“I see dead people,” whispers Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, a 1999 film about a 9-year-old boy cursed with the ability to see and communicate with the dead. In The Gift, Cate Blanchett plays a small town psychic who is led into a murder mystery when the victim begins appearing to her. Hollywood has produced countless movies based on the premise of people coming back from the dead to talk with the living. But is it really possible to communicate with those who have passed on?

The popularity of modern-day mediums seems to tell us that it is. The Sci-Fi Channel’s Crossing Over with John Edward serves up a weekly dose of spirit communication live before a studio audience. However, Edward is not the first to attract audiences filled with both the curious and the hopeful. Throughout the 20th century attempts to talk with the spirit world took place in séance rooms, lecture halls and theaters across the United States and Europe. Most of these demonstrations were purely for entertainment. But there were those who went to mediums because they truly felt the need to connect with someone who has passed on.

One of the most famous was Harry Houdini. Houdini spent years trying to communicate with his mother who died in 1913. He traveled many places, visiting mediums wherever possible. He discovered, however, that most of them were phony, using tricks to create illusions for their unsuspecting clients. So outraged was Houdini that he went on a personal crusade to debunk fraudulent spiritualists who preyed on grieving families.

Like Houdini, there are many today who are highly skeptical of John Edward and other mediums. Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow at the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal wrote in a 1998 newsletter article, “Edward frequently asks questions — a ploy used by other self-styled mediums and psychics. By the information being provided in interrogative form, it may, if correct, be considered a ‘hit’ but otherwise seem an innocent query.” Nickell concludes that most of the information they present as being communicated from a dead loved one had been gleaned by carefully asking the guest revealing questions.

Adoption Within the Church
To get a full picture of our need to connect with what we’ve come to think of as “the other side,” we have to go back much further than the past century. Mediums have been present in one form or another in cultures throughout the world since ancient times. One even makes an appearance in the Bible. At the request of King Saul, a witch at Endor summoned the spirit of Samuel after his death so that Saul could seek his advice (1 Sam. 28: 7-20). However, the attempt at dialogue with the spirit world is not limited to the use of mediums. The ancient Celts celebrated their New Year with a festival called Samhain (pronounced “sow-en”) on November 1. Samhain marked the end of the summer season and the beginning of winter. The Celts believed that on October 31, the night before the New Year, the thin veil between this world and the world of the dead is lifted, making communication with the spirit world easier. But there was also the fear that humans could be tricked into passing through to the other side and unable to return to the world of the living. In some regions, it was called the Feast of the Dead, as it was believed that spirits passed through our world on the way to the “Summerlands.” Food would be left outside the door, candles were lit to guide the spirits of loved ones home, and apples were buried along roadsides for lost spirits who had no descendents to provide for them.

After the Roman Empire conquered most of the Celtic regions, two Roman festivals became combined with Samhain. One was Feralia, a day when the Romans commemorated the passing of the dead, and the other was Pomona Day, honoring Pomona the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. By the ninth century, Christianity had spread across Europe and the festival became known as All Hallows’ Eve (later called Halloween). November 1 was designated All Saints’ Day in the eighth century to honor the saints that didn’t have a special day of their own. In early Christian tradition, All Saints’ Day was believed to be the day when souls walked the earth, released from Purgatory for 48 hours beginning on All Hallows’ Eve. It was customary to leave cakes and wine out for them. In 1000, the Church created All Souls’ Day as an official holiday on November 2.

Day of the Dead
Taking a leap across the globe to Mexico, you find one of the best-known festivals that connect the living with the dead: Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead. This Mexican holiday is a time when families remember the dead. Celebrants believe that the souls of the dead return and are all around them. At this time, gravesites are cleaned and decorated with bright flowers, offerings of food, small gifts and religious amulets. Families picnic at the cemetery and tell stories about the departed. At home, altars are set up and decorated with candles & incense, photos of dead loved ones, articles of clothing and things they may have enjoyed or prized while they were alive. Food, drinks and sugary confections in skull shapes are also included. The altars entice and encourage the dead to return and take part in the remembrance and celebration.

The Mexican Day of the Dead can be traced back to Mesoamerican native traditions. Presided over by Mictecacihuatl (Lady of the Dead), the day was dedicated both to children and the dead. According to the Aztec calendar, it occurred during the summer. After the Spanish arrived, it was moved by Spanish priests to coincide with All Hallows’ Eve in an attempt to change an indigenous holiday into a Christian celebration. As a result, Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 and 2. The first day is usually dedicated to children who have died, and the second day to adults. The modern festivity is truly a unique blend of both ancient aboriginal and Christian traditions.

The Practices of the Igbo
The Igbo (pronounced EE-bow) people of Nigeria remain in a constant dialogue with the spirit world. It is their belief that life doesn’t end with death. Life and death are part of a complete continuum. A person’s ancestors are constantly present watching over them. In some regions, a portion of food is thrown outside. The purpose is to remember and show respect for the ancestors by giving them their share. It is sometimes an act of thanksgiving — an acknowledgement of favors from the spirits. The Rev. Professor Emmanuel Nlenanya Onwu at the University of Nigeria wrote in an essay, “A person starts life in the transcendental world following the occurrence of death, it is the person who is now living on this earthly world that will continue to live in the transcendental world with his full identity. His life will be the same life because life is not affected by the action of death.”

The Igbo also interact with the spirit world through the Masquerade. In this ancient custom, ceremonial masks are created and worn during festivals and special events. These masks represent the ancestors coming back to life and are believed to embody actual spirits. Only select people are permitted to wear the masks and act as guardians of the spirit, after being initiated into the world of the spirits. The masks are kept hidden in the houses of chief priests and sometimes only seen once a year. The wearer’s identity is always kept a secret, even from family members. The most elaborate masks are the Ijele, full-body costumes decorated with beads, shells, feathers and other decorations. Some Ijele can extend several feet above the wearer. Although Christianity is widespread in Nigeria and all over Africa, the Igbo continue this tradition of connecting with the dead.

Common Thread Through Time
In spite of the vast differences in religious beliefs and cultures, human beings have always held the idea of death as a threshold to another world that coexists with the world we currently live in. Even the expressions “passing away” and “passing on” suggest movement to another place as opposed to an abrupt ending. Because this other realm is truly unknown, the tendency is to gravitate toward physical representations of the perceived gateway to the other side. Every time we see families visiting the graves of loved ones or placing candles and flowers at the site of a tragic death, we see the human need to make contact with such a threshold.

During Holy Week, we are called to remember Christ’s death on the Cross. The Cross itself has become the symbol with which we identify our religion. Not only is it a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice, but also it is, in a way, the gateway that he passed through to the “other side.” Christ transcended his physical death on the cross by rising again three days later. Through Christ we have been given the chance to start life anew, to transcend the death that comes with sin, and to find the path back to God.