The curious legends behind the Canarian “Halloween”: “Are there saints?”

“Are there any saints?”, they asked from house to house in the different cities on All Souls Day, a celebration very far from the current “Halloween” imported from America and which venerated its dead with a unique ritual. that today we seek to recover. The “butterflies” lit up the houses, following the tradition of lighting a lantern for each of the deceased people to whom tribute was paid, illuminating the Canary Islands with the magic of a tradition of November 1st and 2nd. “Los Finados”, as the celebrations of All Saints’ Day are called in the Canary Islands, are a tradition and a celebration that smells of chestnuts, rooted and sincere, which venerates the deceased in a unique way in intimacy, in community and. in homes, sharing seasonal fruits and remembering the deceased with respect and with the joy of having shared life with them. The Canarian Institute of Traditions is one of the entities that keeps alive the memory of this celebration, which speaks of the perception of. death, which in the ancient Canaries was a daily element that did not include social classes or ages, but which shared rites and ceremonies maintained in the oral tradition and in the memory of the islands. According to tradition, boys and girls played in the squares and streets until sunset on November 1, when they took the opportunity to go door to door in the neighborhood asking “are there any saints ?” and whose price was seasonal fruits like almonds. oranges, chestnuts, walnuts or figs. At nightfall, the special dinner of this celebration was marked by the products of the time, region and social status, with roasted chestnuts, walnuts, pineapples, apples or oranges among drinks sweet. wine or anise, with a little guitar or timple to accompany this family reunion. The cult of the deceased is part of the popular culture of the elderly, which materializes today by inflaming so many people. ‘butterfly’ lamps as there were deceased in the family. According to popular belief, the behavior of the flame testified to the state in which the soul of the deceased was. In the early hours of November, the feast of the faithful dead, women and a few men headed towards the ecclesiastical celebrations to the rhythm of. the particular sound of the small bells called esquillas de las animas, which rang exclusively on that day. The deceased, deceased, were the protagonists of memories and stories which, far from wanting to sow terror or fear, celebrated life and shared time, in a celebration which is lived in community, and which, even if it is diluted today among popular festivals, It continues to be part of the cultural heritage of the islands, each with its particularities which make them unique.

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