The researcher Ledi Shamku said during an interview for Euronews Albania that on October 31 it was believed by the ancients that there was a “handover of powers” between light and darkness.

Under these conditions, October 31 was left without a god of light or night to rule the souls.

“On this night, the dead souls were free to leave because of the absence of the king,” said Shamku.

She explained that different peoples celebrate the dead, or ‘the many’ as we call them, at different times, just because they have a different approach to day and night. Now the general name for this holiday is Halloween, but in different countries this holiday has different forms of celebration.

Shamku showed that in our Catholic highlands this holiday is old and has a unique way of celebration. On October 31, the dinner table is laid and candles are lit on the windowsills, because it is believed that on that night the spirits find their way home through the light and miss the homes of the people they left behind.

“The difference is that these souls do not come for chaos, but they come with the permission of Christ because Christ gives them permission to rise once a year, celebrate and find their loved ones. The same situation occurs in all the wooded areas in the south of Italy” – said the researcher.

She also said that traditions are precisely the most integrated part of Albanian culture.