November 2nd, All Souls Day in the Catholic liturgical year, is an occasion of great import in much of Mexico, where traditions of the indigenous people intersect with Catholicism in Dia de Los Muertos The Day of the Dead.
These images are from the local bi-lingual newspaper in San Miguel de Allende, Atencion. The cover story at Atencion’s Web site this week details the locations of altars locally as well as the restoration of an abandoned cemetery for the occasion.
For decades, North American artists have been drawn to Mexico by the imagery and pageantry of Dia de Los Muertos. It was during a visit to San Miguel with George Little and David Lewis three years ago that TCP and I decided to rent Casa Caracol for two months in the fall of 2007. At the time, it seemed a distant dream.
This week, I’ll be honoring the spirit of my father (he died on November 10, 1970) as well as with those of the many relatives and friends who have passed on. I am reminded of a remark Byron Katie made at the opening of The School for The Work in October, 2003. It was a muggy, smoggy day in Los Angeles, and the air at the airport hotel where The School was held was heavy with airplane fuel. As Katie greeted us on the first morning she smiled and said, “Don’t you love that it is smoggy? Isn’t it nice to know that you will die on time?”
When death is seen as part of life, not as its antithesis, it is nice to know that it will come on time.
Preparing for Dia de los Muertos
