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Archive for October, 2019

Calaveras, calacas, catrins & catrinas

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 30, 2019| 5 Comments »

Calaveras, calacas, catrins, and catrinas, oh my!  (Click images to enlarge.)

In the city and villages, walls and windows, sitting and standing, happy and sad — they are everywhere in Oaxaca!

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Muertos, it’s only just begun

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2019| 5 Comments »

Tonight, the living began welcoming the dead with a Gran Comparsa through the streets of Oaxaca, beginning at Parque Juárez El Llano and ending at the Plaza de la Danza — the latter, almost on my doorstep! Visitors and Oaxaqueños, young and old, lined the parade route in anticipation.

With bands leading the way, catrinas in regional dress and dancers in traditional muerteada attire whirled and twirled, high-stepped and jumped, and moved and grooved their way through the streets.

Día de Muertos observances are different in the indigenous villages — the mood is more formal and each village has customs and rituals that tradition dictates must be followed. Even the dates and times the difuntos arrive to join their living families can differ. However, in both ciudad and pueblo, the goal is to bring together the living and their dead to eat, drink, and reminisce.

After the comparsa passed, I walked around the corner to Casita Colibrí. However, no sooner had I downloaded my photos, the unmistakable sound of fireworks being launched from the Plaza de la Danza called me out onto my terrace. The music and partying continued until 10:30 PM.

The celebrations have only just begun! Click HERE for the very long list of Día de Muertos cultural events in the City of Oaxaca. And, below are some of the activities happening in many of the villages outside the city. (Click on image to enlarge.)

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Lord of Lightning

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 24, 2019| 11 Comments »

On October 21, after running errands, I made a beeline to the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. As I had hoped, it was all dressed up and ready for Señor del Rayo’s day on October 23.

Pews had been removed from his chapel (last capilla on the left) to allow the faithful to process past his glass enclosed home. Many stopped to light a candle at a couple of tables placed outside his chapel for that purpose.

By the way, El Señor has a body double. The original, given it’s importance and value, remains protected in the chapel. His replica was standing in a place of honor on the Cathedral’s main altar.

If you are not from Oaxaca, you may be asking, who is El Señor del Rayo? He is a wood-carved Christ on the Cross figure that was brought from Spain in the 16th century — a gift to Oaxaca from Charles V. The image was placed in the temple of San Juan de Dios, a church with adobe walls and a straw (or possibly wood) roof. According to legend, lightning struck the church and everything was destroyed, save for this figurine. It was a miracle so momentous that the figurine became known as El Señor del Rayo (the Lord of Lightning) and was given its own chapel in Oaxaca’s newly built Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.

Like La Guelaguetza, Noche de Rabanós (Night of the Radishes), and Día de la Samaritana (Good Samaritan Day), this is an only in Oaxaca celebration and Oaxaqueños honor El Señor del Rayo with a special fervor, reverence, and pride. Thus, when I returned to the Cathedral at noon on October 23, it was standing room only — not an empty pew in sight, not even in the numerous side chapels.

Like most important festivities in Oaxaca, be they religious or secular, the Lord of Lightning’s celebration was heralded with a calenda (parade) on October 21 and concluded a little before midnight on October 23 with a castillo and fireworks — despite a several hour surprise downpour earlier in the evening. The show always goes on in Oaxaca!

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More bonita basura

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2019| 8 Comments »

The art of the trash bin in black and orange…

Full color…

Fronts, sides, and backs…

Whimsical, symbolic, and abstract…

Garbage art on the zócalo has gone forth and multiplied.

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What’s on your list?

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Food, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Located in the main entrance to the 20 de noviembre market, the mural by César Villegas González raises THE issue we should keep in the forefront of our minds when we set out to go grocery shopping.

Alimentación mortal — Food that can be deadly?

Or, Comida de los Dioses — Food of the Gods?

I choose to take a ride on the magical metate!

