Rihanna, Danzante
Posted on | November 10, 2009 | 2 Comments
Rihanna’s headdress reminds me of a Danzante
photo by mightieone
Bright Star Butterflies
Posted on | November 3, 2009 | 2 Comments
I captured a white butterfly when I was about seven. I scarred her wings while I was trying to trap her. When I looked for her a couple of hours later, she was gone. I don’t know how she’d managed to get out of the jar. I’ve always been fascinated by butterflies, but I learned my lesson: it’s impossible to keep them. They’ll disappear.
In Jane Campion’s Bright Star the butterflies are a metaphor of Fanny’s attempt to harness her deep and desperate love for Keats. The butterflies’ beauty is desired, just like Keats’ love is desired. Fanny is indulging her own wildness at the expense of wildness-the butterflies don’t get to live a butterfly life trapped in a room. Fanny and Keats’ emotions are also stuck in a small room, and their love can’t be nailed down. Toots, Fanny’s younger sister is thrilled by the butterflies, but the reality of trapping butterflies is underscored by Fanny’s mother’s reaction. Take a peek:
Día de los Muertos countdown: Cumbia de los Muertos by Ozomatli
Posted on | November 2, 2009 | 4 Comments
Honor your ancestors by dancing, singing, playing, enjoying with this powerful canción!
Aqui no existe la tristeza
solo existe la alegria
el baile de los queridos
de los queridos del pasado
mira como baila mi mama
bailando con mi hermano del pasado
sus espiritus se juntan bailando
lleno de alegria y gozando
Cumbia, Cumbia [repeat]
pero que buena
pero que rica
Sierta gente solo pueden ver
espiritus bailando entre la gente
si pueden verlos bailando mis hermanos
seran bendicidos entre los cielos
mira como baila mi mama
bailando con mi hermano del pasado
sus espiritus se juntan bailando
lleno de alegria y gozando
Cumbia, Cumbia [repeat]
[Chali's Rap:]
As sure as your heart muscle rests in your chest cavity
we ask god to bless these festivities
yet, this hostility felt between you and me stops
opportunity given to spread unity
2na be rhythmically wiping sadness clear
reggae cumbia mixtures create this atmosphere
people packin cheer simply cuz these songs show depth
giving shouts to these victims of wrongful death
now, soon as we’re rid of society’s small terrors
the sooner these teenagers don’t have to be pallbearers
and carry their pals nearer to graves premature the cure
be mature by keeping you hearts pure
the translation:
Sadness doesn’t exist here
Only happiness exists here
It’s the dance of the beloved
The beloved from the past
Look at how my mom dances
Dancing with my brother from the past
Their spirits joining together to dance
Full of happiness and enjoyment
Only certain people can see
The spirits dancing among us
They can see my brothers dancing
They will be blessed within the heavens
Look at how my mom dances
Dancing with my brother from the past
Their spirits joining together to dance
Full of happiness and enjoyment
Día de los Muertos countdown: 2:52 away
Posted on | November 1, 2009 | 3 Comments
We’re only hours away from Día de los Muertos on the west coast. I’m thinking about the ancestors and the many ways they contribute to our lives.
Video: Know Art by Victor M. Montañez
Tags: day of the dead > dia de los muertos > Know Art > Nine Inch Nails
Día de los Muertos: How to create a simple altar
Posted on | November 1, 2009 | 2 Comments
Many people want to acknowledge their ancestors but they don’t have a lot of time, energy, or money. Fret not, because making an altar can be easy. What counts is your good intent. Here is the most pared down altar:
1. a cloth or piece of fabric
2. a candle
3. a photo or drawing of your ancestor(s)
4. a glass of water
5. a couple of things, foods, or drinks your ancestor would like
Traditionally, a white piece of fabric is used because it dispels any negative energy. But if all you have is a red cloth napkin, then use that. Fill the glass with water. There are varying ideas on why the glass of water is there. I was taught that the water soaks up any negative energy. Some people believe the water is there to quench the ancestors‘ thirst. The lit candle guides the ancestor to the altar. Next, place the photo on the altar. If you don’t have a photo, you can draw your relative. The drawing doesn’t have to be perfect, just a representation. Lots of people want to recognize their great-great grandparents but don’t have a picture. So use your imagination and draw the person. Then, put something your ancestor would like to eat, use, or drink while visiting on November 2nd. For example, my grandmother loved apricots, but since I don’t have apricots, I’m going to put apricot jam on the altar. My grandfather loved camote (sweet potatoes), so I’ll put a bit of that on the altar. If you don’t know what your ancestor liked, then offer him/her something you think they would like. Or you can play some music as an offering.
