Papa Legba opened the gate.
I felt honored.
Now many years later,
I have come to know others.
First it was Legba.
He tried me.
He tricked me.
I stumbled.
I fell.
But then I got up.
He came to me as an old dog.
I took him in.
I bathed him.
I fed him.
I loved him.
He disappeared.
I saw him again,
On the astral.
He leaned against a rock wall
With a huge cast iron gate.
Above it read a sign:
Cimerteria.
I walked through the gates and there before me was a huge old tree. Awaiting my arrival was Mama Brigette. She sat upon a tombstone looking as ancient as the rock itself. Her body swayed and rocked as she spoke.
She pulled a black and red hen from a basket that sat beside her. She instructed me on how to care for it. I was to feed it, nurture it, and keep it alive by keeping it out of harm's way.
Then, with the motion of her hand, she showed me her temple, her domain, the cemetery. She introduced me to her children, the Guedes. I turned in the direction of her motioning hands and saw many beings sitting on top of the old tombstones. I caught many names, many faces but there were many I missed.
There was something similar about these beings. It was like... they were caricatures of life. If I didn't know better I might have called them graveyard clowns. Their clothes were like rags with lots of color and flair. Each wore a tattered hat upon his/her head. Without eyes, the sockets looked like black round-framed sunglasses.
Without thinking, I found myself staring into these hollowed eye sockets and learned many secrets about life and death: some horrific, some hilarious. They laughed.
As caricatures of life, the Guedes poke and make fun of it, threatening life's mere existence with their humor. At the same time they threaten life's existence with the poison found in the dead, rotting decay of matter.
With the blink of an eye, the graveyard changed. In place of the tombstones were trees. I still stood beside the huge old tree but when I looked out I saw I was among a forest. As I looked around, still shocked and amazed at the sudden change, I noticed a doe quickly approaching with wide graceful strides.
Before my very eyes she transforms into a woman. She was lean and muscular with long brown hair. Her eyes were large and brown. She introduced herself as Oya. And with that she spun around quicker than I could see. Her shredded skirt flew in the air. When she turned to face me once more, beads covered her eyes and I could see her face no more.
The forest shimmered, changing from trees to tombstones back to trees. The wind blew hard. When she spoke I could not understand what she said, her voice whistled like the wind. And with a quick turn of the head and a few ballerina leaps she returned to the forest as deer once more.
Turning about, I saw Legba waiting, leaning against the rock wall with the gate swung open. He motioned my return. As I passed through the gate I thanked him.
Once on the other side, I turned to thank him again. Nothing was there. The gate was gone. I slipped and fell, landing hard on my butt. Riotous laughter echoed through the darkness and a deep resonating voice spoke: "Never look back for Legba."
The laughter began to sound like the panting hoots of a wild chimpanzee and a banana peel was lying near my foot. I looked up and saw Jane Goodall's chimps, Flo and her family walking away. They were very creatures that started my journey in exploring the ancient African mythological systems.
Cemeteria
Burying the dead dates back as far as the Paleolithic times around 25,000 BC, the age of hunters and gathers. First evidence of deliberate burials was found in European caves. Both individual and group burials were discovered. The dead were frequently found in the fetal position implying the belief of the cave as the earth's womb, the earth as a mother goddess and life/death being part of a cycle involving rebirth.
During the Neolithic Period around 7500 BC. burials moved from the caves to Barrows. Barrows are burial mounds made of stone, earth and/or timber. This type of burial is found in Western Europe and South East Asia. In more recent times, barrows were used in Buddhist countries. The long ones are from the Neolithic period containing several burial chambers. They simulate cave burials. The round barrows dating from the Bronze Age, contain a single grave.
Subsequent in the evolution of burials is the Mastabas. These are pre-dynastic Egyptian mounds dating back to 3100 BC. They are simple heaps of sand overlaid with bricks that evolved into more solid rectangular constructions of brick with stepped sides.
