Today is the final day in the Mexican holiday devoted to celebrating the dead and the continuance of life. The holiday activities involve families visiting (and picnicking) at the graves of their kin, welcoming the dead back into their homes with beautiful, elaborate altars decorated with flowers (especially the marigold), religious amulets, and offerings of food (skulls made of sugar and pan de muerto or "bread of the dead"), alcohol, and cigarettes.
Traditionally, November 1st is known as Dia de los Angelitos, The Day of the Little Angels, when families remember the children who have died. Here's an article from my home newspaper about the work of two artists, Rosa Zamora and Robert Cisneros, who have created altars specifically to remember the 17 children who have died from violence in my city. The article also has two poignant audio interviews with the artists, accompanied by slide shows of their work on this project. (Look for the links in the right hand column.)
On November 2, adults are remembered. For an excellent article on the subject have a look at this brief but informative essay by Ricardo J. Salvador, "What do Mexicans celebrate on the 'Day of the Dead'?" Mary Andrade, an award winning photographer, has a fascinating site for the Day of Dead which includes a gallery of her photographs as well as recipes and descriptions of traditions from the different states in Mexico. Farstrider.net also offers a nice collection of photographs (like the ones above and below) of the celebrations and parades, the vigils, and all the glorious food and candy. They also have short video clips of the events here.
La Bloga, a blog that offers news, reviews, and articles on the Chicano literary scene, has a wonderful article by Gina MarySol Ruiz about the role of a danzante, an Aztec dancer who offers her dance to honor the dead. It's a fascinating piece with details on the sacred function of the dance, and on the symbolic imagery contained in the commemorative altars for the dead. La Bloga also held a literary competition and I highly recommend having a look at the three winners: On October 31, Third Place went to Raul Sanchez with his poem El Dia y la Noche de los Muertos. (Scroll down about half way in the post to find the poem.) On November 1, Gina MarySol Ruiz offered a terrific selection of prize winning childrens' book titles about the Day of the Dead and the second place prize went to poet Javier Omar Huerta, a graduate student of English at UC Berkeley for his poem, "La conjetura de los sueños: sobre Lost and Found: Passages through the Sonora Desert por Maeve Hickey The Centennial Museum at the University of Texas at El Paso." His manuscript, Some Clarifications was the winner of the 2005 Chicano/Latino Literary Prize from UC Irvine.
On November 2, First Place went to Vanessa Ferrel's powerful untitled poem that remembers those who have died as a result of violence or social injustice.
Thank you for visiting La Bloga. I'm one of four Blogueros -- actually, three Blogueros and one Bloguera. Gina Marysol Ruiz is la Bloguera, and not La Bloga's second place Dia de los Muertos writer. Scroll down Sol's column to note:
And topping off Wednesday, November 1, La Bloga's Second Place Writer, Javier Huerta.
ate. mvs.
Posted by: michael sedano | November 17, 2006 at 09:07 PM
Michael!
Thank you so much for the correction...and my apologies to Javier Huerta. I have corrected the post to include his name, the title of the poem and his award winning publication.
On a side note I really enjoy reading La Bloga and check it regularly for your excellent news and reviews. Thanks for all the work all the Blogueros do.
Posted by: Midori | November 18, 2006 at 07:57 AM