Dia de los Muertos

BJ and I joined forces again in the studio for our monthly celebration.  Our October theme was Dia de los Muertos, aka the Day of the Dead.  This lively Mexican holiday is celebrated from October 31 through November 2.  It is not a Mexican version of Halloween.  Rather, it's a social holiday that originated thousands of years ago amongst the Aztec, Toltec and other indigenous peoples.  Here death is considered a natural part of living. The dead are members of the community who return to earth for a temporary visit on Dia de los Muertos.  This fun-filled holiday is celebrated with altars, festivities, special foods and more.
To kick off our celebration, Bekke told a wonderful story about a helpful ghost called La Planchada to a rapt audience.

BJ and I joined forces in the studio with a celebratory altar...

art...

Conversations about loved ones we have lost...

And Mexican hot chocolate!

 Here is a photo op of the recipe you can follow... just add milk to the Abuelita mix, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and star anise.  Yum!

To add a little Halloween flair, we also carved pumpkins and roasted seeds.
It was a wonderful day.  The altar pictured below will be up through next week if you'd like to stop by to see it or add a loved one of your own to our remembering wall.