The Day of the Dead

The boundaries between life and death are shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends and where the other begins? Edgar Allen Poe

The end of October is universally recognised as a time to remember the departed. The Celts called it Samhain.   Halfway between solstice and the equinox they welcomed the harvest and ushered in the dark half of the year. At this time they believed the barriers between the physical and spiritual worlds were open.  Fires warded off evil spirits and they served ‘dumb suppers’ inviting their ancestors to join the feast by leaving windows open. 

Honour me not by mourning my death but by celebrating my life. anon

In Mexico the Day of the Dead is a joyous festival featuring parades of skeletons, visits to cemeteries, making sugar skulls, building shrines and preparing feasts.  The dead are welcomed by hanging colourful marigolds representing rebirth.

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. Cicero

This weekend I invite you to keep alive the memories of your loved ones. For those that love with their heart and soul, there is no separation. Rumi

PS Did you know Mexico City only started the Day of the Dead parade after the filming of James Bond’s Spectre in 2015?

What will you leave behind?

Legacy - something transmitted by or received from an ancestor  

This week is the anniversary of my father’s passing. An apt opportunity to reflect on one’s personal legacy.  We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, but to leave behind something that will.  Chuck Palahniuk

Personally, I don't want to end up simply having visited this world. Mary Oliver

For, The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.  William James
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Pericles The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. Ralph Waldo Emerson

A week after my father died a greenhouse called regarding the delivery of an order of trees. We were unaware of this order. He lived on Elm St where a few years earlier Dutch Elm disease had decimated the street of majestic centurions.  My father was donating trees to each of his neighbours.  His legacy was planting a seed of a tree under whose shade you will never sit. Hyacinthe Loyson. What will yours be?

Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you. Shannon Alder