. The death of the body, is more than just the death of an old vessel. It is the death of an old life. One that is dusty and old. And broken down.
One which cannot be revived again. Not naturally at any rate. So death is a recharging of the soul. So both Miclantecuhtli and his wife and companion; Mictēcacihuātl were every bit Gods of life as well. That’s actually something else I want to talk about.
To someone reading these accounts, you’d think death for the Aztecs was eternal hell. Indeed, the Franciscan friar and colonizer Bernardino de Sahagún believed as much. He actually once said that Mictlān was “hell”. And that Mictlāntēcutli himself was the devil. And Mictēcacihuātl was “the Devil’s wife”.
He probably connected her with Lilith. I mean all this journey seems like a form of hell. To the untrained eye. In reality it’s a blessing. There is a place in the Aztec underworld that I view as a type of Hell.
I avoid mentioning it, only because I don’t want to confuse readers here.
But the point is, the Gods don’t want anyone to go there. To be carried off by evil spirits or harmed in some way. So? They make sure that everyone receives a kind of Warrior training in death. All of these tasks are meant to make the soul stronger. Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.
To give one an iron resolve. And a strong morality that makes it harder for them to be tempted. Similar to the Samurai of Japan for example. Or the warriors of the Oya Empire in Nigeria’s Yorubaland. To make a strong citizenry that is strong from the very soul.
So that even in death they may be protected. As a soul crosses over each boundary, they become stronger. Wiser. Smarter. Better prepared not only for life but the afterlife.
This is also the reason for all of the offerings. The magical charms. The special papers by Aztec religious officials and so on. Each thing they do and are given for death, prepares them for something. Teaches them a lesson.
If the nine levels have a Christian equivalent, it wouldn’t be hell. It would be Purgatory. In Catholicism, purgatory (from the word “purge”) is a place where souls are cleansed. If they are broken, here they will find healing. There is also a fiery oven that burns out the painful impurities of the soul.
In this way, a soul can reach heaven fully healed of impurities.
The problem with that is, you don’t go to purgatory prepared. You depend entirely on offerings made by someone else. Masses and what not. Most of the time, people don’t even pray for their loved one’s souls. Or even do the proper funerary rituals.
And a soul can be trapped in purgatory for hundreds or even thousands of years. There is no limit to how long someone can be trapped there. And again, the soul mostly depends on the living for rituals done on their behalf. The trials of Mictlān, last only four years. And there is a time of rest in between each trial.
It’s a marathon not a sprint. The spirits have the soul of a loving dog guiding them. They aren’t alone. The soul had prepared all their human life for this journey. In death they are further prepared.
Because the descendants prepare them with more advanced rituals. Rituals meant to empower the dead to become totally self sufficient. So if the family doesn’t perform prayers or honor their ancestors, it’s not as bad. They are not like an anima sola in Christianity. The wandering souls even speak to each other.
The wandering souls even engage in commerce. After all that’s what the offerings were for. If the human family does offerings that’s great. But if they don’t, just with the special funerary rituals being properly done, that soul is independent. And there are mass offerings for the communal dead done during this month.
So either way those souls would get offerings for a whole month once a year. If you notice the souls are even taught about laws. And Magic as well. The sacred scrolls aid the dead in understanding the greater law of the Gods. All the ghosts gain the power of sorcerers to a certain extent.
Therefore, Mictlān is not hell. Nor is it even purgatory really. True, the souls are purged of all pains and impurities. But they are not dependent upon anyone else’s prayers. And they are not alone.
Not eternally suffering in a vast, shadowy dimension waiting for one God to save them. They seek and enforce their own salvation as agents of their own fates. And our Gods reward them. And they can even come back to this Earthly plain again. Please don’t think I am anti Christian.
I am simply making an observation.
Modern Times
In modern times the rituals are more or less the same. Only now there is a blend of Spanish Catholic culture. Now there’s another major difference between this traditional day of the dead. And the brand new one on November first and second. And that is that the original mostly for the worship of Mictlāntēcutli, although his wife Mictēcacihuātl was also featured.
But in modern times, the Dia De Los Muertos feast is dedicated to his wife instead.To his complete exclusion it seems.She has been renamedLa Santa Muerte(The Holy Death). This is her Christianized version. So from a Goddess to a Saint.
It isn’t as unusual as it sounds. Many Saints are actually Christianized Gods. Like St. Brighid of Ireland who is really the Goddess Brighid. Despite these changes, little has changed. For instance, November 1st is called Día de los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels).
And it’s dedicated to dead children just like its Aztec counterpart. While November 2nd is simply called Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). You can see that even by the names, the traditions are largely unchanged. They continue to visit their ancestors in graveyards. Bringing offerings of food and alcohol.
Most pure indigenous people and even those who want to reconstruct the religion, follow the old ways. As much as possible. For those who are Catholic (and secretly old believers), they go to church to pray for them. Also, with Christianity also came Spiritism and Spiritualism. So many adopted the use Ofrenda (offering) tables.
