Halloween is over, but its spirit still hangs on the air, and there are plenty of reminders about…the jack-o-lanterns on my front porch, candy and wrappers lying around, and kids’ costumes crumpled in the floor right where they peeled them off. Today we move into All Saints Day, and many use today to think back on those who have passed before us. Be certain, this post is not my attempt to be macabre–I enjoy the historical aspects of the topic. When I have time to work on it, I love doing genealogy research, and when I saw this graphic, it reminded me of some of the odd things I’ve seen on very old graves from my own family, and also from my travels in Europe. Some of them sad, some heart warming, and others just bizarre. For the most part, cemeteries now use just small metal plates with minimal information as grave stones, and, well, it’s rather boring, don’t you think? Old grave stones are fascinating in their variety, and in the messages written upon them. They tell us something about the life of person now lying there, and even about the trends of the time in which they lived. So enjoy this graphic–have you ever seen any of these symbols on an old grave stone? Now you know what they mean if you didn’t already.

Reblogged on Chris the Story Reading Ape’s blog, originally from the Atlas Obscura site:

Source: A Graphic Guide to Cemetery Symbolism – Infographic…