Thursday, October 27, 2011

A Treasury for Day of the Dead




Halloween and Day of the Dead lie straight ahead. Originally 'All Hallows' Eve,' Halloween is also known as the Witches' New Year and a moment when the portals between the world of the living and the world of the dead is open widest -- so that ancestors may be remembered.

In New Orleans, the Feast of All Saints takes place on November 1. Families go to their cemetaries and clean the graves. They often picnic near their family plots, communing with loved ones who have passed.

In Mexico and elsewhere, the Day of the  Dead is celebrated over two days: November 1 is All Saints' Day and November 2 is All Soul's Day. Sugar skulls, bright colors and revelry are seen in these celebrations of the dead. Day of the Dead skulls and skeletons are happy creatures, filled with hearts and flowers, not the ghouls of Halloween.

To celebrate the Day of the Dead, one of the Etsy teams I participate in (Etsy's Best Kept Secrets) accepted a leader's challenge to produce Day of the Dead pieces. A blog montage and Facebook fan page posting will reveal these fabulous works. And I have curated a Day of the Dead treasury on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQyNzY0NDF8OTY4NTkzMjE3/celebrate-the-day-of-the-dead-with-art

It's been said that how a culture handles death says a lot about how it handles life. By making the dead extraordinary, Day of the Dead also makes it ordinary -- and something one can accept. At least a little better...

....................................................
In the photo: My 'Day of the Dead' necklace with a sugar skull pendant. Made expressly for this team challenge! It's available in my Etsy online shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CityRusticJewelry?ref=pr_shop_more   Or you can click on the tab at the top of my blog!

No comments:

Post a Comment