Dia de los Muertos: Celebrating Ancestry

 

I love Dia de los Muertos!  It's a Mexican holiday that celebrates our loved ones that have passed on, leaving what ultimately is a skeleton.  Skeletons aren't feared or considered to be anything other than their loved ones' remains.

Here's an explanation by Judy King that touches my heart:

 “The Mexican flatters death and woos death, he sings to her, dances with her, he laughs at her. Finally he challenges her and in the challenging, death loses her power to intimidate him. Once he knows death intimately, death is no longer wrapped in a cloak of mystery or causes him to fear the darkness

Once the fear of death has been defeated, the clutch she has on the hearts and minds of the living is lessened once and for all. Death’s morbid side is buried under music and remembrances, while skeletons laugh and dance and sing as Mexico celebrates life in its embrace of death.”

The photo above is a ceramic box I made years ago.  It has a skeleton couple on top (a very common scene in Dia de los Muertos art)

 

In this closeup of the shrine, you can see that I added tiny photos of my parents in their youth.  All the decorations on the cake are ceramic.  The tryptic frame/stand is painted foam core board. I added lots of glitter, skulls, angels and the Virgin of Guadalupe at the top.

For the typical 3 day celebration, the families of the town would clean up the graves sites of their loved ones and decorate them with marigolds and candles on the evening of October 31st, and then the celebration begins. 

The Mexican s believe it would be an insult to their ancestors to be sad during the celebration.  I read somewhere that the road the spirits follow back to home would be made slippery with tears.  Instead, they laugh and sharing memories, feast together, making sure to bring the favorite foods of their ancestors (the delicious smells help them find their way home).

Here are some history links for more info:

AZ Central and Sugar Skull Tradition

I highly recommend visiting the Crafty Chica.  Kathy's whole family does wonderful Dia de los Muertos art!

Also, this post is part of Mary England's Celebration Blog Party

My New Role

I am about to take on the roll of Creative Play Muse for Cool2Craft!!! Tomorrow at noon, Eastern Standard Time, I will fill you in on all the details! Check out the Cool2Craft Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=342077966832&ref=ts#!/Cool2Craft?ref=ts and scroll down to the Cool2Craft Live button on the left to tune in!

I'll be presenting a monthly Creative Play theme for you to run with. You'll send in your entries which will be posted on the Cool2Craft web site at
http://cool2craft.com/
AND on the Hive at
http://creatingthehive.com/group/cool2craftcreativeplay
 Play on!

Day of the Dead Shrine for My Parents

This is a ceramic sculpture box I made last year. I love Dia de los Muertos! It's a Mexican Holiday that celebrates ancestry. This quote really speaks to me...

“The Mexican flatters death and woos death, he sings to her, dances with her, he laughs at her. Finally he challenges her and in the challenging, death loses her power to intimidate him. Once he knows death intimately, death is no longer wrapped in a cloak of mystery or causes him to fear the darkness

Once the fear of death has been defeated, the clutch she has on the hearts and minds of the living is lessened once and for all. Death’s morbid side is buried under music and remembrances, while skeletons laugh and dance and sing as Mexico celebrates life in its embrace of death.”
Judy King

So, the Crafty Chica (http://www.craftychica.com/) had a Day of the Dead Shrine contest and I was so excited about it! I knew I would enter, but had no idea where to start. My dad died in May. He was a rocket scientist, so I had visions of rocket ships and skeletons. I just kept mulling it over. Then, last week, my mom passed away in her sleep. The ceramic cake box jumped into my mind while I was laying in bed on a sleepless night.

I decided to use a photo of the cake as a place to start. I printed three different sizes and pieced it together on foam core board. I used printable, white and clear shrink plastics for the photos of my parents, the candles, skulls and angels as well as a photo of a beaded Virgin of Guadalupe. I did the beading with some instruction from my buddy, Beth. Check out her web site, it's awesome! (http://sparklingsoulstudio.com/default.aspx).When the glitter came out, that was all she wrote. It's everywhere now. I'm not sure I'll ever get it cleaned up. I'll be blowing glitterboogers for a week.
The finished product is below. I shouldn't say "finished" because I'm sure I'll come across things now and then that remind me of my parents and I'll just have to add on. But, for now...