Day of the Dead

Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is a holiday celebrated in Mexico (and likely in other countries as well - I'm not sure which ones) that honors and remembers dead kindred. People decorate long-dead relatives' graves, serve meals consisting of their ancestors' favorite dishes, and generally commemorate those that are no longer with them.

It's less of the extortion-in-exchange-for-candy that Halloween is now (not that that is necessarily bad - I like Tootsie Pops as much as the next trick-or-treater). It's also not like Samhain with its threshing of wicked souls or All Hallow's Eve, with its various unnamed medieval dangers (anyone else out there love Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree?)

Instead of fearing death as one who unfairly steals away the living, the Day of the Dead seems to accept death as part of life. Having done that, death seems less an enemy and more of an event or transition. Death doesn't overshadow or rob the living of their ancestors - instead, their physical absence serves to emphasize the need to deliberately remember them and honor them. I sure wish there were more holidays that celebrated contemplation and memoriam like this - too many like it have been snatched up by car dealerships' and furniture stores' advertising campaigns.

Take some time and remember,
Guin