Guess Who's coming to Dinner? Dining with the Dead! (Part 2)

In part 1 of this article we covered the concept of Dumb Suppers, the reasons they are performed and why they may be successful at conjuring the dead. 

In part 2 we will discuss manners, rules, and places of mass gatherings for the Dead’s Dumb Suppers.

Have you ever attended a Dumb Supper on All Hallow’s Eve where you serve the dead? 

We understand the concept of death as spirit leaving the body. But, what about the idea of spirits returning for dinner?

Here are five rules for breaking bread with the dead.  

11.)   Dinner begins with a prayer, and a welcoming of the ancestors.

22.)    The meal continues with quietude for the remainder of the meal.

33.)   Appliances, computers and cell phones are turned off because it is believed that silence is helpful for the dead to be among the living.

44.)  No one leaves the table until everyone has finished eating.  The silence is broken when everyone thanks the ancestors for dining with them.

55.)   After the meal is over, the ancestor’s food is fed to the family pets, spread over the earth, or taken to the cemetery where it is left on their grave sites. It is believed that the dead ate of the essence of the meal and thereby shared in the celebration of life with loved ones.

 One of the largest gatherings for the Festival of the Dead’s Dumb Supper is held in the Grand Ballroom of the Historic Hawthorne Hotel in Salem; a haunted site featured on the SciFi Channel’s show Ghost Hunters.

This All Hallow’s Eve, rather than simply remembering your loved ones who have passed over, invite them to partake of the essence of life with you—food. Sit quietly and remember the wonderful times you shared together in life and know that they are remembering them with you because love transcends time, space and death. Love is a gift you can take with you. 

End your Dumb Dinner by toasting them. End the silence by drinking in honor of all the ancestors you did not meet in this lifetime, until now.

Try it. You may like it as much as they do.

Bio:Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, author, Intuitive Life Coach, survived three breast cancers found  by her dreams, wrote SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing (Cypress House, Jan 2014) http://tinyurl.com/p7cjfxa   websites: Surviving Cancerland http://www.survivingcancerland.com/   & AccessYourInnerGuide, Hosts Living Well Talk Radio, Om Times Magazine contributor, Cancer Q&A columnist CapeWomenOnlineMagazine, Dream Queen columnist- Wellness Woman 40 & Beyond, BreastCancerYoga, http://www.yourdreaminterpretation.com/about-us/,WakeUpWomen; R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor. Represented by Steve Allen Media