Happy Sunday everyone. I'm down and out with a good old head cold so I slept really late today. Yesterday too, so it was a good thing the hubby didn't want to do anything wild or crazy on his birthday. :)
I did take him out for a late breakfast though, and I went to the store and got the fixings for his favorite meal which is Chicken Parmesan. He helped me cook it , which made dinner a lot of fun. Plus it was dark and rainy all day and with my head cold and the hubby getting nervous about his (hopeful) surgery this week, it was a good day to not do much of anything else.
So today I have a page I made in my journal. Sorry the photo isn't the best but the journal wasn't laying very flat.
Day of the Dead is the English name for a Mexican Holiday called Día de Muertos.
The only trip into Mexico I've ever done is walk into Tijuana from California, and it wasn't even during the right season, so I have never got to see a Day of the Dead Celebration. However, when I visited northern New Mexico there has been signs that they celebrate the holiday there.
According to Wikipedia, this holiday traces its history back to an ancient Aztec festival.
So October 31 is All Hallow's Eve, or better know as Halloween. November 1 is All Saints Day, and then November 2 is All Souls Day. I've heard the November 1 is the day they celebrate Day of the Dead, but the sources I found on the internet say it is celebrated on November 2. I also read that originally this was a summer celebration, but that it was moved to be around the church holiday on November 1 many many years ago.
(Due to family privacy, I have blanked out the names on the graves . I don't know if it is cultural taboo to show these, but I apologize if it is. I just found them fascinating.)
They are so colorful and bright. Here in New Hampshire our cemeteries don't look anything like this. Guess its all the British and French Canadian heritage in my area. Plus all the frugal Yankee stoicism we northern New Englanders are known to have, doesn't lend itself to such splashes of color.
Hope my page does a little bit of justice to this holiday.
Enjoy the what's left to the weekend!
The only trip into Mexico I've ever done is walk into Tijuana from California, and it wasn't even during the right season, so I have never got to see a Day of the Dead Celebration. However, when I visited northern New Mexico there has been signs that they celebrate the holiday there.
According to Wikipedia, this holiday traces its history back to an ancient Aztec festival.
So October 31 is All Hallow's Eve, or better know as Halloween. November 1 is All Saints Day, and then November 2 is All Souls Day. I've heard the November 1 is the day they celebrate Day of the Dead, but the sources I found on the internet say it is celebrated on November 2. I also read that originally this was a summer celebration, but that it was moved to be around the church holiday on November 1 many many years ago.
Here the Northeast of the US where I live, we don't see much about this celebration.
One of the big things I read about this holiday is that families fix up the graves of their loved ones and have picnics at those graves. The Spanish cemeteries in Northern New Mexico are colorful places even in the dead of winter (when I have been there). I can only image what they are like during this holiday.(Due to family privacy, I have blanked out the names on the graves . I don't know if it is cultural taboo to show these, but I apologize if it is. I just found them fascinating.)
They are so colorful and bright. Here in New Hampshire our cemeteries don't look anything like this. Guess its all the British and French Canadian heritage in my area. Plus all the frugal Yankee stoicism we northern New Englanders are known to have, doesn't lend itself to such splashes of color.
Hope my page does a little bit of justice to this holiday.
Enjoy the what's left to the weekend!
10 comments:
This is lovely, and you used some of the traditional symbols of the event, too. I had a tip-in swap back in 2004, and added my entry to an altered book. You were on the right track because the celebration includes tables set up with candles, flowers, skulls, etc. to honor their dead loved ones.
Here is a post about a book I created on Mexico, which includes my Dia de Muertos tip-in at the end of the post:
http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/2010/10/inspiration-avenue-challenge-mexico.html
Enjoy the day whichever one it is. I've always thought it was Nov. 2, but who cares, if you want to celebrate it for three days, that's fun, too.
Have a fantastic day, rest, get to feeling better, and don't allow your stress to show around your hubby. He has enough of it for both of you!
Your page fits this colorful Mexican holiday perfectly!
It's so much better to see all this colorful grave decorations as the boring ones here in our area! Beautiful pics!
My best friend here visited the whole week graves from relatives or friends and she is still busy since she just have to bring the fresh flowers on Tuesday to the special graves- since here is always the possibility of frost these days.. oh my gosh - I can't believe that someone makes such a big thing about this... but so she is ... she is in a really All Saints flow every year. I don't visit any graves - I like to visit graveyards - but not at this time of the year.
Hope you feel better soon and finger crossed for your hubby... I can imagine how excited he is again!
Happy new week ahead Erika and may it bring good news for you!
oxo Susi
Feel better soon.
A fantastic page celebrating the Mexican Festival. Thank you for all the information you added. It is a really interesting subject and your photos added to the post.
Hope this week all goes well.
Yvonne xx
Lovely art creation and wonderful post and sending lots of distant reiki healing energy to you and your hubby for healing ~ feel better and may the surgery go well for your hubby ~
Wishing you a Delightful Week ~ ^_^
This caught me by surprise and I had to laugh!
I love old graveyards - The funnies grave stone I have ever seen said "This Sucks" What a hoot.
Sandy xx
I love seeing how other people celebrate holidays. I always go to the cemetery and put fall flowers on the graves on All Souls Day. Happy Halloween!
Fascinating post and lovely photos Erika. The colours and flowers etc certainly cheer up what would probably otherwise just be a cold and grey place. I didn't understand these celebrations until recently when it was mentioned in a Michael deMeng book I was reading about assemblage art. You've certainly captured the atmosphere of the celebration on your journal page - love the colours and images.
I hope you are over the worst of your cold - just what you didn't need at this point :( and are ok... Gill xx
Our cemeteries are nothing like that either. I do like the color and energy and presence of honoring the dead on this day and I really enjoyed your page.
I hope by now the colds are better, your husband didn't catch it and won't have anything to further delay the surgery. It sounds like this might be a bit of a stressful week for you and I hope everything is a piece of cake.
Thanks for your visits and wonderful comments. I think our color will disappear shortly here -- wind and rain is due!
Just catching up with all your terrific artwork, Erika. I can hardly believe I've missed so much goodness here.
Mrs. Skeleton and her baby crazy skeletons look terrific on that wonderful stripped background.
Hope your cold is much better now.
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