Las Posadas

As a small child visiting with my grandmother in Cholula, Puebla, Christmas meant Posada. Nine nights of reenacting Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. The hot wax from the little white candles we held that dripped onto our hands warmed us in the cold crisp night. It seemed to take forever to get to the house that would give the Holy Couple shelter for the night. I would be thinking about the bunuelos and champurrado instead of the spiritual significance of the ceremony. Even though my thoughts were centered on sugared pleasures when I heard

“ Entren, Santos Peregrinos ,
reciban este rincon,
no de esta pobre morada ,
si no de mi corazon”

“Enter Holy Pilgrims,
accept this dwelling;
Not of this humble house,
But of my heart .”

my own heart would fill with excitement and I would be singing at the top of my lungs. These few sentences gave me hope as a child and still give me hope as an adult. No matter if the posada was in Puebla, or East LA or Green Valley Park or in my own neighborhood with friends playing Joseph and Mary those words would illuminate me. The Prince of Peace came as a teacher, a social revolutionary, a lover. He came to the poor and down trodden of his time. He understood we are light bearers of the Divine whether we are a fisherman or a prostitute. He hoped we would open our hearts to the Divine with out limitation. I wish that for all of us in this Season of Light.

Day of Our Lady

Is she the Tonantzin ? Our precious little Earth Mother. That's what my Nana called her. She spoke to Juan Diego from Tepeyac Hill in Nahuatl

"Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear sickness nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve or be disturbed by anything!

She came to us during times of horrible genocide. My Nana believed because of her appearance she saved the Raza. She has embroidered herself on our souls no matter what we believe. I pray that she hold all of us during these times of hatred and help us to stand strong.

Angry???

It’s been a week and a few days since the election. My mental stability is better so I feel a little more capable of writing something that won’t offend most people. I admit I still have bouts of craziness and anger over what happened in our country. My soul keeps telling me that it is a golden opportunity for La Raza. My gut is still tied up in “I want to kick somebody’s ass” knots.

It is obvious that Latino voters did put up a firewall in California, Nevada and Colorado, that saved the Democratic Party from losing the Senate. Political pundits took note! Everyone on both sides is trying to figure out the strategy to get our vote for 2012. As far as I am concerned, at least in Nevada, Sen. Reid never changed his story. That was the magic. He supported the Dream Act, was against SB 1070 and for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. That was his platform from the beginning and he never wavered. Governor elects Jerry Brown personally thanked Latino voters for his victory. He knew that they had helped him immeasurably. I am reading that The Republican Party is considering their new Latino pinups Mark Rubio and Susana Martinez as Vice Presidential Candidates. I love the strategy! Supposedly we (Latinos) are so stupid that we would vote for a Latino just because they are Latino. Same strategy that Mc Cain used with Palin. Women will vote for her because she is a woman. It proved to be a bad plan.

Day of the Dead , Day of Remembrance

“Only in passing are we here on earth”
Ancient Nahuatl Poetry

A friend brought me a pot of beautiful orange marigolds about a week ago. He knows they are a favorite of mine and it was a thoughtful gift. Their smell filled my kitchen and filled me of remembrances of “Flor de Muerto” and my grandmother. Their name in Nahuatl is zempasuchil and has been associated with honoring the dead in Mexico for at least 5,000 years or longer. My grandmother said the smell helps the dead souls find their way home. When I smell them it takes me home to my grandmothers’ house in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico.

Thought for the Day on Voting: Snooze and We All Lose !

“Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand" -Bodie Thoene

Only a few weeks before the election and I have never felt so dismayed and frustrated by the political arena. I take that back, I was pretty dismayed in 1980 when Ronald Regan won the presidential election. I had been drowning my sorrows in a liberal amount of Jose Cuervo during the evening. After hearing the “landslide” results I went in my bedroom and donned a beret and came back to the party and announced I was “going underground” and promptly passed out.