Happy El Dia de los Muertos

[Barry]

One year ago today, my family and I enjoyed Days of the Dead in Mexico.
Halloween will never be the same again.

[sooZen]

Dia de Muertos is a wonderful tradition which I have celebrated and enjoyed.

Two years ago I created an altar for my dad and did a show at one of the events where I made Dead Day jewelry for the patrons. His altar included beer (Carta Blanca), skeleton clowns (he was Spicey the clown), the traditional marigolds, a wooden race car he made for my boy, coins and stamps (he collected them), skeleton musicians (he had a band and played the piano) and of course, his picture along with some other personal items. I have some pictures of the altar somewhere but have no idea where right now or I would post it.

A celebration of a loved ones life that has passed on is really a neat way of remembrance! Many altars are present in this area and in close by New Mexico as well. Music and food from Mexico are abundant and this weekend is full of such goings on.

I plan on attending at least one on Sunday, November 1 at the Mercado Mayapan. It is worth going for the wonderful music and skits alone! This year, groups from the Mexican state of Morelos are going to be featured. Arriba!

[Arcadia]

beautiful photo and interesting relatos! Loved the mestizaje and the force of community in the mexican way to celebrate!
It is said that here decades ago november the 2nd was a feriado and most of the people went to the cementerios and attended mass in a very catholic and spanish-italian way. Now only few people do that. I guess it´s a community vacant festivity in a very death-cult country, or maybe it was translated to other more significant fechas, I don´t know.
I usually do my own little ritual for dear ones´s in not more physical-physical form at their birth and death dates: it consist mostly in flowers, candles, scents and re-cording. Those days I also like to dedicated something that I specially liked and loved in their memories

[Doreen Peri]

You inspired me to post some Day of the Dead sculptures I took photos of in California a couple of years ago. So colorful and wonderful! What a cool tradition!

http://studioeight.tv/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=17525

[mtmynd]

SooZen, Nate and I went to a big El Dia de Muertos celebration today and here's some pix of the altars that were set up at the affair -

**In memory of Roberto Le Cayola -



close-up of the above altar. note the bottle of tequila...


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**An altar for non other that Pancho Villa -
note the two bottles... they're strawberry soda... he loved them and orange sodas!


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** In memory of Che Guevara
born in Rosario, home of our Arcadia!


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**For the memory of Mercedes Sosa -
a very large (8 x 10 feet ??) altar for someone very special...
"The driving force behind the nueva canción movement, singer Mercedes Sosa was born and raised in Tucumán, Argentina"- Wikipedia


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We've even seen altars for Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando... anything goes as long as it's from the heart.

[Arcadia]

wow!!! already an altar for Mercedes Sosa?? news run!!!! very beautiful!!! Mercedes had a year or so ago a lexic problem here around our national anthem: it finishes "o juremos con gloria morir" and she wanted to sing it and record it "y juremos con gloria vivir": too much noise about it from authorities of different pelaje such as "you can´t change the lyrics of a national anthem as you please it". Last week I listened the last track of "Cantora 2" and it made me smile her little-big trick!!

amazing photos, Cecil, Soo & Nate!!!!!!!!!! muchas gracias for share them with us!!! and ... anything goes as long as it's from the heart : so true!