If you have a tiny space, like a NY apartment, don’t let that deter you. You can create an altar on top of a bookshelf or a cabinet. Any surface will do. The important thing is that your heart feels that the space is right.
The key to creating an altar is your intent and true desire to welcome your ancestors and acknowledge their influence on your life. You may also thank them for any help or guidance they’ve given you. It’s up to you. Let me know how it goes!
Día de los Muertos countdown: Is Halloween a gangrened limb?
Posted on | October 30, 2009 | 2 Comments
A border buddy of mine wrote to me about Día de los Muertos:
Día de los Muertos is becoming more and more popular in California. This is because Halloween has become more and more empty of spirituality. Once, Halloween was celebrated as a spiritual practice. As time has passed it has become another limb of consumerist culture, subject to the gangrene of consumerism. As people find it more empty and repugnant, as anyone would find a stinky gangrened limb, they’re compelled to amputate it and drift towards spiritually based practices.
Will Día de los Muertos succumb to the whims and desires of consumerism?
Día de los Muertos countdown: Bareto's "Ya se ha muerto mi abuelo "
Posted on | October 29, 2009 | 2 Comments
What do you think of this canción?
Bareto “Ya se ha muerto mi abuelo” by autumns_child
I got the lyrics from a post on the roots of Chicha (a type of music). I couldn’t hear “eating suri” but I’d like to hear the version of the song that has that line!
The first two verses go like this:
Ya se ha muerto mi abuelo (ayayay)
Ya se ha muerto mi abuelo (ayayay)
Tomando trago (ayayay)
Tomando trago (ayayay)
Ya se ha muerto mi abuelo (ayayay) x2
Tomando masato (ayayay) x2
Both of these verses basically say, “My grandfather has died/Drinking (alcoholic beverages).”
It was the third verse that caught my ear, though. I hadn’t fully listened to the album yet, so I decided to use it as my workout music. With about 30 seconds left in the song, I heard:
Casi ha muerto mi abuela (ayayay)
Casi ha muerto mi abuela (ayayay)
Comiendo suri (ayayay)
Comiendo suri (ayayay)
That last line is “eating suri,” so the whole thing should read, “My grandmother almost died, eating suri.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the joy of suri, it is a grub worm that some people eat in the Amazon.
Día de los Muertos countdown: Oaxaca
Posted on | October 28, 2009 | 2 Comments
I hope you enjoy this video about Día de los Muertos in Oaxaca.
Here’s an excerpt of a post from Oaxaca Cultural Navigator that Nancy Lorenza Green, artist and poet, told me about:
Dia de Los Muertos: Day of the Dead in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Janet and her brother Eric just completed a Day of the Dead Altar (Ofrenda) at the University of Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art, where they presented a lecture about the meaning of the altar and life in their village just outside of Oaxaca City. Janet recounts that on October 31, the day before the Day of the Dead celebration on November 1, she and her mother Dolores go to the village market to buy fresh fruit and bread and chocolate and other delicious traditional foods preferred by the loved ones who have departed. Around 1 p.m., head of the household Federico Chavez will place the foods on the altar. (Every family in the village will have a separate altar room that is used for this and other special celebrations.) Dolores and Janet will be busy in the kitchen preparing tamales or mole or barbacoa (barbecue).
