Mexico is ground zero for the Day of the Dead. They don’t have much in the way of trick or treating although you see a lot of American influence in the stores. However, the richest part of this tradition is alive and well in Mazatlan. It covers a couple of days (November 1 & 2).
Our hostess was our dear friend Flor. She set up a beautiful traditional altar in her courtyard on Stone Island. The four elements were represented as well as the journey from the tree of life to Mictlan. As we were sitting and sharing, we could hear the approach of a parade – a band and a procession of about 20 young people carrying candles. They stopped at every altar and honored it with a song. When they arrived at Flor’s place, they came into the courtyard and serenaded and shared pan de muerto (bread of the dead) with us. It was magical. Then, off they went to the next altar.
We were also blessed to celebrate the night of Samhain (Halloween) – with a small circle of friends right here at the RV park. We had an altar set up with jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, marigolds, lots of candles…. And we shared ancient traditions of a different sort.
What a great life.
1 comment:
Hi Hal & Helene: We are keeping up with your blog and it makes us feel like we are already there instead of Meridian, Idaho...in the cold. We are stopped for a couple of days due to high wind advisories. One day at a time and soon we'll get to warm weather too. We don't know when we can get into Mexico due to a possible real estate deal but we will get there as soon as we can. See you soon.
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