Today is ‘Dia de Los Muertos’ – ‘Day of the Dead – November 2nd, every year. The first time I learned about Day of the Dead was the Disney movie “Coco” and as a result, I wanted to learn more about the Mexican holiday known as Dia de Los Muertos.
On November 2nd, ‘literary calaveras’ (satirical poems in which the poet writes about ‘Death’ taking someone to the land of the dead) are shared; altars (ofrenda) are made to remember someone who has died; and families visit the grave of loved ones, sometimes bringing a sugar skull to leave on the gravesite.
“Bringing a sugar skull to leave on the graveside?” What’s that all about? While I enjoy walking through cemeteries, am not afraid of death, or uncomfortable being with people who are dying, but somehow, the thought of creating a skull and bringing it to leave on a gravestone, (until I began to research Dias de Los Muertos), was a difficult concept to comprehend. Clearly it was time for me to do some more research.
I learned that the tradition goes back to prehistoric times when people believed in a spiritual life after death and made an offering to the god of the underworld (Mictlantechutli) who was expected to guarantee safe passage to his world. Interesting! More research needed … and doing that, I learned that at that time, brightly coloured sugar skulls were part of the offering to Mictlantechutli, but, when Spanish conquerers arrived (all offering except for the colourful skull made of a sweet confection which was often placed in home altars as part of the offering to the deceased) were lost.
Then, in more recent times in Mexico, Dia de Los Muertos became a holiday – a holiday around death – and a very, very colourful one at that!
While I have no Mexican ancestry, I have never liked the idea of wearing black as a sign of mourning. Rather, I like the idea of celebrating … remembering the deceased with joy … wearing anything-but-black to funerals because for me, when family and friends have died, they are never entirely ‘gone’ … I keep them alive in my heart and in my memories.
I have a strong belief that I’ll re-connect with loved ones again … in some way. Not in a way I can explain – but ‘some way.’
Is that a certainty? No. It’s not a certainty, because no one can prove that such a re-connection can or will happen. But … is it possible? Why not!
I’m a “possibility-thinker.” And until scientifically proven otherwise, I am going to continue to believe that when I die, in some form, in some way, loved ones and I will re-connect.
And in the meantime, time to celebrate (albeit belatedly), Dia de Los Muertos and remember my parents, my siblings, my husband, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends who have all departed this life. It is a special day to remember them with joy, celebration, and colour … and create a sugar skull: artistic representation of calavera (skull) piece of art.
Thanks to Mexican culture for teaching me about this unique “Day of the Dead.”
I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen them. November 2nd and there they were … four strawberries in the strawberry planter on my deck, this morning!
We’ve already had our first snowfall yet, they survived the snow and the cold and the rain and there’s another berry “on its way” to full strawberryhood. <g>
So if you’ve had a difficult day … if the rains are causing your arthritis to flare … if traffic was frustrating … if the news brings despair … if the future looks bleak let these strawberries … give you a sweet surprise … put a smile on your face even if only for a second or two.
Last night, I lit a candle for the people of the United States.
This night, I will light a candle again because many are bereft at the news and find fear the occupier of their thoughts.
Lighting a candle is a simple act but if I light a candle this night and you – and you – and you – and you light a candle this night for the people of the United States and the nights to come … whether we light a candle in our imagination in our prayers or in real time and space, may hope be lit.
It only takes one match to light one candle … one voice to light a conversation … one conversation to light a change in one person
Let’s light a candle. Let’s light many candles. Let’s light conversations. And who knows – maybe those conversations will turn into votes. At this point in time, it’s about HOPE. Let’s keep hope lit! Let us light a candle.
· in the midst of tears light raindrops on flower petals reveal beauty something about which one can be grateful if so in the midst of personal tears what are you grateful for today if so in the midst of political tears what can we be grateful for today if so in the wider scheme of life what can humanity be grateful for today name them name them out loud name them by writing name them so they will never be forgotten even in the midst of tears
Have a look through the peekhole … what is on the other side, if the head of the ultra-conservative very radical-sounding Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025, Kevin Roberts, has his way, is devastating. He stated: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
WHAAAT?
American lawyer Joyce Alene Vance who served as the United States attorney for the Northern District of Alabama (2009 – 2017) has written an intro to Project 2025’s ideology starting on page 34) and says “He’s (Kevin Roberts) talking about using violence if the majority of American voters don’t agree with his vision for our country. He’s endorsing another January 6, a bloodletting if liberals won’t cave into his view of how the country should be run. If the left won’t “allow” him to have his way, he’s going to make us give in. That’s the man behind Project 2025.”
