“Studying the traditions around death in different cultures says a lot about how cultures approach the end of life. They serve to convey cultural and social values and collective memory – and are therefore widely used in language teaching and learning.” explains Malcolm Massey, French teacher for Babbel Live.
Dià de los muertos in Mexico
Known as the Dià de los muertos, the Day of the Dead in Mexico is considered the most important traditional holiday in the country. This celebration has been listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2003. The Dià de los muertos is celebrated over 2 days, from November 1 to 2. November 1 is dedicated to deceased children, called “angelitos” meaning little angels in Spanish, while November 2 is dedicated to deceased adults. To pay homage to the deceased, Mexicans practice a ritual based on two important actions:
– The offerings, mainly with the seasonal flower, the “cempoalxùchitl”, called “Indian rose” in French. This is placed on the altars or on the tombs. Then come the parades, events and shows, where the population sings, dances, eats sweets such as “calaveras”, which are sweets in the shape of a skull.
– The Dià de los muertos brings together two emblematic figures specific to Mexico: Santa Catrina, a female skeleton adorned with a large hat and an elegant long dress, representing universal death and Santa Muerte, a skeleton with dark and macabre clothes. the equivalent of the Grim Reaper.
Gai Jatra in Nepal
In Nepal, the feast of the dead is synonymous with the feast of the cows, sacred animal, Gai Jatra. It is celebrated in the month of Bahdra (August and September). During the celebration of Gai Jatra, anyone with a deceased must lead a cow in the procession. However, many families do not have the means to buy a cow, so they dress one of their children in a cow mask, and these children walk in the procession instead of the animal. Gai Jatra is a big celebration full of joy. Once the procession is over, the rest of the day is filled with street performances, dancing, plays and comedy shows. The population dresses up, the streets are adorned with decorations, thus making the day more beautiful.
Ghost Festivals in China
The Chinese celebrate their dead on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, that is to say around the month of August. Called the festival of ghosts, it signifies the return to earth of spirits stuck in hell or of people who have died violently, thus coming to mingle with the living. The population offers “pudus”, that is to say, traditional banquets, as well as ceremonies so that the dead can find peace. On the evening of the ghost festival, the pudus take place in front of the temples where lanterns are also hung to invite the ghosts to join the living. Offerings and talismans are placed on each table by the inhabitants. To end the celebration, a monk performs the dance of Zhongkui, the demon hunter god responsible for driving away ghosts so that none of them remain in the world of the living after the ceremony.
Halloween in the USA
Halloween, a Celtic festival of Irish origin, arrived in the United States in the 19th century. Originally the symbol of Halloween was the turnip, which comes from the legend of Jack-o’-lantern condemned to wander for eternity in the darkness between hell and heaven by lighting up with a lantern, made up of a brand placed in a sculpted turnip. But the Americans changed some traditions, and the symbol became the pumpkin, and thus gave the emblematic color of Halloween, the orange. This celebration has become an emblematic holiday of the United States, it is also celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon European countries, where it has its origin. On Halloween day, which takes place on October 31, streets and houses are decorated and children walk around at night dressed as ghosts, witches and other typical creatures, in search of treats. They ring the doors of the neighborhood shouting “Trick or Treat”, which means “trick or treat”. The term Halloween is itself a contraction of “All Hallows’ evening” which translates into French as “the eve of All Saints’ Day”.
On the weather side
Saturday, the weather will be cloudy throughout the day. But if the weather will be autumnal, the temperatures will be less with 19 degrees in the morning, 24 during the day and 17 to 18 degrees in the evening.
Sunday, the weather will be rainy from morning to evening. On the mercury side, we will have 14 degrees in the morning, 16 to 18 degrees in the afternoon and about fifteen degrees in the evening.
Monday, the weather will be both milder and more changeable. In the morning the sky will alternate between clouds and sun. It will be 13 degrees. During the day, the weather will be sunny and the mercury will reach 19 degrees. In the evening, clouds and precipitation will spread over the whole of Maine-et-Loire.
Tuesday, the most will continue throughout the day even if the intensity of the precipitation will calm down during the day to pick up again in the evening. It will be 11 to 12 degrees in the morning, 17 during the day and 15 degrees in the evening.
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
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Halloween weather. How do we celebrate death around the world? – Saumur Kiosk
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