I had said that I would not blog on Bank Holidays, however I have decided to make an exception today. Today is the Toussaint holiday which is incredibly important in French life. Families travel home to visit their family graves.
I have been reading up about the festival. The festival began in the 4th century AD and was not a general honouring of the dead but it was to honour those who had been martyred by the Romans. Later in 8th century Pope Gregory 6th decided to make it a fixed festival on the 1st November. It wasn’t until the 20th century that it became what the Catholics refer to as an obligatory festival.
The florists were over flowing with flowers at the weekend and unusually for here they were even open on Sunday. The cemeteries are a wash with flowers. Whilst it is very beautiful I didn’t like to take any photos. So the images below are ones that I have found on line.
The children appear to celebrate both Halloween and Toussaint. They have a two week break from school at this time of the year. Last night the social committee in our village provided soup for Halloween and then the children went trick or treating.
What I find particularly fascinating is that here, the church and pagan rituals appear to sit happily side by side. All Hallows Eve was definitely a pagan festival yet Toussaint is clearly Catholic. There does not appear to be a concern that they could be construed to be at odds with each other. This is one of the joyful aspects of living within and trying to understand another culture.
Until tomorrow…
Tales from the Sheshed France 
A strange thing culture! Always an interesting mix! Love the idea of honouring those who have passed 🙏🏽🌸🙏🏽
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Yes it’s lovely.
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Yes it’s certainly interesting to have such an opposing mix of celebrations. When we first came here, there were virtually no Halloween celebrations. The Bretons did however always celebrate Samhain and often there were night time fest noz celebrations in the villages around here. Camp fires, shared food, music and dancing well into the night and early hours. Children ran around wildly and played while parents partied, usually in a communal field or open space. In more recent years that has shifted to a more recognised Halloween . I wonder if it’s because the older people who kept the Celtic festivals which were in the main pagan have now passed and their younger generation of descendants now celebrate a more modern Halloween style festival ?
France at least in name is Secular and so Toussaint is celebrated by those who were born into Catholic families which is still the dominant religion of France. The rules around flowers for the festival at graves is strictly regulated and family members will only have a certain time to leave them there before they have to be removed from the graves. The date for removal is always posted in the local town hall or in a newsletters for the village.
I suppose it’s one of the many faces of France that two things juxtaposed to each other sit side by side quite happily.
Xx
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Thank you for this. Traditions are important and where they begin can often be forgotten. Halloween (All Hallows Even – the evening before all saints day) is a preparation for ‘All Saints day’ which somehow gets forgotten now.
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It’s far from forgotten here! I assume because it’s a Catholic country.
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