A Night for All Souls Creatively Welcomes All Generations to Remember Loved Ones

A non-denominational shrine offers a chance for everyone to remember in a sacred way
(Credit: nightforallsouls.com)

In 2005, artists Paula Jardine and Marina Szijarto began All Souls, an annual event in Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Their website explains that, “In many cultures around the world, the days at the end of October and beginning of November are considered an important time for honoring the dead in our lives. In our modern, urban, and relatively transient culture, traditional “village” customs have been left behind, though not the human impulses that led to these traditions. All Souls at the Mountain View Cemetery is a non-denominational sacred event, and an opportunity for people to share their own customs and experiences… The project has been part of the revival of the role of this urban cemetery in the life of an increasingly secular and multi-cultural community.”

Several generations remember together
(Credit: nightforallsouls.com)

This family-friendly event features contemplative live music, shrines that reflect diverse cultural backgrounds and interactive installations where the public are welcome to engage in memorial activities such as lighting candles, writing notes to their dead or simply meditating upon memories of the past and hopes for the future while warmed by a hot cup of tea.

Volunteers serve tea all evening
(Credit: nightforallsouls.com)

This year, the All Souls project has expanded to offer several public events at Mountain View Cemetery from October 16 through November 2, including lantern-making and Mexican sugar skull workshops, guided cemetery walks, storytelling and a “Mourner’s Tea,” which provides a forum for discussion of end-of-life care through personal experiences.

A memorial for all infants and children
(Credit: nightforallsouls.com)

The personal and universal are represented in this co-created memorial
(Credit: nightforallsouls.com)

With its tenth anniversary coming up on October 24, All Souls continues to be a sacred way to gather with friends, family and strangers of all stripes, united by the ancient human need to remember the love and lessons that we carry through our days, even though our teachers are no longer present.