These tables are often found in the homes of people from different classes of spiritual churches. The altars and shrines are used to elevate their dead ancestors to heaven. Using a series of prayers and offerings. The ancestor becomes a spirit guide who helps the spiritualist and spiritist in their work. So rather than go to the graveyard, they prefer to stay with their altars at home.
But either way, the presence of the Old Gods are still felt even after 100’s of years of colonization. Eventually, a strange and wonderful blend of European and indigenous celebrations came about. Like Halloween, certain festive candies began to appear. Such as the sugar skull.
Skulls were sacred to the Aztecs. For they symbolized not just Gods of the dead. But the ancestors. That’s why you see so many images with skulls in Aztec art. The sugar skull is a direct homage to them.
Intellectuals are divided into two camps. One says these are indigenous practices that have evolved through time. The other says these are Spanish Catholic practices that were used for conversion. And some people even claim that the whole holiday was made up by the President of Mexico. Supposedly to create a national identity based on the Aztecs.
I call this a fallacy. There are so many parallels between this holiday and the Aztec month of the dead. I agree that some of it comes from Spanish culture. I even agree that the altars used today are Catholic based. But one cannot simply ignore the mountains of evidence pointing to this being based on Aztec practices either.
This festival has a distinctly Aztec influence.
They keep trying to link it to European traditions on necromancy and fear of death. I reply, that Europeans do not have a monopoly on either one of those things. Necromancy and fears of death can be found in every culture. And just because Europeans used skull imagery (sometimes) doesn’t mean they imprinted that on everyone else. For one, the skulls in European pictures do not look like the ones in Aztec murals.
The Aztecs have a particular art. Even the sugar skulls of today resemble the Aztec depictions of skulls. You can draw the same thing. But you can’t copy the style of that art all the way. Imagine Van Gough and El Greco both drawing skulls.
One has a semi realistic and mystical quality which is beautiful. The other has a beautiful fantastical way of going about it. They wouldn’t look the same. Even a child could tell from a distance which one belonged to which painter. The same goes for civilizations.
Imagine telling the Ancient Egyptians that their hieroglyphs are based on someone else. That the Glyphs found in Europe was where theirs came from. This wouldn’t even be considered a serious discussion. To me this is an insult to the culture. And the people.
But I digress. A main reason that skulls were so sacred to the Aztecs, was because it symbolized power. Like other cultures, the soul lives in the head or brain of a person. So you could technically take someone’s power, or even their souls if you have their skull. Skulls are used in different necromantic traditions.
From Vodoun to even the early Christians. For the purpose of doing massive mystical operations. That’s why necromancers use bones and skulls. It’s not to be macabre. It’s to connect directly with the lost force of life of that human or animal.
To use their power for magic. Any kind of magic you could imagine. From love spells, to healing a person from a deadly disease, to bringing money and prosperity. The Aztecs being a warrior culture, understood this very well. They were constantly at war with other people.
And sought to dominate fellow indigenous empires. It’s possible that they used skulls in their architecture and art for magical purposes. As a way of taking power not just from their ancestors but from their slain enemies. Sometimes, the calaveras (skulls) have been engraved with the name of a dead loved one. This particular skull will be placed on the altar.
And the ancestors will enjoy it in the afterlife. This is a pretty awesome way of doing offerings. If I were crafty in the kitchen, I would definitely do this. Another type of offering that is made on Dia De Los Muertos is called Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead). In which the bread is made to look like human bones.
This one I do admit is probably based on European (Catholic) culture. Since Catholics made sacred breads in different images. They took that from other Pagan civilizations as well. But that’s for another day. This is a type of sweet bread used for the occasion.
The commune wafers in Catholicism were based on the unleavened bread used by Jewish people. During the Passover. This later became the commune wafer used in the Catholic Church to symbolize the body of Christ. And then later, different types of holy Christian breads had crossed carved into them. The food would bless people with Jesus’ presence.
And in some cases were used for magic. Including using the breads with crosses to ward off evil spirits. So now we have the different types of funerary foods like pan de muerto. Yet another type of festive tool for this day are the calacas. Which are basically figurines or statues of skeleton people.
Dressed in various types of clothing. Sometimes I see La Santa Muerte dressed as the corpse of the Virgin Mary among her Catholic followers.
The Christianized version of the Goddess Mictēcacihuātl, La Santa Muerte
Cempasúchil (marigolds) are the official flower of Dia De Los Muertos. They’re used not only as offerings. But also as a trail of sorts that guides the deceased back to our world. Almost like a path of candles leading you back to life. They are used in various decorations.
Even for the home. That way a person’s ancestors can come back to them. Paper streamers called papel picado (sliced or cut paper) are used for decorations as well. One of the more Catholic parts of the new traditions are the candlelight vigils. These are done in memory of the dead.
In many ancient traditions, candles were used as offerings for the dead. In Catholicism they are mostly used as offerings for Saints and even for God. And then the Spiritualist and Spiritist movement uses candles for all of the above. The idea is that the spirits consume the heat energy from the candle flames. And that if you bless the candles they can actually eat the holy energy.
