The old traditions of Samhain, All Hallows Eve, Día de los Muertos, All Saints and All Souls have melded into an interesting mix of religious and cultural celebrations here in Sweden. It makes perfect sense that people mark the transition from summer-harvest-abundant life to winter-dormancy-death. And many cultures believe that “the veil between the living and the dead is thin” during this time, so it is common to visit the cemeteries and hold ceremonies of remembrance. The shift to darkness seemed sudden, but the weather has been warmer than normal and there have been a few hours of partial sun to break up the “höstrusk” or autumn rain and gloom.
Halloween is growing in popularity, though Swedes insist on celebrating it over the period of several weeks, rather than only on October 31st. Trick or Treating, if it has been adopted by ones neighborhood or community, typically happens on the Saturday closest to the 31st. Costume parties are also popular during these several weeks, based on my observations of people around town and at the train stops.
We were invited to two such parties this year and went with the relatively simple Alice in Wonderland theme. There were some uber creative costumes such as The Øresund Bridge, Picasso and his Painting, the Oreo Trio, The Addams Family, the Heathers, and many more!
There were lots of fun seasonal treats!
On Friday I went to an All Saints Day hike with Stephanie and Carole in Malmö. It was organized by the Church of Sweden’s Pilgrim’s Walk but I didn’t know what to expect. It was more religious in nature than I thought it would be. It was led in Swedish, starting with a lantern lighting ceremony, after which we walked single file in silence to various locations between the two main churches. Along the way we stopped to hear readings on the theme of light (Matthew 5:14) which was good practice for my Swedish. There was a lot about angels and connecting with each other and with memories of the dead, I think. It was clearly more emotional for many of the participants and I felt a bit out of place, but it was peaceful and quite interesting. Hil actually passed by on the bus after the last session of Model UN in Malmö and saw our group as we carried lanterns through the cemetery.
The actual cemetery part of the walk was much too dark for photography. Here we are emerging near Sankt Pauli Kyrka. There was a prayer service after the hike but we made a quiet exit and managed to get tea at Hollandia just before closing!
About 50% of people in Sweden visit the cemetery or attend some All Saints/Souls celebration. The majority of cemetery visits, services and concerts happen on the first Saturday in November, the official church holiday. We were invited to dinner with the Westall Lundqvist family (my Danish Swedish relatives, Anne is my third cousin according to the Ancestry family tree) here in Lund. Before the dinner I thought it would be fun to take a quick walk through the cemetery just 2 blocks from our house and sure enough it was a big deal! Most graves and pathways were lit with candles and lanterns and there were people cleaning the graves and placing flowers. It was more solemn than what I’ve seen of the Day of the Dead but had a similar, if less colorful, vibe.
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