Postcards from the Underworld: Candles for our Ancestors

In the small village of Metlika, Slovenia 

is a church where my ancestors are buried

my cousin Maja tends to the grave of our great grandparents

and explains the history of the church

scattered around the grave sites are red glass candles

such as these 

In the marketplace of the capital city, Llubljana, vendors sells a colorful array

of the paraffin filled glass bottlelights, which are often used during All Saints and All Souls Days

I learned that these special candles sit by the gravesite and burn for many hours 

so that the departed can find their way home through the darkness