Day of the Dead: Hollywood Forever Cemetery

I spent about 18 hours at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery yesterday for their annual Dia de los Muertos festival. I created an altar with the students from my Modern Mysticism and the Afterlife class at Otis College of Art and Design. This year, we decided to create a space-themed altar, playing with the ideas of creation, mystery and the unending potential of space exploration. We honored Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, Laika the Russian dog and Gordo the Space Chimp. We let people write messages to their dead on a paper star and paste it to our rocket which we will burn and send to wherever those wishes will go. Day of the Dead is when people go to their family’s graves, clean them and bring food, drink, favored items of the deceased, flowers, incense and welcome the folks back for the night. What I like best about it is that it brings death into the life cycle in a festive albeit emotional way and really lets a person hang with their dead loved ones. Basically, its a healthy way to celebrate someone’s life although one can also make political and social commentary with altars or create something funny, ironic or just whimsical – like one someone made to remember the dinosaurs! All around, one cool holiday.

Dia de los Muertos

Laika and Gordo - animals who went to space

Food Network Appearance – Sunday October 23rd

Heather will be appearing as a judge on the Food Network Challenge – Ghost Story Cakes Sunday October 23rd at 8 PM.  She is judging as a Folklore and Mythology expert.  Don’t miss it!

Vampires

Tonight is the season finale of True Blood.  I am a definite fan of the show and an even bigger fan of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series upon which the show is based.  As much as I adore the series it doesn’t touch much upon some of the folkloric perspectives on vamps.  Early vamps were revenants, more like a zombie or the Nosferatu figure than the fabulous Eric.  Vamps didn’t become  aristocratic, wealthy bloodsuckers until John Polidori wrote ‘The Vampyre’ in 1816.  His vamp, de Ruthven, was based upon his former employer, Lord Byron, who actually came up with the skeleton plot during a ghost story contest with his friend, romantic poet Shelley.  The early vamps were much wierder than our modern ones.  Early vamps were typically outsiders.  An outsider in life becomes one in death.  So, it was thought that loose women, those thrown out of the Church, highwaymen, thieves and murderers would become vamps after death.  There was one belief that a person who dared to be born on Christmas would go full vamp.  There were also ideas that some spoiled fruit like watermelons or pomegranites could become evil.  Even animals might go vamp post life.  So, as odd as the lovely immortals on True Blood may seem, they are downright normal compared to a blood hungry pig or rampaging tomato running around!  I look forward to the finale!

Heather Joseph-Witham, Ph.D.

Welcome to my site.  I have posted a few facts about my professional life. As always, I am available for new and exciting projects.