!DIA DE LOS MUERTOS! (Day of the Dead)

[Mr.Flip]

  10/31-11/2

Dia de Los muertos is a special holiday celebrated on the first two days of november
on a personal level i like to include the wiccan tradition of hallows eve for a total of 3 days for fun

these 3 days are when the borders of the physical and meta-physical realms are closest
thus leaving the doors open for many interesting and very personal uses

the tradition goes of course everyone in the north celebrates halloween for the 31st with costumes, lights, candies, parties, foods, blah blah
down in mexico everyone uses this day to prepare the offerings for the dead
they aslo set-up their alters at the home for their loved who have passed

on the 1st day of november people gather flowers, pictures, bread, water, food, candy, candles, fruits, liquors, seeds nuts, money, sacred belongings,  diff decorations, etc. and go to the cemeteries to fix them up and make them beautiful,
they do this because on the 1st all the dead children are the first to come back and find their loved ones,
they celebrate at night with live music and dances throughout the streets of the towns with fireworks and plenty beer..
people in all beautifully different costumes
each parade has a set of characters which vary from place to place
the lady, the shepard, the child, the grim reaper, the devils, angels, the bride , the groom, the dead (which is everone else dancing)

parades and dances go on all night

then on the second day the cycle is repeated but this time its the dead adults who return to visit from the beyond
AND WE ALL DANCE AND DRINK TO LIVE MUSIC ALL NIGHT TILL THE SPIRITS CANT PARTY ANYMORE!!!

its soooo beautifull

[Szaxx]

Hi,
Thanks for the details. I've learned something from this. An amazing cultural event where everyone gets involved.
This is a real party for generations to come.
Spiritual respect superlativity...

[Mr.Flip]

yes it is!!!
of course its just one big reason to party nonstop with a very cool (the best) THEME

but on a real serious level it is an important time because it is when the meta and physical worlds are closest.
this time is perfect to reunite and celebrate with the deceased
its perfect for anything to do with spirituality, consciousness, AP, Magick, and also as paying respect towards the earth for letting have another year full of crops to harvest and to ask for help through the upcoming cold winter.
honestly i love this holiday so much the streets of the towns and cities look like a dream filled with a dark terror which when looked at closely you realize that its just the beautiful dead in which we should not fear because they are us and one day we will be them.

For some reason i have yet to see another country which celebrates the dead on such a massive scale.

in pretty much all the other cultures of the world they fear the dead or the supernatural, and even get scared at the thought of being transformed through death.
this holiday shows us that yes we can be scared of how we are going to die but we should not fear death its self...in reality death is the most rewarding gift u can get and it is a beautiful thing to experience. we must learn to always keep in our hearts the ones who have gone before us because in reality they are always exploring the astral world but its surprising to know that when they get sadd, bored, lonely, or just curious, they always come back and check up on FAMILY

[Stillwater]

This is an acceptable topic, just remember to provide English translations when you post in alternative languages (especially in topic titles, haha )

[Szaxx]

Hi,
Too much influence from various religions some using a fear based control system to enable their hierarchical structures to denounce anything related to spirituality. Anyone within must obey their ruling or face bad consequences. Those who chose to abstain from religious culture are automatically denounced. Most are evil in consequence. Its an unfortunate fact that to attain closeness to god means following this route and being in a position of power within this system prohibits any acceptance of spirituality outside the governing rules.
Your culture has totally accepted a wide range of ideals encompassing all that is and respects those no longer here in the most passionate way.
Its unique and expresses a greater understanding of the wider reality.
Enjoy the celebrations.

[Mr.Flip]

Hi,
Too much influence from various religions some using a fear based control system to enable their hierarchical structures to denounce anything related to spirituality. Anyone within must obey their ruling or face bad consequences. Those who chose to abstain from religious culture are automatically denounced. Most are evil in consequence. Its an unfortunate fact that to attain closeness to god means following this route and being in a position of power within this system prohibits any acceptance of spirituality outside the governing rules.
Your culture has totally accepted a wide range of ideals encompassing all that is and respects those no longer here in the most passionate way.
Its unique and expresses a greater understanding of the wider reality.
Enjoy the celebrations.

in fact the Catholic Church really looks down upon any symbolism of Death, Demons, angels, ghost, spirits
so much that they even have a so called (counter Prayer)=magic
the catholic church is wide spread through latin america
sounds funny but its like a war between the forces of Dark and Light

Dia De Muertos is unique though because this holiday actually originated in pre-hispanic times, the natives celebrated ironically in this time of the year a day for harvest of one's mind, body, n soul

the aztecs would do major events...and we all know how wicked those got

other than my assumption is the catholic church, (after they conquered the America) realized that the latin slaves would not give up this holiday, thank god because they basically destroyed any piece of history which we had
soo realizing the people wouldnt budge they incorporated the wiccan holiday hallows eve, flipped it to halloween and slowly but surely instilled it into the catholic church.

technically the church and this holiday are different cultures

but it just so happens the people celebrate regardless

[Szaxx]

Hi,
Victoria para el pueblo!
Victory for the people (translated).
It shows some things cant be prevented.

[Taoistguy]

I love the Day of the Dead. As my daughter was growing up, we used to make little skulls made of marzipan and coat some of them in chocolate and decorate them in coloured icing.

I much prefer it to Halloween which is a really dark and fearful and morbid affair.

[Mr.Flip]

  makes me remember the traditional bread that is made down there its my favorite bread because honestly even though its sweet its great for a sandwhich 
its called Pan de Muerto=Bread of Dead

[Taoistguy]

Never heard of that. Thanks, I'll look for a recipe and make some this year.

[Szaxx]

Hi,
If you find the recipe, post a link at least. You could fly half way round the earth if you'd prefer a tasteful second opinion on your wares. Lol.

[Mr.Flip]

u can just google a recipe

but truely the real bread and authentic taste is in the actual quality ingredients u use

because u cant get the same tasting grain, sugar, salt, cinnamon, egg, etc. unless u get it from that same place
its is true that more often than so in under developed countries the food is fresher since the place you obtained that food is not so far away from where it was extracted, made, concieved, reaped, grown
food in mexico taste great because its soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fresh, like they literally killed that cow today,
my relatives had a pig or two? anyway when the pig got big enough they sold it to the butcher lady in the morning, BAM, eating em later that day 

so yupp every state in mexico pretty much has a different taste and style
i personally like my uncle's recipe, i used to work for him as a baker in Oaxaca (state) and on that holiday we made that, his recipe is actually different from the most commonly seen like in mexico city, the one thats traditionally seen i guess more often is the one below

i couldnt find any pictures similar to ny uncle's style

make a nice sized peice of bread about the size of a cantaloupe/melon and u have to put alittle head firgure ornament in the bread before u bake it so it stays in there afterwards  [its a little muertito=deady or lil'spirit] its like a hard peice of wheat grain in the form of a head with different colored tops or hats, we also made tiny ones about the size an orange for the little kids on the first day which is designated for the children

[Szaxx]

Hi,
Wow, my mouth is already watering.
Ok on the freshness of the ingredients, Ill see whats on google too.
I know the taste of fresh meat too. Its expensive and you need to buy half of the animal too. The taste, mmmmmm.
Thanks.