Halloween is the big night for my grandsons, who will go trick or treating tonight, despite their sniffles. Rylan, who is five, "would die of sadness if he didn't get to go," according to his mom. Despite her exertions a week ago giving birth, Rebekah seems game for it. They are planning to go out as Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Tiger Lily and a pirate with baby Carys as Tinkerbell. So for them, Halloween is dressing up and asking for and receiving sweets.For my husband Jesse, the pleasure of Halloween is seeing the little children at our door, delighting us with their little voices, "Trick or Treat!" and "Thank you! Thank you!"
Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, seems more religious to me, traditions passed down from the Aztecs and mated with European Catholicism from the time of the Conquest. At Heart of Longmont we will celebrate a less colorful All Saints Day with lighting of candles for those in our congregation and families who have passed away in this past year. The United Methodist candle lighting will not be celebrated with communion at midnight in the cemetery. I've never heard of drinking, picnics and midnight masses at the Longmont cemetery, though I've heard they can still be found in rural Mexico.
Shrines have started popping up in store windows and galleries in honor of family members and famous people, altars that are complex and highly individual, perhaps even idiosyncratic. In the Longmont Public Library there is an ofrenda for Dr. Seuss. In the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center one shrine honors Nelson Mandela (Mandiba). Other altars are more family-centered, with photos and favorite foods and objects special to that person, like flutes or guitars or baby blankets. Marigolds, monarch butterflies and dancing skeletons are common elements.
I enjoyed the complicated paintings made with colored sawdust, which reminded me of the sand paintings done so exquisitely and patiently for religious holidays in the mountains of Costa Rica. The path that was to be walked was made entirely of these painstakingly designs made of petals, sand, pebbles, sawdust, with prayers and hymns. Following the cross, we walked that path. I wondered then if it was a path of sanctification.The point of Dia de los Muertos seems to be the recognition that death is part of life and not to be feared. Unlike funerals, on Dia de los Muertos it's okay to point our fingers at Death and laugh a little.