People in the village of Teotitlan believe that at 3 p.m. on November 1 the souls of the dead relatives will arrive and begin to enter the houses of their families. The sound of firecrackers can be heard throughout the village to usher in their welcome. The altar rooms will be filled with sweet copal incense. A festive table will be set in the altar room and families like the Chavez Santigos gather to each the special meal. Then, they’ll go to visit and pay their respects to their relatives, godparents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, bringing bread, fruit, pecans, peanuts, mezcal and chocolate, to pay tribute and honor the dead of those families. The offerings are wrapped in a specially embroidered cloth and folded in a bundle to present to the woman of the house to put on the altar. The tradition is for honoring relationships, memories and sharing. The visitor, in turn, is invited to sit, take some bread and chocolate, drink mezcal and catch up on family and village life. In the Chavez home, visitors are presented with a gift of fruit, bread or tamales from the altar.
The altar is ripe with symbolism. In Teotitlan del Valle, traditional altars are built to represent the underworld, the earth and the sky. The earth is the table of the altar and the sky is represented by the framed images of the Virgen de Guadalupe and Jesus Christo that hang on the wall behind the altar. An arch of sugar cane frames the images and represents a door to the sky. Beneath the altar are lit candles, smoking incense and urns of marigold flowers. The light and scents help the dead relatives find a path through the underworld to come to earth to revisit their relatives who have provided an altar full of favorite foods to entice their loved ones back to earth. A framed photo Eric and Janet’s grandparents occupy a prominent place on their altar, which is also adorned with cut out colored paper that represents the air.
If grandfather loved mole Amarillo, it will be there on the altar for his lunch. If Tia Ofelia loved candy, it will be there on the altar. If primo Arnulfo always insisted on eating tamales con pollo con salsa verde, then chicken tamales with green chile sauce will be there for him. A glass of water or mezcal or beer is placed nearby. The meal will be luxurious for the living and the dead.
On November 2 at exactly 3 p.m., the souls of the relatives leave through the arch to return to the sky or heaven. Then, Teotitecos go to the cemetary at 4 p.m. to spend the night with their family members, carrying with them more marigold flowers, incense, candles and food. This year, 2008, the dead will leave on November 3 because November 2 is a Sunday, and if it is Sunday, the doors of the cemetery will be closed. The souls of the dead cannot leave on a Sunday.
Eric adds that you can find many different versions of The Day of the Dead in each village and the city of Oaxaca, as well as throughout Mexico. Some believe that dead children will return on October 31 and depart on November 1 at 3 p.m. just as the adult spirits are arriving. “Starting on October 31 through November 2, my mom puts out chocolate and soup for breakfast, then mole coloradito or mole negro for comida (lunch), and a cup of hot chocolate and bread for cena (dinner) at night. The food on the altar changes for each meal over the three days. That’s how we do it in Teotitlan.”
Día de los Muertos countdown: What happens to the food on the altar?
Posted on | October 27, 2009 | 2 Comments
We never eat the food set out on the altar for the muertos and my friend Rosanna Salgado McDonald tells us why:
My grandmothers said that they prepared food for the spirits of our
relatives, but that we shouldn’t try to eat the food after Día de los
Muertos has passed. She said the spirits took the flavor and
nourishment, and what was left wasn’t food anymore.
I was always tempted to sneak a bite just to see, but I never did. So
far, my kids haven’t either!
If you’re tempted to eat the goodies for the dead, stop yourself, so the dead will be nourished! Eat some pan de muerto by 8 Kalacas:
Tags: 8 Kalacas > altar > day of the dead > dia de los muertos > ofrenda
Día de los Muertos countdown: metro muertos
Posted on | October 26, 2009 | 2 Comments
Muertos are everywhere in Mexico City, even in the metro.
Tags: day of the dead > dia de los muertos > Mexico City