Friday Writings #251: Halloween and Día de Muertos

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Over the next couple of days we'll be hitting two of my favorite holidays, Halloween and Día de Muertos. Sometimes people think of them as the same thing, but that's not really the case, especially if you're thinking about the modern, more mainstream version of Halloween.

Halloween today is usually associated with things that are scary or at least a bit spooky. Skeletons are just another member in the menagerie of monsters, alongside vampires, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster. 

I love indulging in spooky media this time of year. My husband and I have been watching From these last couple of weeks and I just got done reading Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher.

Literally, This is Halloween

But the skeletons on Día de Muertos is less Jack Skellington trying to scare the pants off you and a lot more like getting together with a loved one you don't see too often. The skeletons represent people who have passed on. It's meant to be a comforting celebration, honoring the connection you had in life and welcoming their spirits into your home.

This is Día de Muertos

Mexico has the most well known Día de Muertos traditions, but other Latin American countries celebrate it as well. In Peru, where my family is from, there are graveyard picnics complete with music, dancing, and a special sweet bread.

I have a lot of people I remember on this day. A close friend of my husband and I, who was best man at our wedding. A dear friend who was closer than a sister to me. My mother and father in law. I think this year, maybe I'll have a Star Trek marathon to also honor the late Walter Koenig and Sir Patrick Stewart. All of my lost loved ones enjoyed different versions of that franchise. So while it might not be a festival in a graveyard, I think they'd all appreciate it.  

This week's optional prompt will be to write about Halloween and/or Día de Muertos. I'll take fiction and non-fiction, poetry or prose. Just remember to keep your pieces to 396 words or fewer, and one post per person, please. 

Next week, we'll invite you to write about looking through glass.

Friday Writings #250: Memories and Dreams

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! October is a funny sort of month where I live. Fall is in full swing here and the slow drift of the brightly colored leaves can lull a busy mind to dance with a memory or a daydream or two. 

When the wind lifts the leaves in miniature cyclones I remember a six year old version of myself. She was sure that if she could jump right into the center of one at just the right time, she could find a way to Narnia. (That kid had a pretty wild imagination.) I think about a sixteen year old version of myself. She felt too mature for trick or treating that Halloween, because she was going on her first date (and her first kiss too). I think about a twenty-seven version of myself, long past her first kiss...welcoming her first child into the world. I think about my forty-one year old self, saying goodbye to an old friend, the best man at her wedding, as he left the world after a battle with ALS. Her first dog (the dog that had the magic power of turning a cynophobic girl into a die hard dog person) also left the world a week after that.

I'm in my fifties now and October still holds a special place in my heart with all of its wonder and bittersweetness. This October my mind often turns to the loved ones I've lost along the way. But sometimes I still try to jump into a circle of whirling leaves when I see one. Just for old time's sake.

So for this week's optional prompt, I'd like you to write about either memories or dreams (or both). I'll take poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction. But do keep your pieces to 396 words or fewer, and one post per person, please. 

Next week, we shall invite you to find inspiration in Halloween and Día de Muertos.