Today is All Souls’ Day. If you look at a Czech calendar, November 2nd will say Památka zesnulých (a remembrance of those who have passed), but everyone calls the day dušičky (little souls). People sometimes compare this old tradition to Halloween, but the two don’t have much in common. Dušičky is a quiet time in the Czech Republic. People visit the graves of family members and relatives to light candles, lay flowers and wreaths and spend a few moments. If All Souls’ Day falls on a work day, trips to the cemetery are often taken during the preceding weekend.
The flickering glow of hundreds of freshly lit candles makes the atmosphere at cemeteries during dušičky time quite beautiful. Needless to say, the weather is often cold or rainy, but it doesn’t stop people from observing the tradition.
[…] some time at the graves of their deceased loved ones. We have written about the tradition in our Little Souls post. Here are a few pictures from Prague’s Olšany Cemetery taken […]