The mural was inaugurated in March 2019 as part of the “Vive tu Mercado 2019” program which seeks to promote the cultural and gastronomic riches found in the city’s mercados.

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Señor de Tlacolula’s day

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 14, 2019| 2 Comments »

If it’s Sunday, it must be market day in Tlacolula de Matamoros. However, yesterday wasn’t just any Sunday. The second Sunday in October marks the community’s most important feast day — honoring El Señor de Tlacolula.

Marmota at rest in the church atrium.

As with all patronal festivals, this one lasts several days. In addition to Sunday’s masses, the highlights were a calenda through the streets on Friday featuring marmotas (giant and tiny), several bands, the image of Christ, and women carrying baskets atop their heads. On Saturday night here was a castillo and fireworks.

Order of delegations for the calenda.

In the back of my mind, I knew it would be crowded, but I was amazed at how many people had already poured into Tlacolula by 9:30 AM. It was hard to navigate one’s way to the market as, besides masses of people, a carnival had been set up along the main street and a side street or two.

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Señor de Tlacolula decorations at the entrance to Templo de la Virgen de la Asunción.

The church, Templo de la Virgen de la Asunción, was teeming with an overflow crowd of the faithful listening to mass being said from the side chapel of El Señor de Tlacolula. Legend has it that when this sculpture of Jesus, being brought south by muleteers in the sixteenth century, arrived in Tlacolula for a rest stop, overnight it gained so much weight that in the morning it could no longer be lifted. A miracle! Thus it was decided a chapel should be built to house the sculpture right on the spot.

Capilla de Señor de Tlacolula, the faithful wait to touch the image.

What a chapel it is! A feast for the eyes from floor to ceiling, filled with gold and silver gilding, carved angels and saints, paintings, and mirrors. On this day, pews had been removed so worshipers could have a personal interaction with the Lord of Tlacolula. In addition, an altar and hundreds of folding chairs had been set up in the atrium for an outdoor mass.

In the atrium, the altar on a replica of the church.

The art of the fiesta has been debased almost everywhere else, but not in Mexico. There are few places in the world where it is possible to take part in a spectacle like our great religious fiestas with their violent primary colors, their bizarre costumes and dances, their fireworks and ceremonies and their inexhaustible welter of surprises: the fruit, candy, toys and other objects sold on these days in the plazas and open-air markets. Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude.

Mural on outside wall of the market.

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Garbage art

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2019| 6 Comments »

Now that the Zócalo has been cleared of street vendors…

A not so wretched refuse bin stands out.

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Black and white and blue in Tlacolula

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 6, 2019| 8 Comments »

The artistry and message of my favorite mural painting collective, the Tlacolulokos, continues to be revealed on the walls of Tlacolula de Matamoros. Today, on a brief visit, blogger buddy Chris and I stumbled on three of their masterpieces. The first one I’d previously seen and blogged about in 2017 under the title, Who tells your story. However, the second mural was new to both of us.

A blouse divided.

A broken heart — not your usual randa de aguja (needlework technique) blouse detail.

Their message, not mine.

The third mural was a couple of houses down and presents a more historic and celebratory entrance.

Spanish swords and Mitla grecas provide driveway decoration.

A headless woman woman in traditional Tlacolula costume walks toward the entrance.

Thoughts of an upcoming festival castillo, agains the backdrop of the valley’s mountains, dance in her missing head.

Her carrizo shopping basket is filled with purchases for the festival.

From the first Tlacolulokos mural I saw in 2014 to their Tokiolula mural through today, their art continues to speak to me, teach me, and inspire me to really see the people and culture around me.

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Along for the ride

Posted in Animals, Creativity, Culture, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2019| 3 Comments »

Art imitating life?

Wall in Oaxaca on Plazuela del Carmen Alto. (Art by Tupac Emiliano)

Or, life imitating art?

On Avenida Benito Juárez, Teotitlán del Valle

You decide!

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