Please, look through the peekhole – learn about Project 2025 … share what you learn about the Project (which, btw, has already begun) on social media … recognize that this isn’t “pie in the sky” it is as real as were the warnings in Germany in the 1930’s. https://www.project2025.org/about/about-project-2025/https://www.project2025.org/
There is only one way to stop Project 2025 and that is to exercise the right to vote – ignore the hype about the candidates – ignore the rhetoric about what Trump promises – just don’t ignore what undergirds Trump or what undergirds the Kevin Roberts’ of this world.
Today Americans mark their independence from a monarchy. Kevin Roberts is trying to re-create the monarchy.
Remember Roberts’ words: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution”. Not “going to be”. It’s begun. But it can be stopped by one simple act … voting blue – voting the Biden/Harris ticket – choosing democracy not fascism.
Btw, here’s a list of some of the actual things on the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 list:
It’s real. Its implementation has already begun. Read – digest – and recognize where/how you/your loved ones will be affected. No one will *not* be affected.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision took the United States back to July 3, 1776, the day BEFORE the Declaration of Independence. That SCOTUS decision gave Americans the thing that caused them to break away from England – away from a a president-king who’s above the law.
Peek through peep-hole and learn about the depth of the plan of Project 2025. It is not good. It is anything but good. If it succeeds, it will mean the end of democracy. Don’t let that happen – exercise your right to vote and vote for democracy: blue.
Quote: “Happily may I walk. Happily with abundant dark clouds may I walk. Happily with abundant showers, may I walk. Happily with abundant plants, may I walk. Happily on a trail of pollen, may I walk. With beauty before me, may I walk. With beauty behind me, may I walk. With beauty above me, may I walk. With beauty below me, may I walk. With beauty all around me, may I walk. Wandering on a trail of beauty, lively I walk.
Author: Navajo chant
Soul-Questions
1. What moments in your life have you experienced – “abundant dark clouds” – “abundant showers” – “abundant plants” – “a trail of pollen”
2. How can you “happily” walk, regardless of outdoor weather conditions, your own inner emotional state, the global political angst?
2. What questions have been more important to you than the answers?
3. Consider your understanding of walking and the Navajo understanding. Is there a difference? If so, what?
4. What might prevent you from walking Navajo-style in your life?
5. What is your understanding of ‘beauty’?
6. What do you understand to be the Navajo chat understanding of ‘beauty’?
7. When you go for a walk, reflect on the ‘beauty’ you see “before me”, “behind me”, “above me”, “below me.”
In your journal, reflect on the above questions and how you might move beyond whatever blocked you in those circumstances.
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How to use “Soulistry Soul-Questions” You may want to begin a Journal so your responses are all in one place. Write the quotation. Add the first question and write your response.
Take your time in writing your replies. This is your time. These are your answers.
Then at your leisure, add the second Soul-Question and respond and continue on. Btw, it helps to put the date after each Soul-Question response.
The “Soul-Questions” group on Facebook can be found www.facebook.com/groups/soulquestions
The “Soul-Questions” website can be found at https://soulistry.com/soul-questions-blog-posts
Welcome to “Soul-Questions” one of the Soulistry *umbrella* groups.
The“Soulistry: Artistry of the Soul – Creative Ways to Nurture Your Spirituality”publication offers 80 quotes by a wide variety of authors along with Soul-Questions to encourage readers to listen to the “still, small Voice within” and know themselves more deeply.
The book’s Preface, Prologue and Appendices supplement the Soul-Questions and are available in the print ‘book’ version available through Amazon, the author, your local bookstore, Gumroad. Over time, more of the quotes and their accompanying “Soul-Questions” from the book will find their way to this Facebook group. If you have a particular title from the list below you would like posted here, feel free to write me here on this site or: june at soulistry dot com.
Please note that if you subscribe to this website, you will receive all Soulistry postings directly into your inbox. No record is kept of your email address – no selling of your personal information either.
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TITLES of Quotes and their authors (all with permission to publish) are as follows.
