Slovakia Day of The Dead
photo-slovakiayear.blogspot.com
This is Slovakia. Do not be surprised that they bury their dead and refuse to “get over them.” Slovaks are different. The markets fill with mums this week. And on Monday, the most beautiful part of any town becomes the place where dead bodies lay in the ground. Train travel, bus travel, car travel, any travel on a weekend like this is highly recommended as Slovaks fill their cemeteries with the most fantastic collections of puffy flowers. Cemeteries on November 1 are so pronounced against the rainy, gray, fall backdrop. Or in the dry crisp weather, as this autumn so far has been, the flower-filled cemeteries seem so well placed. Or in “babie leto” when the weather is very warm for a few days – “Indian Summer” as we refer to it where I’m from – the colors fit perfectly. Nature creates beauty in the colors of the trees, man creates beauty in the colors of the cemeteries.
Aged widows seem to mourn the dead permanently. Some mothers mourn dead children in a public way long after they’ve laid a child in the ground. Slovaks are good at remembering their dead. That’s simply one of the characteristics of this culture, and to say that it’s good or bad misses the point. It just is.
In remembering their dead, Slovaks make it a point to adorn their graves during the day with colorful flowers, plants, and other decorations. And in the days leading up to this holiday, the outdoor markets have their last hurrah for the year. No matter the weather, the markets will be full – full of vendors, full of flowers, full of buyers. Today, there’s so much natural beauty in those markets – as people seek out the adornments they’ll use to decorate graves – that today rivals the beauty of the market at any other time of the year.
In your travels across this country on this day, All Saints’ Day, be sure you do not end your travels before dusk. Drive into the night and you will be surprised at what happens next.Out of the distance, over the hill will come a glow, a strange glow unknown to most eyes. It is especially unknown to eyes that are used to night being illuminated by nothing but street lights and “high beams.”
What is that blaze? Just over the next hill is the glow of a cemetery lit by 1,000 candles.
Each year on this day, I go into Bratislava’s medická záhrada (medical garden) and light a candle at the foot of Martin Kukučín’s statue. Kukučín was a writer of Slovak realism I light a candle at the foot of his statue and each year am pleased to find that someone else has laid flowers there. To be forgotten is to have no one bring a flower or a candle to your grave on this day. To be remembered is to have your grave visited. On this day in Slovakia, the dead are remembered. It is their holiday.
On November 1, Slovaks remember the people who personally built foundations under them.
By: Allan Stevo
Google.com
Aged widows seem to mourn the dead permanently. Some mothers mourn dead children in a public way long after they’ve laid a child in the ground. Slovaks are good at remembering their dead. That’s simply one of the characteristics of this culture, and to say that it’s good or bad misses the point. It just is.
In remembering their dead, Slovaks make it a point to adorn their graves during the day with colorful flowers, plants, and other decorations. And in the days leading up to this holiday, the outdoor markets have their last hurrah for the year. No matter the weather, the markets will be full – full of vendors, full of flowers, full of buyers. Today, there’s so much natural beauty in those markets – as people seek out the adornments they’ll use to decorate graves – that today rivals the beauty of the market at any other time of the year.
In your travels across this country on this day, All Saints’ Day, be sure you do not end your travels before dusk. Drive into the night and you will be surprised at what happens next.Out of the distance, over the hill will come a glow, a strange glow unknown to most eyes. It is especially unknown to eyes that are used to night being illuminated by nothing but street lights and “high beams.”
What is that blaze? Just over the next hill is the glow of a cemetery lit by 1,000 candles.
Each year on this day, I go into Bratislava’s medická záhrada (medical garden) and light a candle at the foot of Martin Kukučín’s statue. Kukučín was a writer of Slovak realism I light a candle at the foot of his statue and each year am pleased to find that someone else has laid flowers there. To be forgotten is to have no one bring a flower or a candle to your grave on this day. To be remembered is to have your grave visited. On this day in Slovakia, the dead are remembered. It is their holiday.
On November 1, Slovaks remember the people who personally built foundations under them.
By: Allan Stevo
Google.com