Naraka Chaturdashi - The Real Halloween

"Then the fourteenth day (Chaturdashi) is very important, because that is the day the Goddess as a power, as a power, because it was Kartikeya who killed Narakasura, the devil. And he was one of the worst of all, could not be killed. So, Shiva and Parvati were married for this special purpose to produce this powerful Shaktiputra, means the son of the Shakti, known as Kartikeya. And He was just born to kill this horrible devil, called as Narakasura. And He killed. That is the day, fourteenth day. It is something like Halloween, that day. Because that is the day they opened the gates of hell and put all the devils into hell. And that’s why that day one has to rest in the morning time as long as possible. So, that let all the devils be put in nicely because some of them might be hanging around still. It’s better to allow them to get out. I mean in the realm that you are you do not feel much their existence. But if you were in the realm of subconscious area or collective subconscious, people see even some of the spirits and also can feel their existence, they see the black spots and all that. So, that day is very dangerous.

But because Narakasura was killed, people celebrated; that celebration is expressed next day, which that day is the day of Diwali, they say. That is the day they also worship Lakshmi, because they think that, that’s the day Lakshmi was born on this earth from the sea as I told you last time.

Then the day of the New Year comes in afterwards, because in India in the north, that’s the time people finish their crops and they found that day was very good to celebrate the New Year. And, that is actually more, sort of, we can say is a social thing in India, we need not use that, what ever suits us. You can have your own New Year. Because in the south, say in Maharastra they have another New Year, as I told you where Shalivahana in his dynasty started another calendar and they celebrate that."

Excerpt : Diwali Puja 1981 (Chelsham Road, London).