"When the rains started easing, Lila Downs knew that the dead were drawing near. During the months of her childhood that she spent in Oaxaca, the Mexican American vocalist remembers the feel and smell of the valley as the seasons changed, Which is very related to the offerings of the Day of the Dead, frijoles, calabaza and corn, she said in a recent video call from her home in Oaxaca."
"In recent decades the Mexican celebration of Dia de los Muertos has been widely embraced across the Bay Area, providing a comforting counterpoint to the thrills, chills and shenanigans of Halloween. It's a time when the wall between realms gets porous and the ancestors draw near. Opportunities to memorialize loved ones with ofrendas, face painting, and vividly hued orange and red marigolds provide an opportunity to acknowledge death as inextricably linked the present."
Lila Downs recalls that when rains eased in Oaxaca the dead seemed to draw near, tied to the valley's changing smells and seasonal offerings like frijoles, calabaza and corn. Downs learned about ancestors sending helpful messages while living with her Mixtec maternal grandmother. Dia de los Muertos facilitates connection between the living and the departed through ofrendas, face painting, marigolds and communal remembrance. The celebration has been widely embraced across the Bay Area as a cultural counterpoint to Halloween. While a major South Bay event was canceled after losing sponsorship, dozens of free gatherings around Nov. 1 still offer ways to mark the holiday.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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