Largely a Roman Catholic observance, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Croatia, Ukraine and other countries consider these two days a national holiday when shops, schools and businesses are closed.
On All Saints' Day, the faithful attends church to remember the saints. On All Souls' Day, also known as Day of Remembrance or Day of the Dead, people attend a requiem Mass and travel long distances to place flowers on the graves of loved ones and burn specially decorated candles to help the departed souls find their way to everlasting light. Sometimes the parish priest says prayers or blesses the graves. Years ago, it was traditional for the family to have a sumptuous feast at the gravesite and leave food and drink for the departed.
What might otherwise be considered a maudlin tradition is beautiful with cemeteries across the countryside lit by thousands of candle lanterns at night.
Celebrations by Country
In Poland, where All Souls' Day is known as dzien zaduszny or zaduszki, doors and windows are left open to welcome the spirits of the dead.In addition to traditional rituals, Romania has begun featuring The Real Dracula Halloween Tour in a concession to Western tradition and business pressures.
Hungarians also celebrate traditionally by lighting candles at graves but expat-inspired events are growing in popularity.
Czechs call Nov. 2 Commemoration of All the Departed and remember their departed ones with prayer, flowers and candles.
In Croatia, the Western tradition of celebrating Halloween has begun to invade the culture. A practice unheard of a few years ago has now blossomed into parties, horror film fests and trick-or-treaters ringing doorbells of less-than-receptive homeowners.
In Russia, the black cat is not feared but blue cats (Russian Blue, British Blue, Burmese) are adored because they are said to bring good luck.
Pumpkins, known as harbuz in Ukraine, have an entirely different significance than Western jack-o'lanterns do. Dating from medieval times, if a man's proposal of marriage was turned down, the maiden's family handed him a pumpkin. The practice is almost nonexistent today but the expression "to get a pumpkin" means to get dumped or turned down in business or some other way.
