Happy Day of the Dead -

-or Dia de los Muertos. Delta Rae has a new music video out that is lovely and so appropos:

(aren't they awesome?)

I was hoping to be able to finish this piece (Dis de los Inocentes) by now, but alas, you just get to see it in sketch form.

Hope you were able to think some good thoughts about some of your no-longer-with-you family members today. :-)

Day of the Dead

Before we completely leave Day of the Dead and All Soul's Day celebrations behind, I thought it would be apropos to post a few applicable pictures from my venture to Italy last spring:

The churches there were filled with allusions to the dead - from skeletal sculptures on the walls to displayed reliquaries complete with bones -

-and tombs underneath the chapel floors (for some reason I really got a kick out of all the skulls and crossbones included in the church decor.)

But my *favorite* church we visited was the Chiesa Dei Morti (The Church of the Dead). (I think my mother believes me particularly morbid - she wouldn't go in. I loved it!)

In the little town of Urbania is the Church of the Dead, which displays the 'Cemetery of Mummies'. There are 18 mummified bodies which were found in 1833 when Napoleon ordered all local cemeteries be relocated out of town. In this area was a unique mold which naturally desiccated the bodies buried there, leading to spontaneous mummification. So what do you do when you find mummified remains? Put them on display, in lovely glass cases, inside your church of course!

One of the side-effects of this natural mummification was that the DNA of these bodies (also hair, fingernails, etc...) was still viable, so science has been able to test any number of things, getting a more direct view into the lives of those people hundreds of years ago. The enthusiastic guide, in partial English, told the known or projected story behind each figure's death and circumstances. If their name was known, it was written on paper in lovely calligraphy and then attached to the brow of the skull.

In the center of this glassed room hung a chandelier made of human bones. It was amazing. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries just as I was photographing it! Argh! That will have to remain a memory...