Sociedad Mexicana y Nican-tlaca — para Restaurar lo Sagrado de la Vida.
The Mexican Tribe at ANUS.com is a data source that concerns itself with the Mexicano/Chicano and Indigenous peoples (Nican-tlaca).
El universo es una dualidad de energía. Esta es constante. No puede ser destruida. La energía únicamente cambia de forma. Algunos de los estados en los que la energía puede existir son masa o luz. La masa puede ser llamada potencial, fría, sólida, etc. A la luz puede dársele el nombre de cinética, calida, fluida. Cuando nuestros abuelos vieron estos hermosos sucesos, percibieron que todo esta relacionado a unos u otros; Y así entendieron que todo en nuestro planeta también tiene estas dualidades incluyéndonos a nosotros mismos. Pues cada partícula en nuestros cuerpos fue alguna vez parte del naciente universo. Para ellos, nosotros los humanos no éramos alguna forma de seres extraterrestres. Sino que somos parte de esta energía y movimiento: el sistema solar. A su vez, el sistema solar es una molécula de nuestra galaxia, y nuestra galaxia del universo. Nuestros ancestros llamaron a este universo creador nuestro Ometeotl. Como resultado, los miembros de la comunidad del Anahuac obedecieron los ciclos que gobiernan nuestro planeta, todos los movimientos y reverberaciones que son Ometeotl.
The Tlamatinime stated, "We know on Whom life is dependent; on Whom the perpetuation of la raza depends; by Whom begetting is determined; by Whom growth is made possible; how it is that one must invoke; how it is that one must pray." The Sacred dimension has disappeared in our urban existence, thus many of our gente have become corrupt; on a crooked path astray from reverence for the whole of our mother earth, an irreplacable gift from the Creator. If the Traditions of Mexico are to thrive again in this age, if our next Sun is to rise, then our people must restore primacy to the One on Whom life depends — Ipalnemohuani — and learn once again how it is that one must invoke and how it is that one must pray.
Día de los Muertos is also known as Fiesta de los Muertos. It is a holy day (or festival) which is celebrated in México and in some areas of the United States, especially the southwest. This holy day originates with the indigenous native pre-Hispanic peoples of México. These early people believed that the souls of the dead return each year to visit with their living relatives. When the Spaniards arrived in the early fifteen hundreds, they found well established native religions. The Aztec people held rituals that included the use of skulls. To the Aztec, skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth. The Spanish perceived the rituals to be "barbaric" and "pagan." The priests made an extreme attempt to assimilate indigenous people into the Catholic Church. Assimilation occasionally proved difficult when these people already had their own holy days.
The Aztec ritual was originally held in summer during the Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli, approximately corresponds to 24 July through 12 August. The Catholic Church moved the ritual to the beginning of November to coincide with two Catholic holidays, All Saints' Day, a Christian Feast that honors and remembers all Christian saints, kept on the first of November, and All Souls Day, the commemoration of all the faithful departed, celebrated on the second of November.
The early Spaniards merged the ritual within the two Catholic holidays, in the hopes that Día de los Muertos would disappear forever. What has happened is that the traditional native holiday has become intermixed with the Catholic tradition but still exists.
Today, in many Méxican localities the first of November is the day for remembrance of deceased infants and children, often referred to as Día de los Angelitos or day of little angels. Those who have died as adults are honored on the second of November.
The Día de los Muertos fiesta varies somewhat by region and by degree of urbanization. In rural Mexico, people visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are interred. Home altars also take a major part in the festival. It is believed that the souls of the departed are attracted to the home altars made beautiful with flowers, baked goods, candies, fruits, and religious figures. The festivals are decorated with calaveras (skulls), animated figures of calacas (skeletons), and yellow-orange zempasuchils (marigolds).
PAN DE MUERTO
The Mexican bread of the dead or Day of the Dead Bread, is an authentic Mexican tradition. It is especially used to commemorate the Day of the Dead. It is not known with certainty how this tradition started. It has been known, that amongst the Aztecs, a cake made with amaranth was placed on top of their altars.
Pan de Muertos is a traditional bread for the dead placed on the altar to offer nourishment for the departed soul.
Ingredients
5 - 6 cups of flour,
1/2 cup of sugar,
2 packets of dry yeast,
1 teaspoon of salt,
1 tablespoon of anise seed
1/2 cup of milk,
1/2 cup of water,
1/2 cup of butter,
4 eggs
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups of flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and sugar. Mix thoroughly.
In a small pan, heat the milk, water and butter nearly to a boil.
Stir the warm liquid into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended.
Mix in the eggs and add remaining flour gradually as needed until the dough is soft and not tacky
Knead the dough on a floured board about ten minutes.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl in a warm environment. Cover it to prevent drying. Near sea level, the dough should rise for about 1-1/2 hours until it has doubled in size.
Remove the dough from the bowl and press it into a circular shape, adding additional molded or sculpted shapes of bones, or a skull, to the top. Let the sculpted bread rise for an additional hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden brown.
After baking, sprinkle lightly with confectioner's sugar topped with colored sugar (which may be sprinkled on to make a design). You may also want to add a glaze (shown below), which will help hold sugar in place.
Glaze for Pan de Muertos
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange peel for zest
Directions
Mix sugar, orange juice and grated orange peel in a sauce pan. Boil two minutes.
Brush glaze lightly on bread.
Sprinkle colored sugar on fresh glaze.
SUGAR CANDY CALAVERAS
This is a great activity to do with kids, particularly if you explain the holy day to them and make a small altar in your home. The recipe takes less than an hour to prepare. You can do most of the work ahead of time, and then bring it out at the last minute. Then everyone can make their own skulls and paint them together!
2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 tablespoon of light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/3 cup of corn starch
Blue, green, red and yellow food coloring
1 fine paintbrush
Sift powdered sugar. Mix egg white, syrup and vanilla in a dry, clean bowl. Mix sugar into wet mixture gradually. Mix with fingers until the mixture forms a ball.
Sprinkle cornstarch on table or board. Put the mixture on the table and shape into smooth, manageable ball. Wrap tightly in plastic and chill until ready to use. (Mixture will keep for months.)
Use plenty of cornstarch when making skulls or other shapes. When the figures are dry, color them as you wish.
Begin the song in pleasure, singer, enjoy, give pleasure to all, even to the Life Giver.
Delight, for the Life Giver adorns us. All the flower bracelets, your flowers, are dancing. Our songs are strewn in this jewel house, this golden house. The Flower Tree grows and shakes, already it scatters. The quetzal breathes honey, the golden quéchol breathes honey.
You have transformed into a Flower Tree, you have emerged, you bend and scatter. You have appeared before Ometeotl's face as multi-colored flowers.
Live here on earth, blossom! As you move and shake, flowers fall. My flowers are eternal, my songs are forever: I raise them: I, a singer. I scatter them, I spill them, the flowers become gold: they are carried inside the golden place.
Flowers of raven, flowers you scatter, you let them fall in the house of flowers.
Ah, yes: I am happy, I prince Nezahualcoyotl, gathering jewels, wide plumes of quetzal, I contemplate the faces of jades: they are the princes! I gaze into the faces of Eagles and Jaguars, and behold the faces of jades and jewels!
Not forever on earth, only a brief time here! Even jades fracture; even gold ruptures, even quetzal plumes tear: Not forever on earth: only a brief time here!
We will pass away. I, Nezahualcoyotl, say, Enjoy! Do we really live on earth?
