Halloween is often described as the one night of the year when spirits can return to the earth and interact with the living. That's a very simplified version of a vast, multicultural tradition that has existed, in one form or another, since the earliest written records. Spirits, vague ideas of otherworldly intruders, have been visiting for centuries, and over the years they've been understood as ancestors, demons, eerie informants, and hostile haunts. Join us this week as we explore Halloween rituals through the ages and the evolution of the otherworldly visitors they invited to join. We conclude the episode by shifting our focus from the living's relationships with the dead, to their relationships with Death itself, as we discuss Santa Muerte.

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