The Unfettered Dead

Now- where did it all begin? Where did all this thing about Halloween, or Samhain or Lemuria- where's it all come from? Why are the dead given a holiday each year, or more precisely a day or two to visit the upper-world? Back in the old days they'd have the whole month of what we now call November to mingle with the living. Now it is just on day release. Let me try and explain why; what you got to remember is that for every live person there are in fact 15 dead ones, so that means there are approximately 107 Billion souls in Tartarus at any one time. Lord Hades couldn't possibly let that amount of souls go roaming the earth on Halloween night, so he had to rationalise it. Every Halloween the Lord Hades would send his lieutenants down to the dark cages under Tartarus where the billions of shades were accommodated in the underworld. The Lieutenant- usually a high ranking Demon or Demi-Urge- would pull on one of the great iron chains that bound the dead in that place and retrieve one of the departed souls at random from the shadow stuff behind the bars. "Go now!" she would command the confused spirit as she loosened their chains."Go now into the world and see what you have left behind!" Now the dead are almost invariably upset and confused about this and in any case, some of been there for millennia and have pretty much forgotten who they were and where they came from by now. Some say the cruelty of this act is pretty much the point, to set the bewildered shades of the dead amongst the terrified peoples of the living. Or if not actually the point, perhaps an extra added bonus. This same ceremony is repeated endlessly through Halloween, with other lieutenants also tasked with the same. Each would ignite the almost invisible ghosts with a spark of vitality- not enough to bring them back to life, but enough to give them substance for a few hours amongst the living. Lord Hades would of course prefer to empty Tartarus entirely so he could order his minions to tidy things up a bit. Nevertheless, even the god of the underworld can only go so far, and he now has a contractual obligation not to overwhelm the world of the living with hordes of revenants. The best he can hope for is to thin things out a tad, then send in the cleaner demons to muck out the cells and polish the cobwebs. Of course some of the shades actually want to 'go upstairs' but it seems those who do are invariably the ones that are left behind. Yes, the underworld is a bit toxic that way! Once they are upstairs the departed spirits have a number of choices: 1. Wander aimlessly groaning and bemoaning the fact that they are dead. 2. Make a nuisance of themselves with the living- sneaking up on people in bed whilst they are asleep and creeping them out, manifesting in drawing rooms that kind of thing. Sometimes this may also include some posthumous revenge, hence why people started dressing up around Halloween to disguise themselves. 3. If they are really lucky and they will have some descendants upstairs who are familiar with the old ways and light candles and set lanterns etc. This will help them find their way back to them. Some families even leave out some food for the wandering spectres. 4. If nothing else they can follow the other restless spirits abroad to one of the shindigs known as the danse macabre or even 'Death Disco'. There they can bop away into the wee hours with their fellow shades to the strains of whatever deathly tunes are doing the round. By the time the sun creeps over the horizon on November 1st our friend are pretty much dead on their feet and it soon becomes time for them to descend once more to Tartarus until the next time they are pulled from the slumber.

Hours Spent: 10
Software Used: DAZ Studio 4 With IRAY