Personal Musings on El Dia de los Muertos
Today is the second and final day of El Dia de los Muertos. As someone of Mexican and Anglo ancestry, I came to this holiday at midlife, and I'd like to share some of my personal reflections.
My first experience with the Day of the Dead came when David and I visited the Detroit Arts Institute when the museum was having a special Muertos event, featuring altares and ofrendas made by by local Mexican-american artists and a poetry reading by one of Diego Rivera's grandsons. The Rivera connection is that this special event and exhibit were located in the DIA's central courtyard, which was painted with murals by Rivera when he and his wife Frida came to Detroit in the 1930's.
The two artists visited some of the impressive auto plants, and this inspired Rivera to develop a theme of industrial workers and nature vs.technology as the focus of his work. This was to become one of Rivera's most successful and famous projects. Sadly, Frida's biographers make note of the fact that she experienced a miscarriage during the time she and Diego were in Detroit for the painting of the murals.. She depicted this tragic even in her 1932 painting, "Henry Ford Hospital," showing herself on a blood-stained bed surrounded by images of the lost fetus and other symbolic objects. Throughout their stormy relationship, Frida had had a passionate desire to bear Diego's child. However, her uterus had been gravely injured in a gruesome accident she suffered as a teenager, and it seems that the miscarriage that took place in the US put an end to those hopes forever. The fact that the mural-emblazoned museum courtyard has an historical association with death and loss made it an appropriate place for an exhibit related to the Day of the Dead.
During the car ride back to Ann Arbor I reflected on this very moving visit to the DIA and began to feel an impetus to create my own altar as soon as I got home. I didn't have any of the traditional materials handy--marigold flowers, chocolate, pastry, copal incense, paper-cuttings, or special foods such as tamales. But I made use of what I had: some dried corn and beans, leftover Halloween candy, some Mexican ceramic dishes, table candles, and a few fading chrysanthemums on stalks broken from the frost-wizened garden. It was a deeply satisfying process and I've repeated it every year since.
A visit to a Muertos event at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco with my sister, Susan, marked one memorable celebration. There were a number of themed altars by Bay Area artists, and a performance with music and comedy skits. We painted our faces as calaveras, took part in a parade, and had a great time!
I went on to host a number of annual parties in our home in Montpelier, Vermont; that featured an altar, a Mexican-food oriented pot luck, readings of poetry, rituals, and music. These were very beloved by our friends, some of whom have carried on the tradition since our family moved away.
This time of year is also strongly associated for me with the death of my father, Jose Angel Peña, who passed away in Brownsville, Texas on October 29th, 2000. I've often wondered why he didn't "hold out" until the 31st, which is when El Dia de Los Muertos (which is actually the two following days) officially begins. But then I though about the fact that when he came to visit he often--much to my chagrin--showed up a day or two earlier than planned. Well, I guess when his time came, he chose to depart a bit early as well! His picture is always prominent on my altar.
I encourage everyone to learn about this special holiday and find ways of making this beautiful tradition your own. Perhaps it can bring us healing in this time of loss, trauma, and suffering!
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