November 2nd is Zaduszki, All Souls Day. Here's what I read in Wikipedia:
The ritual of Zaduszki began with caring for the cemeteries: people tidied the graves of their relatives, decorated them with flowers, lit the candles; a collective prayer for the dead was organized, and concluded with having the priest bless the graves with prayers and holy water. Homeowners in Eastern Poland prepared to meet the dead by cleaning and preparing the house for the visit; covering the floor with sand, leaving the door or window open, moving a bench closer to the hearth. And on this bench, a dish of water, a comb, and a towel were placed, so that the souls could wash themselves and comb their hair.
Women would traditionally bake special bread for souls on the Zaduszki holiday. The bread was brought to the cemetery and given to the poor, children, clerics, or simply left on the graves in a similar vein to modern-day 'trick-or-treating'. Families have traditionally tried to give out as much as possible (in some places, they baked and gave out up to 200–300 buns of bread), believing that this would help to bring in wealth and prosperity.
Zaduszki ("All Souls Day")
Photo from the Polish cemetery of Osobowice in Wroclaw
Klearchos Kapoutsis from Santorini, Greece
Grandfathers' Eve (Dziady) in Belarus
Stanisław Bagieński
Zaduszki, one day after the All Saints Day when graves are lit up
Polish cemetery of Osobowice in Wroclaw.
Klearchos Kapoutsis
Dutch nun visiting a graveyard at All Souls' Day
The Netherlands, november 1955.
Impressive images today.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to hear about Zaduszki. Especially fascinating was the bit about "And on this bench, a dish of water, a comb, and a towel were placed, so that the souls could wash themselves and comb their hair."
The photo of all the candles lit at that Polish cemetery was very striking.