Revealing What's Behind the Mask: Personal Stories From the All Souls Procession

Wednesday, 16 November 2011 05:37

This year's All Souls Procession took place on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011. The procession, which occurs every year, is sanctuary for all and a vehicle for personal expression. Community members are encouraged to release emotions of loss and grief in a celebration of creative energy and to rejoice in living.

This year was my first time attending the procession. I was intrigued by the different costumes, face paintings and facemasks, not to mention the number of personal altars, ancestor shrines and mobile creations. The procession truly gives the community a place to come together and release the same emotions, and bond on the same matter.

I was approached by a young man named Joseph with a fake ten thousand dollar bill. I asked him why he was handing it to me and what it was for. He responded that he was out at the procession handing out fake money to see if people would take it. If people took the money they would be asked a question about where they thought they would end up if they were to die. 

"We are just out here to see how people feel about what happens when they die and where they think they are going," he said. His message was to get people to think about whether or not they as individuals deserve to go to heaven.

"I think it will be a good eye-opening thing. What happens to us is unknown," Joseph said. "We want to take this time when people are consciously thinking about death, to also allow them to really think about what is going to happen to them when they die." 

I realized after talking to Joseph for about five minutes that he was trying to get me to read a Bible and perhaps join some kind of religious group. Either way, it was an interesting experience not only speaking with him, but noticing that people at the procession not commemorating the loss of their loved ones were pretty much there to sell something, or pass along a message.

While Joseph may have been one of many like himself, the majority of the folks out on Fourth Avenue that evening were there for a reason with deeper meaning, a meaning involving true grief and sorrow.

I met a jester named Christopher and realized that even after twelve years, the loss of a loved one is just as tough as ever. There are hard days and harder days, but the All Souls Procession is a day dedicated to that person.

Due to his father’s death, Christopher became involved with Many Mouths One Stomach, the organizing body that puts on the procession every year. It has been a long grieving process for Christopher since he lost his dad at age 14. The procession and getting involved with other people going through a similar situation has helped him heal in the best way he can. He said that he feels that by being involved, he represents the message he would place into the urn, which is anything you want to remember, honor or pass on. Christopher dresses up like a jester in honor of his dad and to represent the good of a jester. “In his magic shop he had a jester hat that I got. So I incorporate joy, fun, happiness and luck into my life, and death should be the same thing,” said Christopher.

In the video below others like Christopher explain why it is they chose to walk in the procession, and reveal their message to the public on what their hopes, offerings and wishes are for those who have passed.

Written by Kelsey Merkel You are reading Revealing What's Behind the Mask: Personal Stories From the All Souls Procession articles