La Calavera means The Skull – the symbol of the Mexican Catholic celebration of the Day of the Dead. El Día de los Muertos traces its origin to the Aztec culture, following that well-known tradition of the proselytizing Catholic church to absorb and layer the Catholic religious holidays with the indigenous ones – and providing so much color and interest to modern Catholic celebration. La Calavera has other meanings specific to Mexican history too – she was popularized by Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852 - 1913), a printmaker and activist who gave her a remarkable life which survives to this day.
After losing so many people in my life, I’ve come to see La Calavera as a symbol of the imperative to live – to enjoy our lives and to do all the good we can while we have the chance to do it. I was inspired by my father’s approach to his death from cancer in 1999, and some time I will post the eulogy that I wrote for him that talks about that. We had a chance to tell him that we loved him before he died – but I’ve lost people who I did not have that chance.
With La Calavera, I will record the things that I think are good, are beautiful, are right. Ideas that create love, and happiness, that give individual power to realize goodness. These may be stories about people, or about music, or words, or art, or books. I will use my friend’s first names, but not post any last names, photos, or my own name. My friends know who I am!
Thanks for listening.
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