Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Yesterday was just a bad day for me. I called my hubby after blogging and he calmed me down some, enough to go back to work and finish out the day. I was feeling so sad, I was sick to my stomache, dizzy, out of breath, and nauseas. I just worked myself up I nearly had an anxiety attack.

When I'm really stressed out, or just down in the dumps, I put on my favorite relaxing CD "Come away with me" by Nora Jones. That CD has some mileage on it! If I had to choose one CD in the world to hear over & over it would be Nora Jones. There's something about it that no other CD can do to me, its so frickin relaxing. Song 1 "Don't know why" gets my attention, song 2 "Seven Years" makes me clear my mind, song 3 "Cold Cold heart" I'm starting to relax, song 4 "Feeling the same way" I'm relaxed and starting to sing along because I can relate to that song, song 5 "Come away with me" I'm singing along, song 6-14 I'm enjoying the CD and sometimes I'm ready to hear it all over again before its even over. I just never get tired of it, I absolutely love it. I should make a copy of the CD, heaven forbid anything every happen to this one. So yesterday I had a "double dose" of Nora Jones, and it worked.

Today my day is going much better, this far.

Today happens to be El Dia De Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) which is a Mexican holiday. So I'm wearing my purple ribbon in honor of the loved ones I've lost.
This holiday goes back to more than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death.
It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate.
A ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
The ritual is celebrated in Mexico and certain parts of the United States, including the Valley.
Although the ritual has since been merged with Catholic theology, it still maintains the basic principles of the Aztec ritual, such as the use of skulls. Today, people don wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth.

Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.

However, the Spaniards considered the ritual to be sacrilegious. They perceived the indigenous people to be barbaric and pagan. In their attempts to convert them to Catholicism, the Spaniards tried to kill the ritual. But like the old Aztec spirits, the ritual refused to die.
To make the ritual more Christian, the Spaniards moved it so it coincided with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (Nov. 1 and 2), which is when it is celebrated today.
Previously it fell on the ninth month of the Aztec Solar Calendar, approximately the beginning of August, and was celebrated for the entire month. Festivities were presided over by the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The goddess, known as "Lady of the Dead," was believed to have died at birth.
Today, Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and in certain parts of the United States and Central America. It's celebrated different depending on where you go.
In rural Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate gravesites with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to gravesites and eat the favorite food of their loved ones.

Here the people spend the day in the cemetery, and the graves are decorated real pretty by the people.

In the United States and in Mexico's larger cities, families build altars in their homes, dedicating them to the dead. They surround these altars with flowers, and pictures of the deceased. They light candles and place them next to the altar.


Rest in Peace.
My beloved son
Erik Michael Gonzales
Born and passed May 27, 2005

Baby Gonzales
miscarried March 3, 2004

Baby Gonzales
miscarried July 3, 2004

Baby Jennie (my mom's baby girl she lost before me)
Born sleeping: August 1978

To all my loved ones that have passed.
And to all my friend's loved ones that have passed.

May God's peace and love fill the hearts of those whom have lost someone they truly love.