Dia de los muertos
A celebration of our ancestors
The Mexican holy days known as Dia de los muertos, Day of the Dead, are celebrated traditionally from October 31-November 2 in memory of our loved ones who have passed this plane of existence. It’s one of my favorite times of the year just after the full harvest when energy moves further underground to prepare for colder weather.
There is a sweet, musky scent in the air from fallen leaves decomposing their sugars and carbohydrates as the autumn winds rattle them around with the last hints of goldenrod. Regardless of a pretty warm (nearly 80 degree Halloween in southern Catskills, New York ) the celebration was in full swing.
Leave the leaves
Fallen leaves are an essential gift of organic material that enriches soil and provides a sanctuary of blanketed warmth for many critters during Winter. If possible, it’s recommended to leave the leaves where they fall so those nutrients are then composted back to the Earth. The cycle of life and death continues and it’s the dead matter that feeds life.
Nature reminds us of balance, not in a stagnant way, but it ways that work with the ebbs and flows of life. A scale is not still, but gives and takes. Our ancestors remain with us even when they pass and remind us of this essential component of living. After all, they have pollinated our very existence. Let’s be grateful friends for the darker days that feed the light.
Starry skies
The bare branches on trees and shorter days invite us to look up a bit more at the celestial wonders as roots are dying back underground, leaving beneficial residues and microbes for next year’s harvest.
Everything gardens. Organisms are cellular components of ecosystems, in the same way cells make up our bodies and the celestial progressions, seasons and crop cycles inform both life and death.
The November Full Beaver Moon arriving tomorrow will be magnificent. Be sure to soak in the soft, silvery light and exhale fully when you can. We inform each other with our breath.
Darker days
The womb of gestation is dark though the sheaths of our lives persist. In yoga these are referred to as koshas: Annamaya kosha (physical, food covering), Pranamaya kosha (the energy body, vitality), Manomaya kosha (mental body), Vijnamaya kosha (wisdom body), Anandamaya kosha (bliss body).
Every body informs the other.
