Dia De Los Muertos

Patzcuarro, Michoacan 2012

Muerte Relaxin' En La Capital

We'd been itchin' to get back to Patzcuarro, Michoacan...Pueblo Magico and the most beautiful state of all the Mexican states (at least in my opinion).  Dia De Los Muertos is the most special time of all to be here...so we coordinated with our friends Charis (human), Craig (sometimes human), Charlie (canine), Girlfriend (canine) and Dulce (falcon) to take a road trip from Lake Chapala to Pazcuarro, Michoacan for the festivities.

Craig and Brad packin'


Charlie says he's ready to go!



Dulce the falcon is ready as well

As we drove into the state of Michoacan, near the lake of Cuitzeo we happened upon the numerous cempasuchil fields...marigolds are used in the creation of altars and to adorn residences to guide the spirits home.  The fragrance and color are spectacular.

Federal Public Patzcuarro Library "Gertrudis Bocanegra"

Juan O'Gorman mural painted in the fresco technique, in the library telling the history of Michoacan
completed February 10, 1942

 



Fco. as marigold...it's hard not to get excited with so much color

Purepeche headdress/mask

 

 

Rooftop view of Patzcuarro from The Basilica Hotel

 



Brad finds the Chiapas corridor...what a treasure! 

 

 

Yum....pan dulce!

 



 Shopping for papel picado for our altar

 

 

Beautiful Mother Nature Pattern

 

 Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is sting less indeed, and as beautiful as life.

~John Muir

 

 

After a morning of exploring the main plaza, we are ready for some sustenance, so we stop at our friend's restaurant, La Surtidora, on the main plaza for a bite to eat

We are also enamored of Catrinas and ventured to Capula, the Catrina capital...Brad made a few friends along the way

More flowers destined for the cemeteries

Finally found home

 

We call these traditional Mexican dolls Julietas and see that the local artists have found 

new uses for the old toys. Creativity surrounds us.

Mural of Muerte at the 11 Patios house

Day of the Dead dulces or candies

As Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz explains in “Labyrinth of Solitude,” a Mexican mocks, caresses, sleeps with and entertains death. Paz places death among Mexicans’ favorite playthings and calls it their “most enduring love.”

 Dime cómo mueres, y te diré quién eres

 

Lovely selection of handmade, embroidered Huipiles.   The selection and quality of these works are astounding...the hard part is having to choose one.

 

Day of the Dead altar inside a 400 year old Christian church in TzinTzunTzan.  This exhibit of the melding of cultures and rituals over time is unusual

 

Capula artisan

 

Catrina festival placard

 

 

Brad finds a place to lay his hat in Patzcuarro

 

 

Altar making in 11 Patios house

 

 

Watching the town of TzinTzunTzan get dressed for the festivities

 

 

Siempre

 

There's a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out.

~Lou Reed, "Magic and Loss"

 

 

Artesania tianguis in TzinTzunTzan.  Although it was Day of the Dead week, the vendors are similar to north-of-the-border retailers....hawking Xmas wares early

 

 

Homemade spinning wheel.   The Los Angeles Eco Villagers would be proud

 

 

Everyone helps in the beautification of town

 

Caballero at 11 Patios

 

 

11 Patios callejon

 

 

Charis and friends

 

 

Happily satisfied

 

Our own Catrina

 

 

Meeting his destiny

 

 

Charis and Craig shopping in Capula

 

Young man on old bench

 

 

Requiem at the Basilica

 

On the Noche de Muertos, Nov. 1st at the Basilica de Nuestra Sra. de la Salud, Patzcuarro we were treated to Mozart's Requiem, performed beautifully by the Orquestra Sinfonica de Michoacan.  As with most cultural events in Mexico, this one was free admittance, open to anyone who wanted to drift in and listen

 

This church was built by Vasco de Quiroga over a pre-Hispanic ceremonial site to function as the Cathedral of Michoacán. Vasco de Quiroga's original project was ambitious, with five naves surrounding a cupola, but the Spanish Crown thought the project inappropriate and only one of the naves was built. The church served as the Cathedral until 1850, when that function was moved to Valladolid (now Morelia). This church was designated a basilica in 1924

 

 

Colty runs through town

 

Marigold Man

 

Venturing forth

 

Mujeres de la Gran Plaza

These women, creators and vendors of traditional weavings, gift visitors with their beauty

 

 

Ocumicho Stand

 

 Pantalones

As we ventured through the "hippy callejon" we spotted a bohemian young man wearing the most amazing embroidered pantaloons from Guatemala.  Astounded, we stared and stared at the intricate work of the fine aves/birds on the cloth.  I immediately thought of all my birder friends and wished they could see them as well....I even offered to buy the darn pants off this young man...but wise as he was, he responded with a smile and an "no estan de venta...they are not for sale"

 

 

 

"Renaissance", Arbol Mariposa

Lieve Prins, Belgium

Official 2012 Dia De Los Muertos Poster

 

People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive.   It is as though they were traveling abroad.

~Marcel Proust

 

 

Callejon

 

Just off this glorious street we found the winning entries of the annual Dia de los Muertos Folkart Festival.  The judged works had been selected for exhibition and sale and are the best, of the best that the surrounding artisan areas have to offer.  To wander through a forest of these works of art was sublime.  Below are some samples of the folk art and fine art that caught my eye

 

 

 Ocumicho clay figures

 

 

 Madre Muerte

Ceramica

 

 

 Fantasia Muerte

Barro/Clay

 

 Madre

 Gauche on papel

 

 Unknown

 

 Viejito

 

 Unknown

 

 Unknown

 

Sor Juana

Acrilico en papel

 

Brad's Treasure

 

Pajareros

Ceramica 

 

Pollero

Barro de Ocumicho

 

 Our Dia De Los Muertos home altar

 

 

 Cemetery, Noche de Muertos

TzinTzunTzan

 

 

 Cemetery, Noche de Muertos

TzinTzunTzan

 

 

Los Galleros

Barro

 

Our own Catrin

 

 

 Waiting to go out

 

 

 Diablo detail

Ocumicho, barro

 

 

 Diablo

Ocumicho, barro

 

 

 Diablo

Ocumicho, barro

 

 Charis y Craig buying dulces on Noche de Muertos

 

 

 Cemetery Entrance - TzinTzunTzan

 

 

 Huichol selling his work

 

 Self Portrait

Fco.

 

 

 Nativity

Ocumicho, barro

 

Working Mom

Ocumicho, barro

 

 

 Muerte titere/puppet

Main Plaza

 

 Viejitos Mask

Wood

 

 

Our lives are brief beyond our comprehension or our desire,  she told herself.  We drop like cottonwood leaves from trees after a single frost.  The interval between birth and death is scarcely more than a breathing space.  Tonight, in her house on a Mexican hill, Ursula Bowles listened to the five assembled in her sala and thought she heard a faint rustle of their days slipping by.  She could see now that an individual life is, in the end, nothing more than a stirring of air, a shifting of light.  No one of us, finally, can be more than that.  Even Einstein.  Even Brahms.  The widow slept.

 

~Harriet Doerr, "Consider This, Señora"