two traditions: feast of the dead in ığdır, day of the dead in mexico
every tuesday and thursday before the nowruz festival, jafaris in ığdır, turkey visit cemeteries to perform the traditions of the feast of the dead which is an important part of the nowruz tradition. whereas in mexico, families and friends gather to pray for and remember the family members who have died on the day of the dead/dia de los muertos.
“as the jafari community, we celebrate the feast of the dead before we celebrate the nowruz festival. everyone is obliged to visit their dead relatives. the hodjas pray for our dead.
ruined graves get fixed. we mourn for the people who have died within the year and their houses are visited. at the end of the visits, we celebrate nowruz. the fire of nowruz is to be lit after the feast of the dead ceremony is over.
we give sweets and desserts as treats in the cemetery as it is a custom. some people bring cakes and sweets, and people who get these treats, pray for the dead ones of the people who bring the treats.”
— member of ahl al-bayt scholars association, veli beder
“young girls from each village marry into the villages in the vicinity and become brides. in order for these brides to participate the ceremonies in their fathers’ villages, we perform the ceremonies in turns, on different days.
we are members of the jafari sect and we have been celebrating this day for ages. because the roots of this day go long way back to our ancestor oghuz khan.”
— jarafis who have spoken to atilla bağcı from hacettepe university
“the date of the ceremony is announced to the village by the imam or the chief of the village and if they are not there, they designate someone to remind the village of the ceremony date: ‘on such and such day we will visit the cemetery. everyone should be prepared for it is the feast of the dead.’
hereupon, every villager starts preparting for the day. every family prepares according their economic welfare”
— atilla bağcı
“the imam of the village leads the ritual. the entire village goes to the cemetery together. in the entrance of the cemetery, the imam and the elders of the village stand together, pray and say salavat.
after this prayer ceremony, money is collected from the participants and gets handed to the imam. as our mosques aren’t affiliated with the turkish republic religious affairs, the imam of the village mosque doesn’t receive a salary. so the state doesn’t pay anything, we collect money for the imam.
everyone donates at the rate of their financial well-being. everyone’s contribution is announced to the village and after each announcement, we pray for the dead.”
— sefer tekçe from evci village, ığdır
“origins of the feast of the dead date back to this tradition: the ancestor cult inherent in the turkish culture and paying homage to the tomb of the holy ancestor.
as the turks converted to islam, the content of the tradition stayed the same. only the form of the ritual has changed.”
— atilla bağcı
“particulary the communities who live in the metropolises and who have different cultural and religious practices come to ığdır for this ceremony. the feast of the dead helps the members of the jafari sect and azeris that live in cities such as istanbul, bursa or ankara, to identify the idiosyncratic features as their own identities and keep the cultural memories alive.
the images of the gatherings in the cemetery brings the concern for continuity of the community into the forefront, as it is associated with the identity of the community. death should be viewed as a process that rebuilds the community and strengthens the collective feelings and relationships.
the fundamental concepts that demonstrates the relationship between death and community are cultural memory and self-image of the community as these concepts sustain the paternal links and the cult of the ancestors.”
— associate professor adem sağır from karabük university
similarities and differences between feast of the dead and day of the dead
in his article titled “the case of dead day ceremony in ığdır/turkey and day of the dead in Mexico” assoc. prof. adem sağır compares the similarities and differences between the traditions:
“day of the dead is essentially the ancient ceremony of mayans, aztecs and spaniards which is performed in the name of aztec’s goddess mictecacihuatl as it survived till today.
day of the dead, in comparison with feast of the dead, is celebarted at the end of the harvest season(october 31-november 2).
altars are prepared in the house and the favorite food of the dead is placed on the altar. photographs of the dead and candles are placed around the food. thus, the interior space of the house folds into a space of thoughts and beliefs about death.
streets and cemeteries are not different from the houses. the streets on which the day of the dead is celebrated are decorate with dead-faced sculptures. when the celebrations begin, everyone takes one of these sculptures and gives it to others as a gift.
in each death practice, the focus and purpose of cemetery visits is related with practices of remembering the ancestors. in this sense, as these practices solidifies the intergenerational connection and reflects upon the cult of the ancestors, they serve a sociological purpose.
the feast of the dead is identified with death in-and-of itself. here, prayers and worshipping is emphasized. whereas the day of the dead represents a life in harmony with death.
the day of the dead is identified with life which is the fundamental motive behind having a festival on the first evening till the morning. protection from the dead is more apparent in this tradition. therefore, life and entertainmentis more emphasized.