Spanish Traditions ... All Saint's Day
Today, 1 November, Spain celebrates All Saints' Day. A Christian holiday that honours all the saints who are considered to have reached heaven.
All Saints' Day is a very special festivity and have lot of support in our community. During the days before and on November 1 itself, families honor their deceased loved ones by remembering them on this day. The cemeteries are filled with flowers, and all the corridors form a colorful path.
It is a date to dedicate to the memory of our deceased relatives, our loved ones. And the best way to remember them is by transmitting to our children and new generations what those people were like, remembering anecdotes and moments that we lived together.
A bit of history…
In the year 731, Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica for all saints and established the holiday on November 1.
How is it celebrated in other countries?
Halloween is celebrated in the USA on the night of 31 October. It is a pagan festival of Celtic origin, which these people called "Samhain". The Celts used to hold a ceremony to commemorate the end of the harvest, which coincided with the end of October. The fruits were harvested and the time of preparation for winter began. The fruits that were collected were nuts, as well as pumpkins, courgettes... curious, isn't it? Now we understand how over the years the pumpkin became the symbol of Halloween.
The Celts believed that on Samhain the spirits returned to visit the world of the living.
Over the years this holiday has evolved into a tradition of costumes, masks and candy for children. It is celebrated not only in the USA but also in other countries.
In recent years it is not uncommon to see children in costume in Hondón de los Frailes, collecting jelly beans and it is common to hear them say "Trick or treat?
In Latin America it is also a tradition to visit the tubas of deceased loved ones. And in countries like Mexico they make ofrendas, with colourful dresses and floats to remember the deceased.
