Sacred Journey – Author Joseph Dispenza combines Festival and Spirit
October 28 – November 5, 2006                                             Request more information
Per person: $2,499*                                                                                         Details

Award-winning author Joseph Dispenza takes you on a hero’s journey during the day, which is very much connected to the symbolism of the Day of the Dead festival you will be participating in during the evening. The Day of the Dead is a time to celebrate life, death and new life – remembering those past and cherishing those still here. It one of Mexico’s biggest parties, and this will take place in a sweet little town called San Miguel.

Día de los Muertos is a way of dealing with death that predates Hispanic Mexico, so it has a rich mixture of Catholic and Indian traditions to its celebration. The two most important things to remember about this holiday is that:

1. Unlike Halloween, it is not a mockery of death
2. Unlike Halloween, it is not an occasion for fear or morbidity

Dia de los Muertos is a day set aside to remember and celebrate the lives of our dead. It teaches the young not to fear death, that death is not the end of their life, that the dead are not forgotten, and that keeps families connected to their heritage.

The Aztec version of this celebration was presided over by "Lady of the Dead" (Mictecacihuatl), and dedicated to children and the dead. In the Aztec calendar, this ritual fell roughly at the end of the month of July and the beginning of August, but it was moved by Spanish priests so that it coincided with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve (in Spanish: "Día de Todos Santos.") This was a vain effort to transform the observance from a profane to a Christian celebration.

During the celebration, the “dead” are welcomed back into a family’s home with photographs and altars and gifts, and gravesites are visited and decorated. Families have picnics at the gravesites, tell stories about the dead family members, and eat special skull shaped cakes and rich dishes prepared just for this time of year. Everywhere there are decorations of skeletons, versions of “death”, marigold flowers, and votive candles. Paths created from beloved objects – clothes, diplomas, toys, jewelry – of the dead relative are littered from the gravesite to the home to entice the soul of the loved one to return home for the festival. A sumptuous meal is prepared for the loved one at the altar for when they come home, including treats like chocolate, chicken mole, special sweet rolls, tequila, or a favorite beer, and anything else particularly enticing to that member of the family.

Departed children are remembered on the first day, “Dia de los Angelitos”, the day of the little angles. There is a feast that continues until the early hours of the evening. On the second day, there is a special supper that begins with breaking bread that has a skeleton baked into it – and if you get the piece with the skeleton, you are entitled to good luck.

This tradition has been relished in the past as uniquely Mexican. Nobel laureate Octavio Paz said, "The Mexican is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it; it is one of his toys and his most steadfast love."

Addressing the strains of revelry and macabre humor, ethnologist José del Val says, "Death is about separating the sacred from the profane. The sacred is a serious matter, but Muertos is also a festival. So this is a festival in a sacred space, and this means everything is allowed without censure."

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