Today I wanted to write a little post about a rather endearing Holiday that I like. Since my mother died, I like it a lot! A day to celebrate your dead! I miss my momma like crazy, and I love the idea behind this holiday! So, I am going to share with you Wikipedia's definition, and some images from around the world. A little culture for my faithful Snappers today! How many of you knew where this cool makeup came from? Right! Day of the dead! Enjoy! Love and miss you mommy! Today I celebrate you!
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where the day is a bank holiday. The celebration takes place on October 31, November 1 and November 2, in connection with the Christian triduum of Hallowmas: All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.[1][2]
Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased. Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The holiday has spread throughout the world: In Brazil Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.
Image by
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Rey Pratt (look him up on Wikipedia, if you like) is my great-grandfather, and so my father's side of the family has some roots in Mexico, despite us being Danish/British Isles white American as we can be. His second to youngest son is my grandfather, and some time after he died in 1990, and my grandmother about 10 years later, I came to look at this holiday with some comfort, finally deciding to buy a few premade sugar skulls while shopping at my favorite Mexican grocery in Pasco. I'd learned about the holiday from my Spanish and Latin American studies, but it took some immersion first.
ReplyDeletePasco has a very strong Hispanic population, particularly on its east side, which spills over to the southeast side of Kennewick, where I live. I couldn't help but connect to this side of home, for me. It's a family legacy I can't ignore.