Spiritual, not creepy. After Halloween, Christians celebrate All Saints’ Day

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – It’s that time of the year – tradition says – when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is lifted.

Over the centuries, the traditional belief has transformed into the eerie and secular celebration of Halloween.

But a day later, Christians in many countries around the world, All Saints’ Day is celebrated on Friday, a somber and spiritual day in the church’s liturgical calendar that shares pagan roots with Halloween.

The word “Halloween” comes from “All Hallows Eve”, which means All Saints’ Eve, a holiday that has also been known as All Hallows. It honors martyrs and saints – those who were sanctified or considered to be saints – a tradition started by the Roman Catholic Church in the early medieval period.

Researchers believe that the spectral aspects of Halloween arose primarily from Samhainan ancient Celtic festival that took place during the harvest season, said Morgan Shipley, a professor of religious studies at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

It was a time when people “passed from harvest and bounty and the fullness of summer to the desolation of winter,” he said. “And it was said that in this age the veil between the physical, material human world and the spiritual world essentially disappears.”

Some of the spirits or spectral beings were considered demonic in nature, and bonfires became a way to ward them off, or were used for divination by Druid priests and priestesses as the veil between the material and spiritual worlds collapsed, he said.

As Christianity spread, many pagan rituals were adapted to the new faith to be more attractive to converts. The period of reflecting on the dead continues until November 2, which is All Souls Day.

In Central Europe, the Slavic and Baltic populations had their own rituals where the living communicated with the dead between October 31st and November 1st.

Believers and non-believers alike in many traditionally Roman Catholic communities observe the day.

Finka Heynemann, 34, visited Warsaw’s Brodno cemetery on Friday morning with her mother. The two planned to visit six cemeteries in Warsaw over three days – even though they are not religious.

“It’s just important to keep the tradition and visit the graves and to respect and honor ancestors,” Heynemann said.

“This day is more important than Christmas or Easter,” added her mother, Maja Gąssowska, who paused to drop money into a collection box for a Polish cemetery in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, which was once part of Poland.

IN Polandmany travel back to their family homes to gather with those still living and reflect on those who have left them.

So many people celebrate the holiday that cemeteries are transformed into flickering carpets of light so impressive that even the most secular cannot help but feel moved. Cities including Warsaw and Krakow run many extra tram and bus lines to ferry the huge numbers to – and between – cemeteries.

While the reflections are mostly personal, people also leave candles at the graves of national heroes. So many people visit cemeteries at the same time that the celebration takes on a communal quality.

It has become so much a part of the wider culture in Poland that people also light the Jewish and Muslim cemeteries.

IN The PhilippinesMillions trooped to cemeteries across the country on Friday to observe the annual tradition of visiting the graves of their loved ones.

“Even though I’m old, I still visit the graves of my relatives, especially my husband’s, during All Saints Day,” said Manila resident Dory Oliquino, who was among thousands who offered flowers and candles at Manila North Cemetery in the country. capital. “As long as I can walk, I will visit him.”

All Saints Day has been a family gathering for many Filipinos, where they keep vigil at the graves.

“All Saints Day is the day we celebrate and remember our deceased loved ones, so even if they are gone, our memories with them will still be fresh in our minds,” said Luis Montibon.

Italians traditionally visit cemeteries to pay tribute to deceased family members on All Souls Day, lighting candles or laying flowers. Pope Francis will visit Rome’s third largest cemetery, the Laurentino Cemetery, to celebrate Mass and lead prayers for the dead. The Pope visited the same cemetery in 2018, stopping to pray in an area dedicated to fetuses.