.jpg)
Here in Hungary, there's a one week school holiday.
-
This year it starts with 23 October and ends with All Saints' Day.
23 October is a national holiday to honor the brave of 1956. The movement falied, but the spirit lives on.
.jpg)
-All Saints' Day is the first Sunday of November.
The tradition is to visit the cemetary and light a candle for the deceased. This is usually the time for an annual checkup for graves and their surroundings.
If you happen to visit Hungary on the first Sunday of November, be sure to visit one of the older cemeteries in a larger village. You'll be surprised by the ongoing cleaning arrangements during daytime and fascinated by the candlelight when night falls.
In the evening, many families light one or more candle at home as a rememberance to anyone they loved and lost. It might be one candle for all, or one candle for each.
These families might say a prayer, too.
.jpg)
In our family, we light one candle, recall the names of the loved ones, recite some of their best features and their role in the well-being of the family as a whole and say a little prayer as well.
.jpg)
In our family, we light one candle, recall the names of the loved ones, recite some of their best features and their role in the well-being of the family as a whole and say a little prayer as well.-
Halloween is not celebrated over here, although there has been a significant rise in events and parties associated with Halloween in the past years. It's coming from the American culture. I'm not against newcomers at all - as long as old traditions are left intact.
.jpg)
Carving pumpkins is fun, even kindergartens make their own lamps these days.
-
I chose some close-ups of autumn's presents to accompany my words. How many objects can you name?
.jpg)
8 megjegyzés:
Your tradition of All Saints Day sounds beautiful.
Madeleine L'Engle insisted on the traditional spelling, "Hallowe'en," as a reminder that it's short for All Hallows' Even. Most Americans aren't aware of the connection with All Saints, or with Samhain, the Celtic festival, when the veil between the the earthly world and that of the spirits became very thin.
I just watched "Endgame" about the meetings that led to majority rule in South Africa. One of the main characters is an Afrikaaner professor named Willem Petrus "Willie" Esterhuyse. The name reminds me of the Hungarian noble family, Esterházy. I wonder if there's a connection.
I think cultivating our relationship to the deceased in a peaceful way helps us live through the present some way, Jason.
Steve,
just recently many kids' events organized for Halloween claim that this festival has a lot to do with Hungarian traditions (which contradicts with my post).
I did some google search only to find that in the past few centuries, some churches made a special bread for beggars. This was served on All Saints' Day for those who gathered outside the church. Also, in some places, people carried food to cemeteries.
Further back in time, I found no evidence of Halloween being an old tradition.
But again, my research is strongly biased.
And also...
I found Samhain, which was a notable event among Druids.
According to some speculations, Hungarians and Celts may have similar background....
as for Eszterházy... I do think there must be some relationship between Esterhuyse. This family name is not a rare one, can be found all over the world.
(thanks google)
I thought it was All Hallow's Eve...
*scratches head*
Interesting... and the photos are like art objects.... One's a grape turned raisin, others might be some jams... the last makes me think of apples and cinnamon... all are delightful expressions of autumn.
Vesper,
I prefer to think of autumn as a great basket filled with useful things in various warm colours and spices.
You were right about the apple+cinnamon. The rest of the list, a complete list of objects, are below.
*SPOILER*
tomato, old grape, red pepper, baked quince, baked apple w/ cinnamon.
Oh! Not fair if I had of guessed quicker I would of got three of them right!
What were those three, Melly?
Megjegyzés küldése