PURRING - Altar to ZeZe and Galen (Day of the Dead) @ Altar Show (2023)
Channel: leal
Date: 2023-10-28

"PURRING" Video walk-through of one of 40 altars at The Altar Show 2023, Grass Valley, Ca
---------------------------
Purring
poem by Coleman Barks
The internet says science is not sure
how cats purr, probably
a vibration of the whole larynx,
unlike what we do when we talk.

Less likely, a blood vessel
moving across the chest wall.

As a child I tried to make every cat I met
purr. That was one of the early miracles,
the stroking to perfection.

Here is something I have never heard:
a feline purrs in two conditions,
when deeply content and when
mortally wounded, to calm themselves,
readying for the death-opening.
T
he low frequency evidently helps
to strengthen bones and heal
damaged organs.

Say poetry is a human purr,
vessel mooring in the chest,
a closed-mouthed refuge, the feel
of a glide through dying.

One winter morning on a sunny chair,
inside this only body,
a far-off inboard motorboat
sings the empty room, urrrrrrrhhhh
u rrrrrrrh h h h h
u rrrrrrrh h h h

---------------------------
About the Altar Show
The first “Altar Show in Nevada County” took place in 1997, inspired by the Sacramento art show, “Altares del Mundo.” Based on Indo-Hispanic “Dia de los Muertos” traditions, artists created beautiful altars to honor beloved people who had passed on. The show was so powerful for both altaristas and viewers that it has become an annual event with up to sixty altars.

The altars have evolved to include contemporary three-dimensional art with diverse topics, techniques, and media, as well as memorials in the historic tradition.

Each show also includes a “community altar”, where visitors may participate by leaving personal notes, photos and mementos. The show does not charge admission but tax-deductible contributions are welcome as the show is self-supporting.

Join us to celebrate and reaffirm the human experience. We hope you discover in our altars, as we do when we create them, a sense of healing, solace, joy, insight, relief, refreshment, renewal – perhaps even truth.
-----------------------------
The Day of the Dead (Spanish: el Día de Muertos or el Día de los Muertos)[2][3] is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality.[4][5][6] It is widely observed in Mexico, where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. Although related to the simultaneous Christian remembrances for Hallowtide,[1] it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning.[7] Some argue that there are Indigenous Mexican or ancient Aztec influences that account for the custom, and it has become a way to remember those forbearers of Mexican culture. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.  The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional pan de muerto with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as calaveras literarias.
- Wikipedia