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November 2, 2009 |
Days of the Dead
From October 31st through November 2nd, a number of festivals, holidays and solemnities take place, all loosely related and revolving around remembrance of the dead. Halloween, Samhain, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, the Day of the Dead and other festivals trace their origins back to Celtic, Aztec, Roman and Christian traditions. Halloween is largely a secular observation these days, All Souls and All Saints remain mainly Catholic observations, and the Day of the Dead is still largely a Latin American tradition, its roots in Mexico's Aztec heritage. Collected here are photographs over the past week from the varied observations of the Days of the Dead around the world. (37 photos total)

A skull covered in marigolds rests in front of a wall of graves during preparations for a massive altar in the San Fernando Cemetery in Mexico City, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. Workers added thousands of marigolds, known in Mexico as "cempasuchil," to giant skull images Tuesday as they prepare to observe the of Day of the Dead. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A marigold hangs on crosses covering part of the U.S.-Mexico border wall as part of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Tijuana, in Mexico, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009. Volunteers from the Pro-migrant Defense Coalition hung 5,100 wooden crosses in honor of 5,100 migrants who have died crossing to the US since 1995, according to their statistics. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias) #

Miranda Galan (center) was one of 80 third grade children from the North School that made a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on a field trip from New Hampshire on October 30th, 2009. In the spirit of Halloween students got a surprise gift from MFA director Malcolm Rogers and Bob Gallery, Masachusetts President of Bank of America when they handed out Egyptian masks and toured the "Secrets of Tomb 10A" exhibit. (David L Ryan / Globe Staff) #

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet trick or treaters at the North Portico of the White House as they celebrate Halloween in Washington, DC, on October 31, 2009. The First couple welcomed more than 2,000 children from Washington, Maryland and Virginia schools and their families to celebrate Halloween. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) #

A man walks past graves of those killed during the unsuccessful Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis, on August 1, 1944, which lasted 63 days, at the Powazki military cemetery in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. All Saints Day is a national holiday in Poland during which Poles visit graves of their loved ones to light candles and lay flowers. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) #

Queens Ana Maria Sosof Pacach, 19, right, and Glenda Araceli Kua Ajsac, 15, pose for a picture prior to the ceremony in which the new Todos Santos' Queen will be elected in Todos Santos, northwestern Guatemala, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, part of the local observation of the feast of All Saints, for which the town is named. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) #

Children wear costumes to celebrate the Day of the Dead as they visit an altar assembled by artists for the dead at the National Autonoma University of Mexico in Mexico City October 30, 2009. The university dedicated altars assembled by artists to the late U.S. writer Edgar Allan Poe, to commemorate the bicentenary of his birth. (REUTERS/Eliana Aponte) #

Carlos Estrada of Santa Rosa, entertains motorists under the Highway 12 overcrossing at Olive Street as he brings up the rear of an immigrant march that started on Sebastopol Road and ended at Santa Rosa's city hall, Saturday Oct. 31, 2009 in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Press Democrat, Kent Porter) #

A Filipino family uses a makeshift raft to paddle their way through a flooded cemetery in suburban Angono district east of Manila on November 1, 2009. Millions of Filipinos across the country trooped to cemeteries to honour their dead on All Saint's Day, a day after typhoon Mirinae slammed into the country and killing at least 14. Mirinae's rains and strong winds also compounded the emergency situation for tens of thousands already left homeless by two previous storms that had killed over 1,100 the past five weeks. (JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty Images) #

A Ring-tailed lemur at Bristol Zoo Gardens investigates a carved pumpkin that had been left as a special Halloween treat in its enclosure on October 28, 2009 in Bristol, England. The gift of the pumpkin does have a serious side, as they are a great addition to the animals' regular diet as they are high in vitamins, potassium, protein and fiber - as well as being the perfect enrichment toy, since the animals have to delve inside to reach the succulent flesh and plump seeds. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) #
More links and information
Halloween - Wikipedia entry
Samhain - Wikipedia entry
All Saints' Day - Wikipedia entry
All Souls' Day - Wikipedia entry
Day of the Dead - Wikipedia entry