Egyptian pyramids followed. With its square base and triangular sides rising to a point, the pyramids date back to 2750 BC. There were two types of this three-dimensional pentagram: the step pyramids and the true pyramids.
Step pyramids are the oldest dating back to 2750 BC. On the outside are steps leading to the top. Some of its internal corridors are underground.
True pyramids do not have the steps on the outside and there are no underground chambers. The first true pyramid was built around 2600 BC.
Within both types of pyramids were many chambers including ones for living and storage, an embalming chamber and a mortuary temple.
Coffins were invented by the Egyptians and are called Sarcophagi. They were made of stone.
The Egyptians were also the first to include inscriptions. Today, inscriptions are written on gravestones and are called epitaphs. They are generally statements commemorating the dead.
Pyramids can also be found in the pre-Columbian civilizations of Middle America: Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala dating from 1200 BC. to 900 AD. The pyramid builders in this area of the world were the Mayas, Teotihuacanos, Toltecs and Aztecs.
The positioning of the pyramids indicate observances to the solstices and equinoxes.
From the Middle East came the first grouping of graves around the temples and sanctuaries.
Burial mounds are earthworks erected over a burial place as a memorial or landmark. The name is applied in particular to those of North America although they exist elsewhere. Some were flat-topped, pyramidal mounds as high as hills, others were domed or in the shape of animals and some were walls built of dirt with grass grown over.
The tomb is a vault or chamber that is either partly or entirely above ground. The root word is Greek - tymbos - meaning burial ground. It is believed that tombs evolved from some of the ancient cultures that would bury their dead under their house of dwelling. In some cases, the house was sealed and, in other cases, the living continued to live in the house. It is also possible that the pyramids evolved from this type of burial.
Tummulus (plural: tummuliin) is the heap of earth or stones placed over a grave. Stones covering the grave above ground was placed so to protect the body from ravaging animals, confining the dead to the grave and marking the sight for future offerings.
The next in this long chain of burial traditions is the Stupa (Sanskrit for mound). It probably derived from the pre-Buddhist burial mound. The oldest known dates back to 700 BC and is found in India. Stuppas are hemispherical masses of earth raised on a base and faced with brick or stone. A processional path surrounds it. Stupas are enclosed by a stone railing and topped by a balcony. The basic design is a circle within a square. Pagodas are used in their place today.
The Greeks buried their dead outside the city walls in a necropolis (city of the dead).
For centuries, catacombs were built and used by Pagans, Hebrews and Christians. Catacombs are subterranean cemeteries. The word means "near the hollows". They consist of many corridors and crypts. Some are quite huge with more than 8 miles of corridors, several levels and burial chambers containing 600,000 to 800,000 tombs.
The word crypt is Greek and means hidden. Crypts are vaults or chambers beneath the main level of a place of worship. They are an evolution of the catacombs.
Today, the word cemetery is used for the place we put our dead. The word cemetery literally means "sleeping chamber" and was first used in reference to the catacombs of Rome. The word came to general use in the 15th century.
Poor people and criminals may be buried in a section of the cemetery called potters' field. The myth behind this is that the potters' field was bought with the blood money of Judas.
Directions in which the head and feet of the dead were placed varied greatly: Moslems toward Mecca, Christians and europeans west, migrant tribes toward the homeland of their ancestors and some Islanders feet turned inland.
Positioning of the deads' body also varied from fetal, sitting, standing, and lying: face down, face up; all depending on the culture's beliefs.
Willow, cypress and yew trees are frequently found in graveyards. Willow expresses sorrow; cypress expresses hope; and yew, being an evergreen, symbolizes eternal life. In China, cypress and pine are used to strengthen the souls of the dead.
Cemeteries are the homes for the deceased's body. They contain shrines to our ancestors. Cemeteries are portals to the world of the dead. If you can't wait until Samhain, just go to a cemetery on a full-moon night and watch the shadows come to life and feel the magick in the air. Make your offerings, announce your petition and honor the dead for soon you will join them.
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