El Dia de los Muertos
God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled.
~Author Unknown
Dia De Los Muertos For The Lazy
My own decorations. Not even photographed particularly well. And a recycled post from last year. Not even written, just linked.
Check this out: Click here to read what I can write when I really have time to burn.
I have to go to work now and keep all the spirits that walk around my place at bay. It can be very quiet and eerily still at night and we have some people that are constantly teetering on the edge of this world and the next. I don’t know what it says about those of us that keep them here longer than even they maybe want to be, but it’s our job and someone has to stand watch and guard and wait for them to decide which way they would like to go. Anyway this wasn’t meant to be long; Just a few words, a link, and a couple of fast pictures. You all take some time to remember those who have gone before. Look around and pay attention. We need to keep these souls happy and content to stay wherever they may be.
Read this too: Because I like the pictures and I like the sentiment and because I am really trying to milk some extra time off the website.
And speaking of skeleton trees…this is from last night. Prime movie lighting from the western sky:
The western sky:
God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled. ~Author Unknown
Final shot, as promised. It is very late and the dead have returned to their rest for another year.
I don’t know if I built it up too much, but I like it. I like the idea of this small altar with the skulls and flowers all around and the candles that will burn into the night.
Picture this altar, meticulously and carefully arranged upon a stone slab in a crowded graveyard in a burnt-orange town or sand-blown village. Children are laughing and playing amongst the dusty tombstones. Families are sharing food and drinks while gentle breezes skip, soft and dry, touching lightly and lifting easy over warm and blushing skin, the way it does when you are far out in the desert. As darkness falls, the dusky air gets cooler and the little ones gather and tuck in closer as night takes hold. Final words are said and prayers are whispered too low to hear, eyes and hands search and fold, clutching at the skyline, but the time has come to say goodbye. The dead are left to lay, quiet and peaceful, resting again, with their own. They remain as bodies below our feet, yet spirits within our hearts and minds. While the flames of our steadfast watch silently burn, deepest night arrives. Black and still, it covers and comforts even the most restless soul and it seems intrusive to stay. When dawn lifts her weary head to herald in a bright new day, the magic will be gone, hidden amongst the wilted flowers and broken candy shells. In the glare of unforgiving sunlight, the altar is just a colorful reminder of what we remember and why. We feel lucky and joyful to be alive. We pay our respects but save a bit for ourselves. We must now carry the honor of living for those who cannot. Time belongs to us again and we have a job to keep.
(Dia de los muertos by Pristine Cartera-Turkus)
God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled. ~Author Unknown
Sugar Skulls and Marigolds
Frustrated!! That darn paper took 5 hours! From first word typed to printed and e-mailed to the teacher. I do not know why I put so much effort into things that I could probably get away with doing half-assed. But it was six pages of fun and thankfully it’s done. (That rhymed!)
I am also a little irritated that the picture of my sugar skulls and the marigolds is all grainy and computer-y looking. That’s the best I could get from taking the picture with my phone camera directly off the computer screen. It looked better when it was smaller in my photo files. You can still get the idea though. And that should encourage you to go out and find something better! Blah..I know. More homework. Do we have to do everything for ourselves?!? Geez. If you go the site above, they might have a whole gallery of new artwork dedicated to the Day of the Dead. I didn’t have time to check totally. Let me know.
Below is an altar picture to give you an idea of just how lavish and detailed this celebration can be. This particular website is worth clicking on even after today. It covers a lot more than just this holiday. I know some of you out there will really like what they have there. Trust.
I have one more picture that I will post later. It’s really more fitting for after the sun goes down. It will give my website that sense of seriousness and solemn gravity mixed with a measure of mystery and the feeling that something supernatural is about to happen. Suspense! Until nightfall then.
Feliz Dia de los Muertos
(kitchenandresidentialdesign.com)
I only gave myself fifteen minutes to post this including picture search and photo gallery. I have three minutes left. Then I HAVE to do that cursed paper for Soc. class so I can leave this house. It’s supposed to be unseasonably warm and then rain. I cannot stay inside all day!
Since I have nothing of my own picture-wise or artsy to show for you, I looked on the internet and took pictures with my phone camera of some things I thought were kind of cool. Credits are below each picture.
If you want more more info about Dia de los Muertos, and you have some free time, you can read my post from yesterday, just below this one, or take a quick look around the airwaves. You can start with the sites I posted and go from there. It really is an interesting holiday and there is a lot of good info from serious to extreme. It may be my new favorite and I am none of the cultures that usually celebrate this day. But you can judge for yourself.
