Monday, November 2, 2009

Halloween vs All Saints' Day


On November 1st every year Slovakia celebrates All Saints' Day. Traditionally a catholic holy day, Slovakia celebrates by visiting the cemeteries and graves of family members and loved ones the night before. They pray and remember and light candles which burn until the morning of the first day in November. It is a big deal here, schools were closed on Friday in remembrance of this day.

Slovakia celebrates Halloween mainly in the capital. Many pubs and bars, the irish pub in particular, host special events like costume contests and special drinks with spooky themes. There is no trick or treating with kids dressed up.

On Saturday I was with Yemi and the team driving back from his game in Svit, a town about four hours northeast. We drove past 3 or 4 cemeteries and they were all glowing from candle light. It was a very cool but kind of eerie image. About two weeks ago the grocery store had a whole isle dedicated to these candles in a red glass. People were buying tons of them and I was totally baffled. It all makes sense now after seeing those cemeteries. People were stocking up on the special candles that are used at the graves.




1 comment:

  1. Ok. All Saints day is celebrated in most churches here in the US and in Nigeria. @ the United Methodist Church, names of the members who passed away the year before are announced and candles are lit in their honor. I was able to light a candle for my mother last year and it brought tears to my eyes. I do like the concept of lighting candlea at the grave site but it just might be a little spooky for me!

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