Celtic Crosses of Scotland
Cemeteries around the world are busy when trick or treating rolls into early November and Scottish graveyards are no exception. Stark granite, Celtic crosses, lichen etched carvings, moss laden crevices, sun dappled tombstones await one of the oldest celebrations on earth. After the Hallowe’en candy has been dispersed Scottish burial grounds creep into autumnal rites. Honouring the dead is worldwide practise, some cultures have a holiday, others a festival but universal is graveyard visitation.
Block your calendar off for October 31 into November 3 for some ancient ritual making, perhaps with a modern twist. Head to the nearest or craggiest graveyard to ring in All Saints Day, All Souls Day, All Hallows Eve or whatever your local culture sponsors.
Mexico leads the worldwide celebration, wrapped up in public holiday status with festivals and parades; it is widely celebrated as a time of family gathering, particularly in graveyards where penance is given to the dead. Traffic jams in the smallest of hamlets as participants laden with flowers (often marigolds or chrysanthemums), gifts or possessions of the dead, place them on the graves of their loved ones. Burial grounds are a global buzz.
So if you are the type of person who lingers at graveyards, even after Hallowe'en, be wary that it may be more congested in late fall. Congested with the living and the dead as they meet after the summer crops have been removed and the veil between the living and the dead became thinnest.
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