Ancestral Death in the Hills - Decoration Day, The Long-Held Tradition: Reconnection, Accountability, & Folk Tradition

This is a 120-minute intermediate level lecture, in The Pickman Room (second floor)

Decoration day is an Appalachian practice that was not always considered spiritual in a 'witchy' sense, in fact it was more often considered a Christian practice (as many Appalachian practices were/still are), but when we look closer at the tradition it's awfully reminiscent of how one would go about forming a relationship with cemetery spirits if you wished to collect cemetery dirt for spells or if you wished to form a working relationship with those spirits. The practice involved a family or a church congregation gathering at the cemetery on a designated Sunday and cleaning the cemetery grounds, decorating graves with flowers, and occasionally it involved conducting a second funeral service for all who were buried there. This time-honored tradition helped families grieve and it was thought to help the spirits of the deceased feel more at-peace.…