Greetings on our first day back to Standard time. The extra sleep was nice but I will miss it still being light at 6 pm. Yesterday here in California was stormy but today we woke to a beautiful sunny sky with big puffy clouds floating about. It makes me want to go outside and work in the garden, but alas, everything is still dripping wet so I must wait a few days. I picked the last of the good pomegrantes before the rain and will juice them up. I added a few to my Dia de Los Muertos altar along with the pictures of my relatives, friends, and pets that have gone beyond. It is a lovely way to remember your ancestors. I poured out some wine for them as well as water, just in case.
Yesterday at our farmers market, one of the vendors had the biggest, longest bouquets of marigolds that I have ever seen. Now I understand how you could weave those into an arch for your relatives to come visit. I am not Mexican, but I love the idea of lighting candles or battery operated ones to honor your relatives and friends who have passed on. It gives a pause to the day to think of the good times with that person. I may put out some beer tonight for our good friend who passed and loved beer. No harm in drinking it at the end of the night. Usually I don’t. I take all the rements of fruit and drink back out to the earth.
In Galacia, Spain, they drink the Quemada. That area is so interesting. Not just Santiago de Compostela, but all the areas. If you haven’t been to that part of Spain, it looks more like Ireland thanSpain. Very green, and at times foggy and damp. I visited in June around the Summer Solstice. They have very big celebrations in Spain for mid-summer. Here in Galacia, they celebrate Samhain in a similar way as this area was very connected to the Celts. The Quemada is made up of their version of grappa, made from the pomice of the spent wine crushing, into a very strong alcohol. To that they add, 7 coffee beans, lemon and/or orange peel and sugar. The drink is ignited and stirred, then shared with the people of the community. The town of A Guarda is especially interesting. It has the remnants of an ancient community called Monte de Santa Trega. I loved it there.
The town has witches hanging in the window. I didn’t know their history with Celtic culture at the time. I researched it later. To get to Monte Santa de Tegra, you have to drive up a mountain road just outside of A Guarda. You can see why they established their home here. You can see over the ocean and the land from this site.
The site had restored the roof on one of the remaining houses to give you an idea of what they were like. I highly recommend visiting this town during one of its fetes. They are quite marvellous. You will hear music from bagpipers and drummers.
We stayed at a converted convent when we were there. My windows opened out to the sea. The breakfast was one of the best we had in Spain. This community is very connected to their heritage, which reminds me of the Mexican community’s connection to Dia de Los Muertos. Lots of cultures honor their ancestors. It is a lovely practice and one I wish I grew up with here in the United States.