The importance of religious gatherings such as vigils go even farther. Masses are prayers of many people United into one. It’s believed that the combined energy of believers reaching out to God on behalf of the dead, elevates or ascends them. Elevation means that they don’t go to Heaven per say. Instead they climb the ladder of spirituality.
Each step in the later brings the soul closer to salvation. And with each new step or elevation, the soul gains new knowledge. And new powers. And they usually become spiritual guides for different people. This is why they’re so important.
And finally, there’s dancing. Lots and lots of dancing. As well as traditional music such as cumbia, mariachi, and of course rancheras. They dress in some amazing costumes. They look like a combination of Halloween costumes with traditional clothing.
Street performances and parades as well as food are common. And of course they wear masks and face paint that resemble skulls. And here my writings come to an end. I will copy and paste the last part of this article for Day of the Dead parts 1 and 2 later in November. I hope you enjoyed my research into this. I apologize for any misspellings.
But this was a lot to write. Take care everyone, and happy Aztec Month of the Dead!
Via Lo Mixto Via Melena CrvtsDo not know where this image comes from, contact me for creditMictlantecuhtli and Mictlancihuatl Lord and Lady of MictlānJourney of the soul to Mictlān, I don’t know where this image comes fromVia El Mictlān
What many people don’t know, is that Samhain isn’t the only ancient feast All Hollow’s Eve is based on. Nor is All Saint’s Day. In Mexico, it’s indigenous American culture that it’s based on. So today, allow me to talk to you. About the origin of Mexico’s day of the Dead celebration.
~ The Old Ways ~
Aztec gathering of the youth
Traditionally, the feasts were not on November first and second. The feasts of the dead were in August on the ninth and the tenth. The first holiday is called the Feast of the Little Dead Ones (Miccailhuitontli). Which is dedicated to children who have died. The next day was the day for deceased adults.
Called the Feast of the Adult Dead Ones. Or Great Dead Ones (Miccailhuitl). Both celebrations are at sunset. These are actually two parts of the festival of the dead. You see Miccailhuitontli and Miccailhuitl are actually two months. The first month is for dead children (we’re in that month right now).
And the second is for dead adults. Aztec months last for twenty two days. So the time of the dead for me has already begun. I am dedicating this first month almost exclusively to children. As well as those who cared for children in life.
The festival was a lot like our versions of the Catholic Halloween. Both feasts are an ancestral holiday. Complete with masks. Only these were special masks. Death masks.
They wore the masks in order to channel the spirits of the dead. So the spirits could dance. And enjoy life again. In modern times such dances are done with skull masks. And they’re called LaDanza de los Viejitos (The Dance of the Old).
But this is a radical departure from the old ritual mask channeling. No one gets possessed wearing these masks. They’re just party favors. In Nigeria during the Egungun festival, they do a similar ritual. Where people channel dead relatives using masks.
That way the dead can safely walk the earth. They, as well as the living, are protected by their ritual masks. And they understand that there are rules. They can’t hurt people. Or do anything that would harm the host body and spirit.
But these are usually good relatives who have death masks. Nobody to my knowledge did this for negative ancestors. So rules or not, I doubt there was a danger coming from that specific spirit.
To honor the ancestors and their Gods, they had parties and dancing. The festivals were held at both temples as well as burial grounds. They offered up incense and food offerings there. They also did this at the burial grounds. They weaved flowers into the temples and the graves.
They even brought a sacred tree trunk which they called Xocotl (fruit). They tied flowers to the trunk as part of their nature veneration. So nature as much as the dead and the Gods, was praised.
This isn’t the Xocotl, it comes from a DIY project website on how to make decorations with tree stumps. But it looks pretty close eh? Via Dyincrafys
I should also mention the incense they used was more than likely copal. This is the funerary incense. Which many people in Mexico use also to remove spirit attachments or bad energy. This isn’t the official use. But copal has many divine powers attributed it.
And so people often use it the same way Sage is used. As a way to remove curses or bad luck. The idea is that funerary incenses can be used to drain away bad energy.
Cleansing (This lady’s expression is hilarious, I guess the smoke must not smell good) via Travel Blog
Then send it to the underworld to be killed. Copal was probably the incense used. Because of its associations with feeding the dead. My Godmother in Santeria used to use it to feed her ancestors back when she lived in Mexico. Unfortunately since then, she has not bought it.
She doesn’t want to be one of those people who buy up and drain someone else’s resources. The festivals have largely stayed the same to this day. The pure blooded and many mixed blooded Aztecs are still doing these same rituals!
Long live the Gods! And long live the Ancestors!
From History Skills
Colonization
May the Conquerors burn in every lasting hell
According to Miccailhuitl: The Aztec Festivals of the Deceased, it’s said the Spanish Colonizers already had similar traditions. That is to say, feeding the dead. Feasting at cemeteries, and the like. They allowed indigenous versions of the same traditions to continue. As a tried and true method of “friendly relations” to continue.
The idea was that these customs would vanish after generations. And that the conquered people would simply adopt the pure version of Christianity with time. The Spanish Catholics adopted what the Irish Catholic Church had done. And moved the celebrations from August ninth and tenth to November first and second. All in an effort to get the indigenous people to forget their roots.
