Season of the Afterlife

The Reason for the Season

It’s almost Halloween, and we’re all decorating with spooks and pumpkins, orange lights and gold and yellow garlands. We’re picking out costumes for our kids or ourselves, and indulging in candy corn, not because we like the taste, but because that’s what you do at this time of year. But for me, there’s so much more to the season of the final harvest. It’s truly all about that horror we think of as death and what lies beyond it. Last week I took five of the grandkids to see The Book of Life, an animated film. It depicted the afterlife as seen by some, as The Land of the Remembered, and as a place where families were having the most fun ever, where the parties never ended, where laughter and fun were constant, and where you could eat all the churros you want! When the story’s hero went there, he wasn’t sad, he was overjoyed. And when he came back again, his family wasn’t sad, because they knew he would return when it was his time, and they could just pick up where they left off. It has such a positive depiction of the afterlife that it can’t help but sooth children who’ve lost a family member, or even a pet!

Fiesta de la Muerta

The Day of the Dead is observed on November 1st. The living honor their beloved dead with gifts and candles and food, and mostly, with remembrances. They “feel” the presence of those loved ones, and celebrate with them the night through.