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All Souls Day: Finding healing and wisdom through ritual ('Day of the Dead Traditions' video)
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Here in the United States, Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day are coming right up -- starting tomorrow. In Mexico, instead of Halloween, Mexicans celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, a day known as "Day of the Dead" or "All Souls' Day." On this very elaborate festival, families create elaborate altars in the front of their homes. Friends and communities gather together (especially on November 2nd) at the graves of loved ones to celebrate, respect, pray, and remember the deceased. This festive ritual involves decorating the graves with offerings, including marigolds, photographs, sugar skulls, their loved ones' favorite foods, toys for children who have passed, and tequila for departed adults. The children enjoy Calaveritas, candy made of sugar that carry their name in the front.All of these traditions are grief rituals to help people create an annual opportunity to remember departed loved ones and express grief about their parting, as well as appreciation for their lives. Western culture has moved away from many traditional and religious rituals; and we have fewer opportunities to celebrate, remember, and grieve. "Rituals help us to heal, to achieve wholeness after a loss," says Devorah Morris Coryell, co-founder of the Shiva Foundation. Coryell, author of Good Grief: Healing through the Shadow of Loss, has worked for more than 25 years with the dying and bereaved. She advocates performing rituals of remembrance regularly, and continuing to do so even long after the loved one has departed. Grief is woven into the fabric of our lives; "it's not something that only takes place a day or a week, or even months after a death."
We might consider creating our own personal rituals that bring special meaning to us. Coryell says that our rituals do not need to be complicated: "The simplest way to create a ritual is to think about what that person loved to do or places they loved to go, or what you loved to do with them." Then, carve out a time to do the same activity, with the intent of honoring the departed loved one while you do it. For example, if your loved one enjoyed dancing, set a date and time to go dancing. You could ask a supportive friend, or others who loved this person to join you. The most important part is to set the intent, show up, and be present to the experience that unfolds. Coryell articulates that the experience of grief and loss is central to life: "If you can't lose well, you can't live well." This reminds me of the Buddhist volunteer firefighter who once said to me: "In Buddhism, birth is the hard part. Death is easy, because we have the whole rest of our lives to prepare for it."
To our health, wealth, and infinite "letting go" and releasing! Dancing heart~~~
(Above photo credit: scrapetv.com/.../
If you're interested in Grief Pointers or Body-Mind-Spirit Tools for Healing, see Dancing Heart's website's Link Page. Also, if you enjoyed this article, you may be interested in taking a look at: Teddy Kennedy's funeral reminds us of the interconnectedness of all things Another end of an era: Senator Edward "Teddy" Kennedy dies... The genie's coming out of the bottle President Obama's health reform helping to raise awareness around end-of-life care issues Remembering Michael Jackson around the world Linda Fleming's death: An experiment in conscious dying? Wayman Tisdale died today... Or did he, really?!? How shall we deal with grief in tumultuous times? (Part 1) How shall we deal with grief in tumultuous times? (Part 2) Koko's blues soul lives on -- in more ways than one The often unspoken connection between diet and cancer/fungus Dealing with cancer in the body-mind-spirit way: Re-emerging ancient tools for healing & relaxation The magical essence of frankincense, and other essential oils (Part 1) The magical essence of frankincense, and other essential oils (Part 2) Like this article? Subscribe to Transitions & Grief Examiner and be informed of interesting articles on the subjects of transitions, grief, and body-mind-spirit healing modalities. Please click on the link above this article that says "subscribe". We will send an alert whenever a new article is published on the topic of transitions & grief. Welcome to our site and quest for spirituality and wisdom in a changing world. If you want instant notification, click on "RSS feed." Share this article! If you think someone would be interested in reading this article, click "email" above the article. Please leave us a comment: This site is evolving and we need your help -- stories and news are developed from your comments, so please help us. Or, click here to email me if you don't wish to leave a comment below.
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