Day of the Dead, Halloween, Finaos – all these celebrations deal with otherworldly things and with our fear of what is beyond the final line. Humour always helps. So does dressing up, which is a great Halloween tradition. You could dress up as Kitty Soft Paws from the 2011 Puss in Boots movie, for example:
And I’ve got just the perfect pair of boots for the costume. What Kitty Soft Paws would say “no” to so much patent leather elegance?
Halloween is akin to the Mexican “Day of the Dead“. “Day of the Dead” celebrations take place right after Halloween, on November 1st and 2nd. This is the day on which people in Mexico and in some parts of the United States remember their dead relatives and other departed by erecting altars in their honor.
A typical “Day of the Dead” celebration in Mexico would include a visit to the cemetery. In the Canary Islands, Spain, on the evening of October 31st (which is also the eve of the All Saints’ feast day ) people gather in homes or public squares to roast chestnuts, drink sweet rum, and listen to the most elderly woman of the house tell stories about the departed. The departed are referred to as the “finados“, or “those who have found their end“. These commemorations are therefore known as “Los Finaos“.
Happy Halloween (Finaos, Day of the Dead)!
Ann
(Featured image courtesy of YOOX)
