Visiting the graves of loved ones. I can recommend it. Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead , it reads even better in Spanish: Día de los Muertos.
"The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and helping support their spiritual journey. In Mexican culture, death is viewed as a natural part of the human cycle. Mexicans view it not as a day of sadness but as a day of celebration because their loved ones awake and celebrate with them."
Yeah, here, in good old USA this concept is a bit foreign, not a popular thing in White/Anglo culture. We Americans tend to celebrate eternal youth. A total fantasy. We don't really want to think about death, until it smacks us in the kisser.
Anyway we trekked to the Cemetery yesterday. A dark, rainy afternoon. Rolling hills of green dotted with elaborate stone monuments and simple grave markers too. Lots of imagery of Angels, Jesus, Crosses, lots of flowers, and doodads decorating graves.
It was quiet. A certain heavy beauty. Thoughts of gravity, flesh, bodies, spirits and endings. Time is palpable in a cemetery. The boundaries of a life. Dates carved in stone. You start counting up the years. Some folks die young, some span many, many decades.
The "natural part of the human cycle."
Reminds us of a greater thing going on. Life. Prayers. Memories. Spirit. Endings. Beginnings. You will find a bit of humility in a graveyard. You will find a certain peace. There's a longing too.
I tend to believe that body and spirit are one. I don't really know what that means. I reflect and mirror the life and death around me.
