The dead were not departed but dwelling nearby—in graves beneath earth’s surface, in ancestral realm accessible through proper ritual, in transformed states allowing continued interaction with living descendants. Vėlinės was annual gathering when living and dead feasted together, when boundaries between worlds thinned allowing easier communication, when families honored ancestors whose accumulated wisdom and protective power remained necessary despite physical absence. This was not symbolic commemoration of those who had passed but actual reunion requiring careful preparation, proper protocols, respectful behavior toward spirit guests attending household celebration.