My wife and I got to experience some of the ceremonies here in Oaxaca,Mexico, when the elderly mother of our landlady died. The most striking part was a stunning reproduction of a Baroque religious painting that was made of colored sand on the floor of their living room. We went with her to church for nine days. Then we went with her and her many friends to the cemetery, where the colored sand that had made up the painting was ceremoniously poured over the grave.

A bit more than a year later, and every Day of the Dead since then, our landlady builds an altar, or ofrenda, in a sheltered area in our compound, where she puts out brightly colored flowers, photos of her mother and father, plus their favorite food and drink. She, like most Oaxacans, believes that the spirits of los fieles difuntos–the faithful dead–come back for a visit on the 2nd of November (the spirits of dead children–los angelitos–come on the 1st).

Here’s a story that illustrates how real these beliefs are in Oaxaca. One of our friends here is a very dignified 65 year old indigenous woman who has been selling woven goods to tourists at the zocalo–town square–since she was a little girl. She’s intelligent, educated, a good business woman, flies frequently to the U.S. to visit her children who live there, etc.

Last year, just after Day of the Dead, she appeared with a nasty burn on her forehead and face. When we asked her what happened, she explained in complete seriousness that she had been preparing a pot of mole (an incredibly rich and delicious sauce that, properly made, requires dozens of ingredients and takes days to prepare) to offer to the spirit of her mother. However, she was in a hurry and decided to leave out some of the ingredients. At that moment her long-deceased mother, properly angry, made the boiling hot sauce jump out of the bowl and burn our friend.

This year, needless to say, she took no shortcuts and emerged from Day of the Dead unscathed.

And, needless to say, we treasure these opportunities to catch glimpses into a very different culture.

On the subject, I would highly recommend Julian Barnes’s new book, Nothing to be Frightened of, which is all about how we deal with our mortality. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article3504221.ece