All Souls Day

A long time ago there lived a woman. Her husband and children died in a terrible plague and she had no family to speak of. She feared the day that she would die because she worried that no one would remember her. She recalled that if you don't pass into the afterlife before you are forgotten, your soul was lost forever. Given that she feared no one would find her when she died, she feared for her soul and that she may never see her family in the next life. While tending to her horse, she spooked it bad enough that it kicked her. She collapsed to the ground. As she looked over her unconscious body she started to panic. This is the end! she thought to herself. She was accompanied by a woman in a dark robe.
"Are you Thanatos?" the woman asked.
"Indeed I am," Thanatos replied. "You appear worried child. Tell me what is wrong?"
"Well it is you, Lady Thanatos," the woman responded. "I have no one to remember me and I am dying if not already dead! My soul will disappear and I will never see my family again!" The woman was already in tears.
A warm smile crossed Thanatos' half-covered face. "Fear not child for you are not dead yet. This is just a near-death experience. I happened to be passing by. You were so distracted that you brushed up against me."
Some relief washed over the woman. "But Lady Thanatos, what am I do to?"
"Do you not have friends who will remember you?" Thanatos asked.
"They were all wiped out by the plague. Perhaps the baker may remember me, but he grows old and is beginning to forget many things."
Thanatos went into deep thought. "On the 34th, in the Month of the People, place out the possessions of your lost loved ones for your evening meal. When the day is done, light a paper lantern and release it back into the world. Your loved ones will return in spirit on that day and the lantern will guide them back home. Fail to release the lantern and they will lose their way going to the afterlife, their souls lost to the vast world. Do this until we meet for the last time."
The woman awoke to find herself laying in the stable where the horse had kicked her. On the 34th in the Month of the People she prepared dinner as usual except she set the table for her husband and her two children, placing a few of their possessions at their seat. At first she was skeptical, but as she ate she felt the warm presence of her family. That evening was the best she had since the plague took them away. As the night grew dark, she took a paper lantern and placed it in a small boat one of her children used to play with. Placing it in the river she released the lit lantern down the nearby creek. She felt the warm presence of her family be replaced by the cool night air.
She would live on for three more years before sickness took her, repeating the ritual every year on the 34th in the Month of the People. The baker had passed before she did, and most of the villagers left. Too many of them had died. She was fortunate to feel the presence of death, and prepared coins for herself before she slept the night of her passing. She had never stopped worrying about being forgotten. Everyone she ever knew was dead or long gone. The woman found herself once again accompanied by Thanatos.
"We meet again," Thanatos said.
"Indeed. Though everyone I know is gone. How long before my soul disappears?" the woman asked.
"It will not," Thanatos replied. "You have done exactly what I said those years ago."
Thanatos directed the woman to follow. They boarded Charon's ship and she met the Three Kings. "The Halls of Elysium" was their decree and the woman road the ferryman's boat to the shores of Elysium. There her husband and children waited for her and they met in a warm embrace.
"How? How am I here?" she asked.
"That's simple," her husband stated. "We remembered you."

History

The story above is said to be the origin story of All Souls Day. It promises that as long as you remember those who have passed on and celebrate your memories with them on this day, that they will remember you when no one else will which is crucial for a soul during their trip to the Afterlife. Later, the incorporation of salt was used to protect the souls of family visiting as it was said to ward of demons and other beings that hunted souls.
It was not uncommon as well for the possessions that people would keep would contain power in themselves because of their memories. These items will often be kept in lockboxes that were lined in salt and clad in iron. Since it is on All Souls Day that these items are removed from their box, several creatures, mostly the Fey, attempt to steal them. Most of these creatures would come right to the door and attempt to talk their way in. Since most of these fey were minor fairies, they were easily bribed with sweets usually eating them on the spot. This practice led children to dress up and wander door to door greeting whoever came to the door with "May we join you for dinner?" in the expectation of getting sweets. Upon coming home, to prove they weren't fey themselves, they would spill out all of the sweets they gathered during the evening, showing the self control to not eat them on the spot.

Execution

Throughout the day, people go about their normal days. As the evening arrives, families set out the keepsakes of deceased family members as a way to summon their family members to join them for a massive feast for the night. Families will set seats out for the souls of deceased family members to attend the meal.
Once the meal has concluded children head out as the sun goes down to go from house to house asking for sweets with "May we join you for dinner?", dressed up in costumes. Adults remain home to "watch the door" and keep malignant spirits at bay, surrounding the base of their walls with a thin line of salt.
At the end of the evening, just about midnight, the family takes a paper lantern and releases it. This varies from place to place. Cities with access to running water will release the paper lantern on small boats while those without access to running water release them into the air.

Components and tools

Only two items are important this day, the lantern and the possession of a deceased relative.

Observance

The rites are observed on the 34th day in the Month of the People starting in the evening.