But the Gods had other plans.
Instead, what has survived is a combination of faiths. The Spanish Catholics who continue their “pure” religion. The pure indigenous faith. And a sort of revival of the Indigenous religions mixed with Catholicism. Folk Catholicism is what most call it.
I call it Christo-Paganism. They continue to worship the Old Gods. But now that includes Jesus Christ, Mary whom they see as a Mother Goddess. And have even granted her to the title of Tonāntzin (Nahua for “Our Mother”). The title for Mother Goddesses in Aztec religion.
They also work with Catholic Saints in their magic and worship.
Well unfortunately for me, I don’t have access to all those things. And I’m so anti social that me going to a party for the dead with others probably isn’t in the cards. I do actually have many tree trunks and bushes. And I decorate them for other traditions. So I decided to decorate them for the Aztec Pantheon.
And the honor of the little dead ones. But instead of picking flowers, I watered the flowers they already had. And the grass. I also took these white flowers that fall from someone’s plant naturally. And decorated one of the stumps with that. I heated up a large batch of left overs.
Everything from pasta, to a cheese stick, to steak, and rice. I said special prayers over it. And focused on imbuing the offerings with the powers of the Gods. So that they could feed the dead. I also did some healing work with them.
And I received a lot of strange visions while doing it. When I got back I was falling half asleep on my couch. And between waking and dreaming, I kept seeing people dying. They were being hit by a large object that smashed their skulls. It looked almost like a medieval machine like a catapult.
But it wasn’t a catapult at all. Despite this, no one was afraid. Neither was I. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. I think it was a message from them.
To not be afraid of death. I saw many strange visions when I started to drift in and out of sleep. The fucked up thing is this. When looking for pictures for this blog, I saw that weird death machine on an image search. But I lost the picture.
I hadn’t seen that before I had the dream. I’m really pissed I lost that image. But now I know it wasn’t some strange manifestation of my subconscious. It was a divine vision. Well, I need to get some sleep everyone.
See you later. And may you rest well and easy. And may you all dream of your skulls being caved in. What?
Recently, on the first night of Ghost Month I started to dream of the dead. The first time it seemed like a fluke. A really violent vision. I hadn’t watched anything violent lately. And I’ve been taking a hiatus from watching the news too.
I just couldn’t take anymore pictures of dead Palestinian children. It was killing me. I needed to let go of that for a while. To soothe myself and heal. I believed it was just my psyche.
So I did my normal exercises. And I began to expel negative things from my psyche. And yes there’s magic for that too. It won’t cure a mental illness. But it can help heal minds and bring balance.
And insight if need be. I did this technique and went to bed. And I felt trauma drain from my mind. But when I went back to sleep again, I got hit even harder this time. I realized then that it probably wasn’t the usual stress.
So this time I divined. Since it was the dead I dreamed of, I called on the Gods of the dead. And cast some bones. What I discovered is, I was seeing all the Ghosts in the world now.
Not just Hungry Ghosts. All the dead. The Grim Reaper seems to have released them all. The bones said more. The brand new souls had traveled here due to the storm we’re dealing with in Florida.
I remember a while back I learned that spirits can use storms to travel. Including the dead. And they can also stir things up too. So I quickly checked the weather today. To see how the tropical storm Debby was doing.
Turns out there was a lot more than I expected.
Two storms are merging into one while we also have Debby on the loose
Watch the video here. Apparently this is called the Fujiwhara effect.
Mr. Weatherman’s channel is a must see
It goes to show you that if you recognize the signs and omens, you can’t go wrong. Not only is the storm getting worse, but more than that, I can now tell that a bridge is forming in the spiritual world. The presence of three storms is already creating it. As the number three is not only sacred to many threshold and crossroads Gods and spirits. It also opens and closes doors.
And Florida is the third point of the Bermuda Triangle. Now the two of those storms are merging, to create the bridge. When I was using the bones, what I was seeing were very old as well as very new spirits. Not just condemned souls from Hell. But innocent souls.
Those who are in the shadows of purgatory. And nature spirits. Lots of pissed off nature spirits. I closed my eyes because my head was filling up with the wailing of many women. And……men.
Men who were so terrified when they died. They sounded almost like women from the high pitches in their screams. I kept hearing terms like “torture victims” and “bombing victims“. I also heard “dead children” and “angry nature“. What I had learned was that the conflicts around the planet, not just in Palestine, were causing a massive imbalance in the spiritual world.
I had no idea that there was a famine in Sudan right now. I also saw other things. Reapers of many religions and cultures who were hunting them down. Trying to cross them over fast. To contain and stop the imbalance.
But there’s so many new souls. And so many old souls that were what? Sleeping all this time? Yes, souls can and do rest. Other spirits too.
And they’ve now rudely been awakened from their eternal slumber. And they wanted vengeance for it. I was just one of the first people to notice it. All of them are jumbled together. Old and new.
Good and evil. I saw angry souls who died violently. But were not evil. And I saw evil souls who died of vices and old age. And had escaped judgement by the Gods somehow for their cruelty.
