Iluminando os mortos: um estudo sobre o ritual de homenagem aos mortos no dia de finados em Salinópolis – Pará

Abstract

The Lighting of the Dead, conducted in the city of Salinópolis (PA) - and in some municipalities of northeastern Pará -, consists of a ritual homage to the dead, which takes place annually on the occasion of All Souls' Day, on November 2. In this city, there is a very specific way to pay tribute to the dead in their graves which, during the night, are illuminated with the lighting of candles to, in sequence, a moment of fraternization between the relatives of the deceased occur. Thus, the main aspects that problematized in this paper relate to the underlying issues in this symbolic ritual homage to the dead. Thus, the lighting of the dead works as a device that triggers sociability around death, reintegrating symbolically the dead to the social life and the living to the spiritual life.