Origins

D is for Día de los Muertos: The Day of the Dead

by Lilitu Babalon

Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is an ancient Mexican celebration which
has been much transformed through the years. In pre-Hispanic Mexico it was a
celebration of both children and the dead and has a complex history. In
contemporary Mexico, the celebrations differ widely, depending on the region
and the degree or urbanization, and despite its name, Día de los Muertos is
definitely a celebration rather than a time of mourning.

Before Christianisation, rituals celebrating the lives of dead ancestors had been
performed by Mesoamerican civilizations for at least 3,000 years. It was common
practice to keep skulls as trophies and display them during rituals to symbolize
death and rebirth. The original celebrations can be traced to many
Mesoamerican native traditions such as those held during the Aztec month of
Miccailhuitontli, ritually presided by the Lady of the Dead, Mictecacihuatl, and
dedicated to children and the dead. In the Aztec calendar, this ritual fell roughly
at the end of the Gregorian month of July and the beginning of August, but in the
post-conquest era it was moved by Spanish priests so that it coincided with the
Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve (in Spanish: Día de Todos Santos.) This was
an effort to transform the observance from a pagan to a Christian celebration.

Mexicans now celebrate Día de los Muertos during the first two days of
November rather than in the northern hemisphere summer and the modern
festivities are characterised by a combination of ancient and traditional practices
and elements of Catholicism such as crosses, pictures of saints, or figures of the
Virgin Mary being placed on altars. The souls of deceased children are believed
to arrive on November 1st, with adult spirits following the next day.

Two of the main elements of contemporary celebrations are the welcoming of the
dead back into their homes, and visiting their graves. At the cemetery, families
will decorate the grave site with flowers, and picnic and socialize with other
families gathered there. The celebrants believe that the souls of the dead are all
around them and will come back to visit. Stories are told of the dead and the
picnics are sumptuous and elaborate, and include sugary sweets in a variety of
animal and skull shapes. As well as gravesites, altars are profusely decorated
with flowers, usually marigolds and chrysanthemums and scattered with religious
amulets, offerings of food, cigarettes, cigars and alcohol.

This important social interaction by all participants, the living and the dead, is an
important social ritual which recognizes the cycle of life and death which is
human existence.

Inside the homes, families decorate altars that they feel reflect the ancestors and
will place upon them items that the deceased would find attractive. For example,
if a dead relative enjoyed playing golf, they might include golf balls and clubs, or
a figure of a golfer. They also place items that remind the living of the departed
such as photographs, items of clothing, foods they enjoyed during life, and things
they prized while still living. They hope to encourage the dead to return every
year and take part in the remembrance.

The altar also includes four main elements — earth, wind, water, and fire. Earth
is represented by a crop: Mexicans believe the souls are fed by the aroma of
food. Wind is represented by a moving object and tissue paper is commonly
used. Water is placed on the altar for the soul to quench its thirst after the long
journey to the altar. Fire is represented by a wax candle: each lit candle
represents a soul, and an extra one is placed for the forgotten soul.

The more urban the setting, the less religious and cultural importance is placed
on the celebration, while the more rural and indigenous the locality, the greater
the ritualistic and religious are the celebrations. In Mexico City, some families
simply celebrate Día de los Muertos with a family meal, while others may have
more elaborate celebrations.

On the island of Janitzio in Michoacan state, Día de los Muertos is a religious

observance featuring actual worship of the dead. Cuilapan, Oaxaca, an ancient
capital of the Zapotec people, who venerated their ancestors and whose
descendants do so to this day, is an example of a region where many traditional
practices still survive.

A practice found in the state of Oaxaca is for bread to be molded into the shape
of a body or burial wrap, and for a face to be embedded on one end of the loaf.
During the days leading up to and following the festivity, some bakeries in heavily
aboriginal communities cease producing the wide range of breads that they
typically sell so that they can focus on satisfying the demand for bread of the
dead, pan de muerto.

In southern Mexico, in the city of Puebla, it is good luck to be the one who bites
into the toy skeleton hidden by the baker in each rounded loaf. Friends and
family members give one another gifts consisting of sugar skeletons or other
items with a death motif, and the gift is more prized if the skull or skeleton is
embossed with one's own name.

In the area of Tlahuac, the small town of Mixquic holds one of the most
outstanding and emotional celebrations for the Day of the Dead. Preparation for
the festivity begins towards the end of October, when the relatives of the dead
work on the particular offerings they will give to the souls of the departed.

By the first of November, the altars at the former homes of the dead will display
images of patron saints, photographs of those in the family who have died,
flowers, fruits, pan de muerto, sugar skulls, and the favorite foods of the
treasured relatives who are now gone. A candle is lit for every soul. Then, as the
tradition teaches, when the sun passes through the zenith, all the souls return to
town and to their old homes, to which they are guided by the aroma of their
favorite dishes. To make their brief visit even more pleasant, the souls of children
are offered toys, while the elderly there is pulque or aguardiente, traditional
alcoholic beverages from the Mexican countryside.

Throughout the first two days of November, all the doors of the house remain
open, to encourage visitors from all over town to participate in the celebration
and to visit the family shrine. On the afternoon of the first, a coffin containing a
white cardboard skeleton is carried through the streets of the town. As it passes
by, women dressed in black and holding lit candles cry in sympathy. The
entourage travels the streets, asking permission to enter the homes of the
celebrants. Once inside, the casket is laid on the floor, and everyone kneels
around it to pray. After the prayer, the owner of the home gives bread or sugar
skulls as a farewell. The procession ends at the local cemetery, where a funeral
is simulated.

In Mixquic, the bells from the old Augustine Convent ring at 4pm on the second
day of November, calling for a procession to the cemetery. The people come
silently from their homes, carrying bundles of gladiolas, cempasuchil (the
traditional flower of the Day of the Dead), and candles. The men, women, and
children sweep and wash the graves, then cover them with the petals of the
flowers they carry. They light their candles, they burn copal and incense, and
pray.

By midnight of the second, all the graves are lit by hundreds of candles which
shine on the faces of those who have gathered. In the sounds of whispering and
sobbing, a link is renewed between those alive and their loved ones who have
died.

Día de los Muertos is also celebrated in the Philippines where it is called Araw
ng mga Patay. It is a somewhat more solemn affair and is seen as a time to be
with the departed. Most activities are within the cemeteries. Tombs are cleaned
and repainted, candles are lit and flowers offered. People spend a day or two at
the graveside and there is much card playing, eating, drinking, dancing and
singing.