Dia De Los Muertos
Her face is one you’d never forget, and she goes by many names like La Catrina, la Flaca, la Huesuda, la Pelona (Fancy, Skinny, Bony, Baldy). No, she’s not a model! In Mexico, she’s known as La Muerte, Death.
Each year on November 1st and 2nd, Mexican society celebrates death. Festivities vary by region, but most are characterized by reunions at family burial sites, the preparation of special foods, offerings laid out for the departed on altars, and sometimes fireworks.
In most all regions November 1st is set aside for remembering deceased infants and children, referred to as angelitos (little angels) in Spanish. Deceased adults are honored on November 2nd.
Just like for our Halloween festivities, from mid-October through the first week of November Mexican markets and shops are stocked with the special items for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) as it is called in Mexico. Some items include skeletons, tissue paper cut-outs, wreaths, and crosses decorated with paper or silk flowers. There are also candles, votives, and fresh seasonal flowers for sale.
As for candy and treats, you can find skulls, coffins, and other sugar and chocolate concoctions. Sugary sweet rolls shaped like bones and dark breads molded into human-like bodies are two more examples. Some of the sugary skulls are even made with the dead relative’s name across the forehead, and then eaten by the family member. Many edibles are destined for the ofrenda de los muertos (offering to the dead).
Family members create an offering altar in honor of their deceased relatives, decorating it with tissue paper, candles, flowers, photographs of the person, candy skulls inscribed with the name of the deceased, and a selection of his or her favorite foods and beverages. The offering may also include a pack of cigarettes for after dinner for former smokers, or a selection of toys and extra sweets for deceased children.
An alter is made because the spirits of the dead are expected to visit their home and should be shown things recounting their past and journey to death. Many times a tub of water and clean towel are placed at the alter so that the visiting souls can clean up before the feast.
In setting up the altar, a designated area of the home is cleared of its normal furnishings. The arrangement often consists of a table and several overturned wooden crates placed in tiers and covered with clean linens. The offerings are then laid out in an artistic way. The smell of burning incense and the light of the numerous candles will help the departed find their way.
At the family burial site in the local cemetery, relatives clean up and decorate the relative’s grave. Families do such things as cut down weeds and paint the tombs. The graves may be decorated with a cross or wreaths made of flowers, like marigold petals. Children’s graves are decorated with brightly colored paper streamers and other festive things.
As I mentioned earlier, deaths of children are celebrated on November 1st while adults are celebrated on November 2nd. Family members gather at the cemetery for festive reunions. Some bring picnic baskets, tequila for toasting the departed, and sometimes a mariachi band plays music and sing-alongs.
Death is a topic avoided in the United States. However, the remembrance of deceased ancestors is traditional in numerous cultures around the world. Lighting candles and laying out foods and drink are common traditions. These such celebrations can be traced back to ancient Egypt when departed souls were honored during Osiris.
In Mexico, the Day of the Dead goes back to ancient civilizations. Among the Aztecs, death was considered a blessing. For example, it was a good thing to die in childbirth, battle, or as a human sacrifice. It assured the victim a desirable destination in the afterlife. The Spaniards tried to end the ritual when they arrived and attempted to convert the Mexican people to Catholicism.
However, the Aztec spirit refused to let the ritual end.
Therefore, to make the ritual more Christian, the Spaniards moved it so that it coincided with All Saints Day and All Souls Day, which are Nov. 1st and 2nd .
In Mexico City, individuals are busy in the final days of October. Merchants set up street stands, and in the cemetery, all family burial plots are elaborately adorned with an array of decor in the hope of luring departed spirits. At 2 p.m. on November 1, relatives gather at each tomb to mourn the loss of loved ones with la llorada (the weeping). Later, when darkness falls, the glow of thousands of votive candles illuminates the way for the departed. Then, at midnight, they are called home with the mournful tolling of bells. Lastly, each soul is lovingly remembered with recitations of the Rosary.
Day of the Dead festivities in villages throughout the state of Michoacan have a distinctive flavor reflecting the culture of the area’s Purepecha Indians. Like in other parts of Mexico, floral tributes, regional repast, and candlelight vigils in each local cemetery are integral to the November 1 and 2 celebrations. However, like among the Purepechas (or Tarascans, as the Spanish named them), these activities are relegated to women and children. The males commemorate the season with other rituals related to the fall harvest.
Day of the Dead rituals are held in cities and villages throughout the entire country of Mexico, and each destination has its own creative, unique way of celebrating life after death. Take a visit there sometime and experience this amazing event for yourself. You will truly be awed!