Aging … Mark Twain Aiming High … Michelangelo All Shall Be Well … Julian of Norwich And the Day Came … Anais Nin A Spiritual Experience … Pierre Teillard de Chardin A Spirituality of Play … Margaret Guenther A Spirituality of Work … Confucius Being Remembered … Mattie Stepanek Believing … Verna Dozier Blessed Are You … Jesus of Nazareth Challenge Your Limits … Jerry Dunn Come to the Edge … Guillaume Apollinaire Courage … Ambroe Redmoon Darkness Deserves Gratitude … Joan Chittister Deeping the Mystery … Francis Bacon Doing Good … John Wesley Doing What You Think You Cannot Do … Eleanor Roosevelt Draw the Circle Wide … Gordon Light Excursions to Enchantment … Thomas Moore Faith … Patrick Overton Feeding the Wolf … Cherokee Legend Finding God’s Presence … Herbert O’Driscoll Forgiveness .. Mahatma Gandhi Friends … Kahlil Gibran Gift … Denis Brown Gladdening the Hearts … Henri Amiel God’s Milk … Anne Sexton Gratitude … Meister Eckhart Happiness … Chinese Proverb Hatred Ceases … Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) Holding Fast to Dreams … Langson Hughes Hope Has Two Daughters … Augustine Journey Inward … Dag Hammarskjold Keening … Lara Keeping Secrets … Paul Tournier Laughing At Ourselves … Katherine Mansfield Life Goes On … Robert Frost Light From Within … Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Living Life With Confidence … Henry David Thoreau Look Well to This Day … Sanskirt Provert Loving Your Enemy … Jesus of Nazareth May I Walk … Navajo Chant May You Be Blessed … St. Francis of Assisi Mystery … Martin Buber Nothing You Can Do … Desmond Tutu Open Doors … Alexander Graham Bell Peace Within … Jill Jackson Problem-Solving … Anthony D’Angelo Questions That Speak … Chinese Proverb Radiating Intrinsic Goodness … Wangari Maathai Rekindling the Light … Albert Schweitzer Religious Belief … Dalai Lama Rising Every Time … Confucius Risking Frustration … Thomas Merton Secret of the Spiritual Life … Gerald Heard Seeing the Spirit Sparkle … Gwen Weaver Six Letters … Gemma Black Soul Alive … Eleonora Duse Soul Harvest … Lao Tzu Soul Stars … Pamela Vaull Starr Spiritual Mountain-Climbing … Sri chinmoy Success … Henry Ward Beecher The Acquisition of Wisdom … Solomon ibn Gabirol The Art of Being Kind … Ella Wheeler Wilcox The Idea of God … Madeleine L’Engle (Miguel de Unamuno) The Mark of Wisdom … Ralph Waldo Emerson The Only Journey … Raider Maria Rilke The Web of Life … Chief Seattle (traditionally attributed) The Well Within … Thich Nhat Hanh Today I Am Asking … Alice Hancock Today’s Road … Nagarjuna (traditionally attributed) Tomorrow’s Seeds … Chinese Proverb Trusting the Unseen … Ralph Waldo Emerson Vulnerability … Sigmund Freud Walking In and Out … Joy Harjo What Does Love Look Like … Augustine What is Spirituality … Dan Wakefield What We See … Peter Thornton Worldly Inexperience … Joseph Addison In the Appendices: How to Make Your Own Journal The Soulistry “story” Author Biographies About the Author – Who Am I?
It’s not a good day for many in the world. And especially not for those in Ukraine. Two years ago today, Russia invaded Ukraine.
And on this, the second anniversary of that terrible event, tangling in colour helps distract me from the sterile black/white images in my mind of menacing trucks rolling down city streets, people hovering in bombed-out hospitals, children growing up terrified and democracy on a fragile thread in that and far too many countries.
As we move about each day – as we create our art – as we drive into town – as we shop and attend our meetings, appointments, go to work/school/worship, may we think of the people of Ukraine and other places in the world where that same scenario is commonplace.
Let us think hope. Let us pray peace. Let us send thoughts of protection.
The freedom we enjoy this day is not theirs. May that reality change soon and in the meantime, may the people of Ukraine know that the world has not forgotten them.
I send them colour – and hope – this, and all, days.
We need colour and hope in this world as reminders that rainbows still cross skies – somewhere; reminders that children still dance and sing – somewhere; reminders that freedom still exists – somewhere. Colour and Hope!
Artwork: I don’t find ‘scratch paper’ easy to work with/tangle on (this is a Zentangle® HQ fragment called ‘Obawa’,) but I do love the surprising and unexpected colours that emerge each time.