No, not escaped.
They were waiting to be judged. Set aside like old cans on a shelf. Even given time to repent. The Gods know why they do the things they do. One thing I can tell you from a lifetime of constantly questioning them is, that they always have a good reason.
I saw different classes of the dead. Almost like a darker, alternate version of the class system in America. I saw beggars who had been wealthy in life. But in death, their loved ones (if they had any) had forgotten them. I saw homeless people who were now wealthy in death.
And on their way to whichever afterlife was they were to go to. But I saw other homeless people who remained poor and sad in the land of the dead for some reason. I think they were also forgotten. Or didn’t realize they were even dead. I saw strange specters which I instinctively knew were guides for the dead.
Psychopomps, though I prefer the term Reaper. I saw some dead who seem to periodically awaken and go back to sleep. They awaken when tragedies occur. And only sleep once they’ve stopped. As if they feel the same pain we feel when we feel it.
Like spectral nerves for the living that bear witness to our suffering. And I saw huge spiritual fault-lines cracking wide open.
Some of them were in the ground where you’d expected them to open. And others were in the sky.
The skies looked like a cracked mirror. And some looked like crooked waves on the water.
And out of these fault lines, I could see many spirits come out. Like ants. I’d never expected to see that. It’s even worse than the storm of souls I saw that one time. I wanted to know how to help.
But they told me I can only do it individually in my own area. And I’m already doing what I can. For this situation to change, a bunch of people have to get involved and do things. Holy people of every culture doing rituals. But it isn’t enough to pray and do rituals.
We have to fix up the earth. And for that it requires activism. So we need regular everyday folk to do something too. And we need to be a part of them. All of us putting in time to help out others.
Protesting the Genocide in Palestine. Working for a shelter to help the animals and human beings too. Working in urban gardens and plant nurseries. Donating to people and groups who do a lot of this work. Caring for animals and humans.
Volunteering at soup kitchens. That sort of thing. Especially with all things Indigenous. If you’re in America, find a local First Nation. And ask what you can do to help.
Like the Land Back Movement. If you live in England, help out some local witches. And other groups of people who practice the old ways. Like these Cornish Witches here. Fight to protect historical sites like Stonehenge.
Support migrants as well. You don’t know why a person is fleeing a land. The story behind that could be a horrible nightmare. But these are the two areas you should begin your focus. As well as protecting and help for people of color and persecuted groups in general.
Plus also caretaking for the earth. The point here is to do everything we can to re-balance the planet. And it has to be physical as well as spiritual. And spiritual as well as physical. You need both sides of the coin to do this work.
I will post another blog later on how to care for nature.
In Conclusion
The dead are not messing around. Humanity has really fucked up this time. And this time I think that for the first time since extinctions of earlier species, we have gone too far. We need to bring our world back into balance. So if you have an idea of how you can restore balance, do it.
Use the internet. Find groups that do similar work. And join a group. And more important, get to work. We need to fix things fast.
Because the world is upside down. Finally, I also apologize for any misspellings but I am exhausted. It’s hard to sleep when you dream of talking corpses all night. Especially when they’re angry and headed straight for you. Adios everyone.
A Hungry Ghost called a Flame Mouth, this type of ghost is cursed in Hell so that everytime he or she tries to eat food, it becomes a fiery coal. Notice what appears to be a rendering of smoke coming out of its legs and two holes in the stomach
Once more we have arrived at Ghost Month. This time in the year 2024. One of the bloodiest years we have ever experienced. This year, more than many others, has been the bloodiest the human race has ever witnessed. This year, even more people died than the soldiers who died in WWII.
We have seen more souls loosed from their bodies this year than in a very long time. The souls of men, women, children, and the elderly. And what’s worse? Is that it comes from a terrible event. One we said would never happen again. But it’s happening again right now.
With the destruction of the Palestinian people.
Nadine Abdel-Taif a 10-year-old child living in Gaza, she sleeps on a mattress in the hallway of the ruins of her old apartment, image from USA Today
The desecration of their holy land has caused ripples in the spiritual world. Such a massive quake on the other side that the other world has come out of balance. That’s never a good thing. Palestinians have had for many years, stories of Jinn and other creatures tormenting them. But after the first genocide in 1948, the activity spiked.
Growing worse with every generation. To the point that in Jerusalem, reports of strange creatures abound. Both human and non-human entities knocking on their doors. To take children. Skeptics say it’s the Zionist soldiers doing it.
And yes the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has kidnapped many children. But the beings who are doing this don’t even remotely look like human beings. There have also been reports of Ghouls and Ghosts wandering those streets. I can only imagine how much worse it is about to become on Ghost Month. And so I highly suspect, that not only on this Ghost Month, but on this winter, the dead who arrive here won’t be pleasant.
And that leads us to right now.
The spirits of the tormented souls in lower afterlives will be set free to roam the living world. Most of them from Hell itself. This actually isn’t something new. In traditional Judaism, Jews did believe in Hell as well. But they also believed that the condemned got to have a day off on certain Jewish holidays.
