Editing Veneration of the dead (section)

==European cultures==
[[Image:Spanish Cemetery.jpg|right|thumb|A scenic [[cemetery]] in rural Spain]]

[[Roman funerary practices|Care of the dead]] and the loving duty toward one's ancestors (''[[pietas]]'') were fundamental aspects of ancient Roman culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heid |first=Stefan |title="The Romanness of Roman Christianity," in A Companion to Roman Religion. |pages=408}}</ref> A clear manifestation of this is [[Roman portraiture|Roman Republican era portrait busts]] which may have originated in the practice of making death masks of ancestors which were displayed in the home and during funerary rites and on the anniversary of the ancestor's death.

In Catholic countries in Europe (continued later with the [[Anglicanism|Anglican Church in England]]), November 1 ([[All Saints' Day]]), became known and is still known as the day to specifically venerate those who have died, and who have been deemed official saints by the Church. November 2, ([[All Souls Day]]), or "The Day of the Dead", is the day when all of the faithful dead are remembered. On that day, families go to cemeteries to light candles for their dead relatives, leave them flowers, and often to picnic. They also celebrate [[Votive Mass#Suffrage Mass|Suffrage Masses]] to shorten the time that souls need to leave [[Purgatory]] and the enter in [[Paradise]]. The evening before All Saints'—"All Hallows Eve" or "Hallowe'en"—is unofficially the Catholic day to remember the realities of Hell, to mourn the souls lost to evil, and to remember ways to avoid Hell.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} It is commonly celebrated in the United States and parts of the United Kingdom in a spirit of light-hearted horror and fear, which is marked by the recounting of [[Ghost story|ghost stories]], [[bonfire]]s, wearing [[Halloween costume|costumes]], carving [[jack-o'-lanterns]], and "[[trick-or-treating]]" (going door to door seeking candy).

===Brythonic Celtic cultures===

In [[Cornwall]] and [[Wales]], the autumn ancestor festivals occur around November 1. In Cornwall the festival is known as ''[[Allantide|Kalan Gwav]]'', and in Wales as ''[[Calan Gaeaf]].''<ref name=Davies1>Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7083-1953-6}}.</ref> Modern-day [[Halloween]] is derived from these festivals.<ref name=Davies1 />

===Gaelic Celtic cultures===

During ''[[Samhain]]'', November 1 in Ireland and Scotland, the dead are thought to return to the world of the living, and offerings of [[food]] and [[light]] are left for them.<ref name="McNeill">McNeill, F. Marian (1961, 1990) ''The Silver Bough'', Vol. 3. William MacLellan, Glasgow {{ISBN|0-948474-04-1}} pp.11-46</ref> On the festival day, ancient people would extinguish the hearth fires in their homes, participate in a community bonfire festival, and then carry a flame home from the communal fire and use it to light their home fires anew.<ref name="O'Driscoll">O'Driscoll, Robert (ed.) (1981) ''The Celtic Consciousness'' New York, Braziller {{ISBN|0-8076-1136-0}} pp. 197–216: Ross, Anne "Material Culture, Myth and Folk Memory" (on modern survivals); pp. 217–242: Danaher, Kevin "Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar" (on specific customs and rituals)</ref> This custom has continued to some extent into modern times, in both the [[Celtic nations]] and the [[Irish diaspora|diaspora]].<ref name="Hutton">{{Cite book|last=Hutton |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Hutton |title=The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy |publisher=Oxford, Blackwell |isbn=978-0-631-18946-6 |pages=327–341|date=1993 }}</ref> Lights in the window to guide the dead home are left burning all night.<ref name="McNeill"/> On the [[Isle of Man]] the festival is known as "old Sauin" or ''[[Hop-tu-Naa]]''.<ref name=HTN>Moore, A.W. (ed) ''Manx Ballads & Music'' (1896) G & R Johnson, Douglas.</ref>