Ok that’s it. Time’s up. There is another pic below to make things even. Lots of artwork is based around this holiday. These are two of the mediums. Go look for more. The range is so broad and there is so much out there, I guarantee you will find something that appeals to you. Later.
All Saints Day. Second in the Trifecta of creepy holidays in a row.
First, though, in my newest series of “skeletal trees against a sky background.” I’m not sure why I like taking pictures of the trees as they sit quietly in their places losing their leaves and turning their bark to a dark brown-black color, but I noticed that I have about 5 or 6 different pictures of various trees in various stages of dormancy, so what better time of the year to post them to a website that is mostly just for my amusement anyway?
In case you are scratching your head, like, what?, what other holiday is there besides Halloween this time of year?? Well, now that we have scared all the ghouls back into their rightful resting places, we want to make sure that they stay there.
So today, we have All Saints Day. A Christian/Catholic day to honor our Saints (and martyrs), known and unknown. The Catholics are real big on martyrdom, just ask any Catholic raised child with a Catholic mom…oh the sacrifices she has made for her children…with one hand to the forehead, and the other clutching at her heart…That’s why it’s a good idea to just hang out at the cemetery and throw goodwill all over the place, because you just never know who is sanctified and who isn’t. It’s the total Catholic way, better safe than sorry!
Then we have All Soul’s Day tomorrow. A much more exciting and morbid celebration of the dead. It even has an awesome title:
El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Also Catholic, mostly celebrated as you have probably seen in Mexico, with the skulls and candles and colorful skeletons. In a nutshell, it is basically a day to go visit relatives/spirits in the cemetery and assure them that all is good and they should just stay where they are at and not bother rising up and creeping around all benevolent and zombie like. Technically it’s celebrated on the First and Second. I researched it and the children and babies that have passed get today for their festival and the adults get tomorrow. I like this particular holiday because it is so specific and it has very uniform traditions. The main components are sugar skulls and marigolds and the departed’s favorite foods and beverages. All brought to the grave and offered up like gifts as if the dead have any other choice but to stay where they are at. Some believe that the spirits are allowed to walk around for this one day after resting the whole year, so it needs to be a real celebration. But not too good. The world is crowded enough without the undead returning to the population.
Sugar skulls and marigolds. It sounds like a rock band. But I am impressed by the fact that they have very particular items in their prayer rituals. Classic sugar skulls, which are basically just a candy-type confection shaped like a skull. They can be sugar or chocolate, and can have your name on it. They are representative of someone alive and symbolize “eating your own death.” I’m not really sure about the marigolds. It may be because they are colorful, and the celebration itself is supposed to be upbeat and joyful, or it may be that they stink and they keep the spirits happy visually, but repel them from trying to take up any real residence back in the world.
That’s it for my educational information for today. I had started this post at 9 am this morning but I got sidetracked helping a real friend in need. Seriously. You can hardly ever say that you had to go help someone who truly needs it. But this girl did.
Then when I got home I actually exercised. Yes. I said exercise. Two days in a row. Goal accomplished!! I will now be setting all my goals in the extreme short term. So much more satisfying then stretched out hopes and long term failures. I may set the goal to exercise tomorrow too….but I don’t want to get all crazy with it now.
Besides, I seriously have got to finish my school paper/project that I have not even started on. The only thing do I have is an idea about what to write, and if I have learned anything from the last 9 weeks, it’s that I stink at putting fingers to keyboard and just finishing my damn homework. Sorry I had to use a cuss word. I frustrate myself to no end with all this procrastination and I either have to stay up all night now or frantically try and finish it tomorrow morning. I’m starting to get off track here and I’m feeling tense and stressy. I just need to post this already and get some dinner for my family. Another home cooked meal (from the pizza place down the street) coming right up! I stink at cooked-meals-in-a-row too.
So that’s it. Hopefully you remembered someone you loved today and wished them peace and maybe said a little prayer for yourself, if that’s your thing. If not, you can try again tomorrow. Go hang out at a cemetery if you can and feel the earthly vibe of walking over restless spirits. Bring a lunch and offer some up to the deceased around you. Toss out some compliments and take pictures. I don’t think you necessarily have to know the person to pay your respects and wish them a good rest. It’s just good manners for the living and the dead. If I get off this site and do my work, I’ll post the rest of the stuff I have for these few days. There will not be any more serious and thoughtful musings on life and whatnot. It will all be silly jokes and goofy pictures. You know. The usual. I think we have all learned enough for this week. Later.
just shy of pretty 