Why do so many cultures dedicate specific days to remembering those who have passed?

In early November, brightly coloured hand-made garlands, skeletons, and altars with pictures of relatives adorn the streets of Mexico. In the middle of August, thousands of lanterns illuminate the streets of Japan, where many take to dance and celebrate in traditional costume. In Britain, heads are hung in silence whilst bells all throughout the nation toll exactly eleven times. So, why is it that despite the vast geographical distances between these countries, so many societies set aside specific days to remember the dead?

These festivals are a born of many ancient societies’ practices such as the pre-Hispanic Aztec, Toltec, and Nahua peoples, and the integration of the Christian calendar, as in the case of Día de los Muertos. The result is an interesting mix of history and tradition spanning 3,000 years. Egyptologists have also discovered references to a similar festival, Wag or Thout, where people would tie up boats at the bank of the Nile, symbolising the journey one would take over the river Mehen to the afterlife.

Though these two festivals occurred 7,697 miles apart, in entirely different eras, they maintain one important connection: togetherness. Celebrating Día de los Muertos is essentially celebrating the fact that those who have passed are never really gone, they will return every year, and so one is never really alone. The intention behind Wag, is ensuring that though it may seem like a lonely journey, one is not alone when crossing the river Mehen, they have their entire community behind them. Through this, many cultures are thus able to view their relationships with those who have passed as ongoing, rather than ending.

Realising death through community and shared celebrations of life over death help to foster connection, it is a way in which tradition and lived experience intertwine, forming its own cultural identity. Many of these days of remembrance also include visiting the final resting places of loved ones, tidying the surrounding areas, leaving gifts, and in festivals such as Qingming in East Asia, lighting incense. The act of doing these rituals together reinforces a sense of belonging, not only to one's family but also to a wider community united by shared memories and experiences. Through the cleaning of graves, the offering of food, or the lighting of candles and incense, the dead remain present within the lives of the living. In this way, remembrance is not simply about mourning a loss, it is about relationships, preserving traditions, and ensuring that those who have passed continue to occupy a meaningful place within society.

Though our loved ones are ever present in our minds, these festivals and quiet days of remembrance serve as a way in which a community may come together in order to remember collective losses. They are not only a reminder or celebration, but a way in which societies may talk more freely on their mourning processes, through the support and sympathy of their community.

Whether through the vibrant celebrations of Día de los Muertos, the lantern-lit evenings of Obon, or the silence of Remembrance Day, these traditions reveal a shared human desire to remain connected to those who came before us. While the customs themselves may differ, their purpose is the same, that grief is carried collectively rather than alone. This may be the reason as to why so many cultures dedicate specific days to the remembrance of the dead, because remembering is what keeps communities, histories, and connectivity alive.

Written by Ailsa Stewart