The idea that condemned souls can be given a temporary reprieve isn’t a new one. It seems to have been a common idea to many cultures. But in the case of Buddhism they not only have a month off. They also have the chance to not ever have to come back to Hell again. This is due to Buddhist faithful who practice the giving of specially blessed offerings to the dead.
Food and drink, or conversely, money or candles and incense etc… is blessed with a sutra or text called the Ullambana Sutra. Also called the Yulanpen Sutra or ‘The Buddha Speaks the Sutra of Offering Bowls to Repay Kindness’. It explains the origin of the Hungry Ghost Festival. As well as what should be done to set free the souls in Hell. There’s also a Chinese version of the story called “Mulian Saves his Mother From Hell“.
A Son’s Endless Love
It tells the story of the Buddhist Disciple. His name is Mahamaudgalyayana. In China he was renamed Mulian. This is one of Buddha’s most faithful disciples. More than that, he’s an advanced student.
With powers so strong, that only one other disciple was gifted as he. His knowledge of the magical and spiritual arts was vast due to how advanced he was in Buddha’s wisdom. Although all of the Buddhist Disciples had powers. Who after hearing a sermon on fidelity to family by Buddha, goes to visit his parents.
In order to thank them for their loving care of him. He made a journey back to his home town. Only to find that both of his parents had long died. He felt an intense grief at first. But after collecting himself, he got an idea.
He would use his advanced powers to astral project into the afterlife. And there, he would find his parents and thank them for raising him.
Bhuloka (the Earth and sky) The lowest Heaven closest to Earth where humans reside according to Hinduism, because Buddhism split from Hinduism, and this was still the early Buddhist faith, this is more than likely where he found his father
First he goes to Heaven where he meets his father. The both are so happy to see each other again. He opened up his arms embraced him. But after the happy moment had passed, he soon realizes his mother wasn’t there. He asked his father where she was.
His father’s face suddenly grew grim. He couldn’t bring himself to tell his son the truth. And a cold feeling slowly crept through Maudgalyayana as silent terror slowly gripped him. Even as he was in Heaven. It can’t be he thought.
Not her. Mahamaudgalyayana closed his eyes, and saw through the great pattern of creation. Looking beyond time and space. Looking beyond the veil that separates it. Peering into all known and unknown worlds.
But nothing. Finally, he decided to search for her in the one place left to look…….Hell.
Maudgalyayana sees through the pattern, scouring the ether to find his Mother
And just as he suspected, she had reincarnated as a Hungry Ghost. The reason for this is that his family were powerful Hindu Brahmins. Brahmin families are meant to be a high priesthood. And because of that, they’re usually the richest people in the caste system. His father was a kindly man.
But his mother was an overly ambitious woman. And greedy. When her only son went off to join the Buddha, she had great resentment towards the Buddhist movement. She wanted her son to be a wealthy merchant like herself and her husband. Instead, her son renounced the world, to follow Buddha.
As the years passed by, she grew ever more resentful of her son’s “wasted years”. And to make matters worse, he had asked her to provide food and shelter to traveling Buddhist monks and nuns. And to do this for free! To her this was blasphemy on top of blasphemy. Not only was she expected to care for a few lay abouts, but to do so for no compensation. She was very cruel to Buddhist travelers.
Refused them food or water.
Mother and Son reunited
And would not abide them in her company. Let alone under her roof. She went out of her way to be cruel. She was not the kindly person her husband was. While it doesn’t actually say what he did or didn’t do, we can infer from the text that he was a merciful man.
And did the opposite of his wife. Which may have included the giving of alms to the poor. And probably alms and shelter to the same monks and nuns she despised. So while he won himself Heaven with his kindness, she condemned herself to the pit. As one of the most tormented specters there is : the hungry ghost.
A ghost condemned to starve to death, without ever dying.
A Needle Mouth being tormented by a demon with a fire whip
A horrible, ghastly pain. Stomach gasses filling the stomach and inflaming it. And if that isn’t bad enough, we have three methods in which the hungry ghost is starved. The first is the needle mouth. A ghost with a tiny throat that is so thin, not even water can pass through.
A flame mouth from the Hungry Ghost scroll
The second is a flame mouth, a ghost whose very presence causes food and drink to combust into fire. The solid food becomes fiery coal. And the drink becomes liquid fire of some sort I presume. Maybe even lava. If the ghost is desperate enough to try and eat or drink fire it participates in its own torture.
But the very worst one, is reserved for the worst kind of sinner : the corpse mouth. A hungry ghost so sinful and nasty in life, that it becomes a rotting corpse. With a mouth so rotted that it cannot even try to eat. The jaw and flesh falls apart.
A corpse mouth being tortured
Their time in Hell, no matter how brief, causes Hungry Ghosts to appear more demonic. They’re not demons per say. But I would say that if spirits can evolve, then this is a possible evolution towards becoming a demonic being. Perhaps many hungry ghosts do make the evolutionary leap between a ghost and a demon. But hungry ghosts aren’t the only type of spirit on the loose.
