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Day of the Dead
Oct. 22nd, 2008 10:54 pmNo Broke update tonight. I'm sorry, but I suffered a bit of writer's block (or more exactly, I just couldn't make my sentences sound right no matter how many times I re-wrote them, damn my English limitations!), so I decided to give myself another day to finish part 2.
The good news is that today I began a 10 day vacation period, so tomorrow I'll have more free time in the morning to finish it. I hope I'll have it up by noon.
Meanwhile, I wanted to show you the results of a little side project. As some of you may know, we celebrate in México the Day of the Dead on November 2nd. Every year, we mount a small altar in honor of our loved ones who have already departed to the other world, where we leave flowers, candle light and their favorite food, among other things. The tradition says that on the night of Nov 2nd, the spirits come back to our homes for a short visit, so we must make sure they have enough to eat for their journey back to their world.
Let me just copy-paste what I wrote down last year:
Though the subject matter may be considered morbid from the perspective of some other cultures, celebrants typically approach the Day of the Dead joyfully, and though it occurs roughly at the same time as Halloween, the traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life.
Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto ("bread of the dead") or sugar skulls and beverages such as atole. The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrenda food, so even though the celebrators eat the food after the festivity, they believe it lacks nutritional value. The pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey.
Anyway, today we built our Ofrenda, and I wanted to show you a couple of pics. It is not finished, because we still need to buy flowers and of course, prepare the food for it, but that'll be until November 1st.
Inspired by my family's ofrenda, I also tried to make one with the Sims games. That made look for the right "mexican" custom content (and oh goodness! There were so many tacky things that fall in those dreaded Speedy Gonzalez stereotypes!) and to make my own "calaveritas de azucar" :D. You'll also see the pics under the cut.
( Two Ofrendas de Muertos, one virtual and one real )
And that's it for now! :P
Take care!
The good news is that today I began a 10 day vacation period, so tomorrow I'll have more free time in the morning to finish it. I hope I'll have it up by noon.
Meanwhile, I wanted to show you the results of a little side project. As some of you may know, we celebrate in México the Day of the Dead on November 2nd. Every year, we mount a small altar in honor of our loved ones who have already departed to the other world, where we leave flowers, candle light and their favorite food, among other things. The tradition says that on the night of Nov 2nd, the spirits come back to our homes for a short visit, so we must make sure they have enough to eat for their journey back to their world.
Let me just copy-paste what I wrote down last year:
«Ofrenda de Muertos»
Though the subject matter may be considered morbid from the perspective of some other cultures, celebrants typically approach the Day of the Dead joyfully, and though it occurs roughly at the same time as Halloween, the traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life.
Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto ("bread of the dead") or sugar skulls and beverages such as atole. The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrenda food, so even though the celebrators eat the food after the festivity, they believe it lacks nutritional value. The pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey.
- From Wikipedia
Anyway, today we built our Ofrenda, and I wanted to show you a couple of pics. It is not finished, because we still need to buy flowers and of course, prepare the food for it, but that'll be until November 1st.
Inspired by my family's ofrenda, I also tried to make one with the Sims games. That made look for the right "mexican" custom content (and oh goodness! There were so many tacky things that fall in those dreaded Speedy Gonzalez stereotypes!) and to make my own "calaveritas de azucar" :D. You'll also see the pics under the cut.
( Two Ofrendas de Muertos, one virtual and one real )
And that's it for now! :P
Take care!