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By Edmée Pardo
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In Mexico, it is said that on the night of November 1, a dimensional portal is opened so that the dead can return to the world of the living; it is on that date that the celebration of the Day of the Dead takes place. In the United States, the same happens on October 31, one night before. The word Halloween is an abbreviation of All Allows eve, the night when beings from both dimensions are welcomed. It is interesting that here an altar is set up with candles and food, and in the United States the dead (incarnated in children dressed as witches and ghosts) are given candy. From which I conclude two things: in effect, on those days there is a more viable communication between the two worlds; and the second thing is that in the afterlife there is no finger-licking food, and they have to return for it. Whether for tamales or candy, the dead visit the places where they lived, greet their loved ones, give some scares and before the portal closes, they return to the world of the majority.

The path of flowers leads them to the altar, where their photos and favorite things are placed so that they can identify without a doubt where they are welcome. They will find water to quench their thirst, light to illuminate their visit, salt and incense to purify and ward off evil spirits, papel picado to brighten the night, pan de muerto round and sugared to symbolize the cycle of life and the sweetness of the encounter, chocolate and sugar skulls to make it a festive gathering, and perhaps some handwritten clavera to read to them.

The truth is that I doubt that any of my dead need the things I decorate the altar with, but I do need to remember them and honor them as they are honored in my country. A few days before I open the box where I keep the photos and the props I use for this party, I arrange the things and sit there for a while just to remember them by candlelight with a glass of tequila or mezcal. 

For each dead person a literary calaverita should be written, with humor and mischief, about how death came for them, looking for a certain metric and rhyme. I remember that in my school there were skull contests for famous people, teachers and classmates, always thinking of very identifiable, physical and situational characteristics of people. The objective was to become familiar with the moment of death, that it was not a matter of crying, and to understand that we will all have an end sooner or later. And since this group of women and readers are not exempt from this event, here is a little skull for our community. 

La Catrina, very curious,

joined OPINION 51,

"How much do these write?

What makes them so different?"

With a pen and a lot of courage,

speak of the entire country,

of injustice, injustice, injustice, injustice, injustice

and some sincere theme.

"Ay caray!" said the skinny girl,

"These very smart women,

they won't let me wear anything,

not a pessimistic sentence!"

And with all that power,

Death had to flee,

"If opining is your pleasure,

even I won't stop them!"

✍🏻
@EdmeePardo

The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.


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