dia de los muertos

soon (start november) it will be "dia de los muertos" in Mexico which is quite a celebration there.
I understand it it is a kind of mix between halloween and all saints day and they decorate statues and images with tagetes flowers...
brrr....

caleyelguero.wordpress.com

 

I thought I recognised the phrase. I think it translates to The Day Of The Dead, and yes there is much celebration & fireworks (this is Mexico). Those Tagetes look brill tho

 

RandyRos - this is just an OT but the similarity with Icelandic names continue! Look here> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigur_Rós

 

If I understand it correctly, although the festival looks from the outside to be quite morbid, the sentiment is really nice.

I believe part of the ritual features everyone making their way to the cemeteries while dressed as ghosts and such, then they make their way back home again scattering flower petals as they go. Its supposed to be that they are inviting the spirits of their dead relatives to come home for a day for a big party, I think.

Much like the original Halloween (Samhain), where the spirits of dead relatives were invited home for a night, and everyone would light the fire in their hearth from the same communal flame symbolising that we are all connected, all warmed by the same flame.

 

We have a similar celebration in Italy , but without the fiesta , old legend say that dead peoples soul are coming out them graves in that day untill a second date that can remember and relative will be there waiting for them , Untill they will be completely forgotten and them soul can finally rest in peace.
Almost a pagan tradition.

 

Pagan just means a belief other than that endorsed by the state, but given the more common understanding of the pagan, that's what the ritual is. It is actually shamanic, and its no coincidence that there are so many similarities between largely Celtic beliefs of Europe and the shamanic beliefs of Asia and the Americas.

For many centuries, people moved about. Sometimes they fought, sometimes they traded. Always they influenced each other. The celtic beliefs came from Eastern Europe and may well have been originated from people coming in from Asia and the likes, or it may also be that the celts took their beliefs into Asia. Either way all these people, and their beliefs, were mixed together over centuries and the stronger elements of those beliefs systems prevailed and were carried with their people all over the world.

It funny really, we think of global communication as a modern phenomenon, but the truth is its always been happening. The only difference is it used to happen much, much more slowly because messages had to be carried by people walking

 

If you thing about Roman and greek where Pagans , hades was the god of hell and as many people forgot south american are called latino , just because they where colonised and religiously converted by latin peoples as latin peoples I mean , Italian/spanish/portugese .
Mexico like spain still have corrida and religion celebration called fiestas , sure Spanish must have a similar celebration like dia de los muertos.

 

were invited? They still are in this house matey! Even set a place for them at the table. Samhain fire outside, fireworks, light the 2 house fires from the embers of the Samhain fire to make sure we keep warm all winter.

Maybe that's why I love anything Norse, they were untouched by christianity for 1000 yrs longer than the rest of the world.