El dia de los Muertes

I love Halloween, and sadly it's been several years since I really celebrated.  I just didn't feel in the mood!

This year, though, I think we're going to do something fun and a little bit different:  we're going to have a Day of the Dead party ("El Dia de Los Muertes"), and no, I'm not talking zombies. 

The Day of the Dead, usually celebrated on November 2, is a day to commemorate and venerate family and loved ones who have died, crossed over, made their transition, kicked the bucket.  It's a festive and fun day - one of the things people sometimes do at this festival is make up humorous epitaphs for the deceased, and tell happy and funny stories to remember them.

That's what this party will be all about!  I and mine have had several "losses" over the past few years, and I've have several nudges from Spirit lately that this is a Good Idea to commemorate them.  And after just having done death work at our West Mesa class, it fits perfectly with the season and with the teaching.  I'll get to think about Jimmy Sue, Randy, my grandmother Ernestine, my uncle Larry, my uncle Clarence, my former father-in-law John, and so many others :-) 


Though I'm not Jewish, I sometimes light a Jahrzeit candle to commemorate their lives and to thank them for the many, many gifts they have given me through being incarnated.  This will be such a much larger commemoration!  The Day of the Dead festivities involve making ancestor altars, cleaning up gravesites, having festive food, and generally just enjoying life and remembering those who used to be in it with us. 

There may be much more to it than that, but this is what I personally know about it.

I can't wait!