Ghosts who go to Hell aren’t the only ones. Some of the spirits roaming are in a type of purgatory or limbo. This may even include ghosts who don’t realize they’re dead at all. They’re not condemned to any lower afterlife. Just that they may not have received the proper funeral offerings and prayers.
That’s the beauty of the Ullambana Sutra. It works to connect the dead to the lotus of life. Buddhists believe in the flower of life. And that all of us carry a small piece of it. The aim of Buddhism is to achieve enlightenment.
By understanding the true nature of reality. And of the causes of suffering and how to eradicate it. And by doing this, connect to this creational energy. Once connected, the Buddhist becomes one with all creation. Including the living and the dead.
They sort of become like the “force ghost” from Star Wars. An immortal and divine being. Free from the constraints of all forms of corruption. And freed from the cycle of reincarnation forever. However, they can choose to come back if they want to.
In order to make this world better. And help everyone else to achieve enlightenment. So you never know if an animal or a person around you is secretly a reincarnated Buddha. Sent to help others in some way. Although some who achieve this enlightenment can be alive and not fully ascend yet.
Buddha could have ascended. But the God Brahma, and the other Hindu Gods asked him to preach what he had learned. In order that their human creations should free themselves from the chains of karma and samsara (eternal cycle of reincarnation). That’s why he stayed in human form even after achieving enlightenment. Granted, I still give offerings to the dead even after crossing them with this sutra.
From experience, I can tell you this sutra grants greater powers to them overtime. Even after full ascension. I imagine it must bring them into even deeper contact with the Lotus of Life. According to the story, Mahamaudgalyayana (or Mulian in China) tried to use his powers to save his mother.
He was an advanced student. And had gained many abilities during his studies in Buddhism. However, even he couldn’t save his mother. He tried to give her an offering of food and water. Hoping that even if it didn’t cross her, it would at least ease her suffering.
He put a bowl of rice in a bowl for her. And she scooped the rice up in one hand. But it became a burning coal she couldn’t eat.
The strange thing about Mahamaudgalyayana’s mother is that sometimes she’s even shown with a needle-like throat. But she also sets her food on fire. So it’s unknown if this is a mistake. Or if all Hungry Ghosts have needle throat qualities. Or if she was so wicked in life, that she was made into both types of ghosts.
A hybrid of sorts. Here she exclusively looks like a flame throat. So he ran back to the Buddha. And told him the whole horrible story. It’s said that Mahamaudgalyayana didn’t just cry.
His crying was described as “a horrible wailing”. He was traumatized from the experience. He ran to the Buddha. And told him everything.
The Buddha consoles and advises Maudgalyayana
He begged the Buddha to save her. The Buddha looked into her with his powers. And he explained to Maudgalyayana that his mother’s sins were so grave, that even the ” twisted demons and the four heavenly King Gods” would not have been able to help. Even though his mournful sounds moved them. Apparently his crying could be heard in all of Hell and Heaven.
And it moved even the demons. It also makes me wonder if any of the demons or Gods tried to help him and failed. Buddhism says, there are principles that guide the universe. And that even the Gods must obey them. Because if they don’t, yeah they’ll be okay.
But we won’t be. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. But with the proper divine blessings, one may be able to help anyways. Buddha created the first Buddhist Mass for the dead. The Ullambana ritual.
Ullambana refers to the basins that were filled with offerings of food and clothing, and other things to the Sangha. The order of Buddhist nuns and monks. The Sangha would receive these offerings from Maudgalyayana. Then they would ask him what he wanted in return. He would reply, that he wanted all of them to pray for his mother’s soul.
And they would all pray. The prayers of the holy sangha had lessened his mother’s suffering. And when Maudgalyayana looked again, his mother had one kalpa (time) of suffering removed. In other words, each time this ritual is done, the dead person cannot suffer. Even the demons cannot torture them.
Or hold on to them. So the Buddhist concept of time in this case, meant her prison sentence in Hell. Each time the ritual was done, her chains of suffering were slowly removed. Until one day, her soul was completely freed from Hell.
Leaving the darkness
The story says that she rejoined her husband in heaven. Then later she reincarnated as a small dog. Who was adopted by a wealthy family and treated well. But it seems that Maudgalyayana was bothered by this. Because he later continued the ritual.
So that he could give his mother the ability to come back afterwards as a human. Because the Buddha was considered “the peer of the Gods“, the Gods made a decree for him. They decreed that every year, the ritual would be done. On The fifteenth day of the seventh month. The Pravarana day for the Buddhist Sangha.
Furthermore based on the calculation of that day, a month would be dedicated. Solely so that all condemned or lost ancestors both in Hell and in limbo or purgatory would be set free. And they would merge with the Lotus of life and become powerful divine ancestors. Enlightened souls is what I call them. The soul of the dead has huge advantages they didn’t have before.
I have seen such souls become so powerful that they learn to be guardians. And help other spirits. Or even battle negative spirits. And I imagine that once reborn they have the chance to become enlightened and learn.
