Halloween origins and how the world marks the season.
Tonight’s selection — check back for a different corner of the world each night.
The Orthodox day of remembrance held the second Tuesday after Easter, not autumn — but the tradition runs deep. Families picnic at cemeteries, leaving food and painted eggs on graves. The dead are said to celebrate alongside the living.
The night before Diwali, celebrated in Bengal. Fourteen lamps are lit to guide fourteen generations of ancestors home, and fourteen kinds of leafy greens are eaten. The lights keep evil spirits at bay while the family welcomes the ones they love.
On the Saturday closest to November 1, Swedish cemeteries fill with candles at dusk — tens of thousands of them. From above, the graveyards glow like small cities. Quiet, cold, and beautiful.
On November 1, Portuguese children go door to door asking for "bread for God" — earning small cakes, nuts, or pomegranates in exchange for prayers for the souls in purgatory. This tradition traveled to Brazil and echoes in trick-or-treat.
Filipino children in rural provinces still walk door to door on All Saints Eve, singing hymns for the souls in purgatory. In return, they receive kakanin (rice cakes) or coins. A gentler ancestor of trick-or-treat, still alive in the countryside.