Ghost Month for 2024
Tomorrow, Sunday August 4, of 2024 is the start of Ghost Month. Oddly enough, today is also the festival of the dead for the ancient Egyptians. And it’s also the Orphic feast of the Greek Heroes in my Temple. For Hellenics and Romans, the Heroes are our version of the Saints. A more powerful class of the dead.
So the energies of the dead have aligned tomorrow. This is a powerful start to Ghost Month. Every day I will bless something for them. Food or drink. Candles or incense. Or even burn Hell Money for them.
Hell Money or Hades money is made out of Joss paper and set on fire in honor of a particular spirit or many spirits
I actually got this really funny packet of Hell money just for them. Some of it is in the form of gold bars. And one is even a cell phone. So the dead can communicate with the Gods or other relatives. I thought that was creative.
From my shrineThe Ghost Cell phone
Apparently this is a modern thing. Some people have even burned effigies of cars and houses for their dead loved ones. To have a home or even drive in the afterlife. I have also seen people burn clothing for their loved ones to have clothes.
I’ve been keeping it with my shrine and altar of the dead. And Gods of the dead. As well as non human spirit guides who work with the dead. Such as certain types of Faeries, Guardian Angels, Saints, some Demi Gods, and even Guardian Ghosts. So that when the offerings are made, it’s also an offering to all of them.
I’m saving that for Sunday August 18th, 2024. This is the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts. When Ghost Month reaches the height of it’s powers. This is the most important day to give offerings for the dead in all the year. And it’s also the Astrological version of Llughnasadh (pronounced Lunasa).
Or Lammas (Lamb’s Mass) for the Christians. The dedication of Summer for the Celtic Sun God Lugh. Celebrated when the Full Moon enters Leo in August. This is no accident. Since even Hungry Ghost Month is calculated using the moon and stars.
Granted differently but it’s still interesting that this year they coincided with one another. Christians took Llughnasadh to celebrate the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ. Who in many ways is sort of a Sun God himself. All the Christian iconography involves halos that look like the solar halos of many Sun Gods.
But I digress. The Ullambana Sutra is here for you to read. First I suggest going to your local Buddhist temple and giving a donation for the dead. And also give them names of anyone you want prayer for. Then take whatever offerings you have to give to the dead. Even coins.
And read the mantra three times over them either out loud or in your head. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a Buddhist shrine. You can perform this prayer in the Temple. Or at home. All you need is the sutra.
It’s really long. And you have to read it three times. So please don’t get impatient. You can pray over it and the power of the Sangha will charge the offering. This is so the object or food will exist in the spiritual world as well.
So the dead have a spiritual copy for themselves that they can use. If it’s food, you should know the dead possess animals in order to eat. In rare occasions I have even heard of them using humans as proxies to eat. So make sure the food is sealed and properly labeled. And away from anyone you know and any pets.
I once stupidly dropped a piece of food that was blessed and a cat I would normally feed ate it. I hoped nothing would happen. But the next night when I saw that cat, I could tell something was off. One of the dead people I was praying for was inside that cat. The animal looked at me with disdain.
And a human intelligence that let me realize what I had done. I wanted to pretend that I was just paranoid. But that cat never acted like this before. I could feel a darker presence inside him. It regarded me as being inferior to him.
And with its energy and eyes I could tell what it was thinking. Give me another offering. I told it with my mind to leave the cat if he wanted the food. He said no. I figured that.
In reality I carry a vial of Hellenic (Greek Pagan) holy water in my pocket all the time. I tossed it at the cat. Not really knowing if this would work or not. It did. The cat acted as if he’d be snapped out of a trance.
And the spirit was angry but out of the body.
I warned him that if he charged me, I wouldn’t give him offerings again. So he waited at the crossroads everyday for me from that point on. And the cat was back to his normal lovable self instantly. Just be careful. Because food and drink can open a person to possessions as well as blessings and curses.
That’s why witches and other magic users are paranoid about where we get our food and drink from. We like to be present in the preparation of such things. You don’t know what was done to that food or drink. And if that can happen to animal, it will happen to a human as well. So again make sure that you have everything sealed and labeled.
After the offerings have been charged, go to places the dead frequent. Like old back roads or crossroads. Memorials set up for accident victims. Cemeteries. Buddhists tell people that Hungry Ghosts normally frequent the trash cans in your own neighborhood.
Because they’re so desperate to eat that they’ll even search the trash. You say the name of the person you are praying for. Or think of it in your mind. Dump the food. And then snap your fingers three times to summon up that person to get their food.
Then turn around and walk away. And whatever you do, do not turn around to look at the offering. First because you’ll pick up whatever negative energy you left behind (offerings like this sort of double as cleansings). And second because you could end up seeing a hungry ghost. Even if it’s invisible or inside of an animal don’t look.
They could follow you home.
I also burn blessed candles with the Ullambana Sutra for all my ancestors. Even if they’re already in Heaven, this is a powerful offering to make them. And any lost or forgotten ancestor or uncrossed relative will hear the prayers and cross over. The Sangha will find them and guide them to rest. I burn those on my shrine.
I will now be posting links on what to do during Ghost Month.
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 