Dia de Los Muertos

La calavera tiene hambre,
¿no tiene un pancito por ahí?
no se lo acaben todo;
déjenme la mitad!
Tacos con chile.
Tacos con sal.
¡La calavera quiere cenar!
Si no me dan, no me voy.
Si me dan, ya me voy.

My skeleton is hungry,
Isn't their any bread around here?
Don't eat it all yourselves,
Leave me half!
Tacos with chili
Tacos with salt
My sekelton wants to eat!
If you don't give me anything, I wont go away.
If you do give me something, then I'll go right now!

While walking through the town center on October 31st and on November 1st and 2nd, children dressed in costumes kept running up to me and everyone else asking for candy or pesos. However, instead of using the traditional mantra of Halloween, “trick or treat!”, the children sang the Spanish version of the song written above. This song is more reminiscent of their indigenous cultural heritage and speaks more to the Mexican celebration of El Día de los Muertos, or “The Day of the Dead”.

The Day of the Dead has its origins in a pre-Hispanic indigenous festival that the Aztecs celebrated throughout the whole month of August. The festivities honored their goddess Mictecacihuatl, the guardian of the afterlife dubbed the “Lady of the Dead”. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived and colonized Mexico, they changed the dates of the festival to coincide with the Catholic holidays, All Saint´s Day (Nov. 1st) and the Feast of All Souls (Nov. 2nd), as part of their effort to Christianize the Aztecs. Today, Mexicans still celebrate the Day of the Dead on Nov. 1st and 2nd. November 1st is the “Día de los Angelitos”, or the Day of the Little Angels. On this day, they commemorate deceased infants and children. November 2nd is the Día de los Difuntos, or the “Day of the Dead” – the day they remember adults who have died. Nevertheless, the festivities of this ancient Mexican holiday begin several days before the start of November and include beautiful, culturally significant traditions that are truly impressive – especially for gringos, like me, experiencing their first Dia de los Muertos.

The signature, and perhaps most striking ritual that Mexicans observe during the Day of the Dead is the construction of ofrendas. According to ancient Aztec beliefs, the souls of the deceased return to Earth for the celebration of the Day of the Dead in order to mingle with their living friends and relatives. Ofrendas are altars that families build to honor their departed loved ones and to nourish their souls after their long journey from their afterlife. Typically, the families adorn the altar with salt, water, marigold flowers, candles, pictures, ornate tissue paper banners, candy skulls, fruit, and “pan de muerto”, or “bread of the dead”. Each of these adornments carries a special significance. The four elements of nature – earth, fire, wind, and water – are represented by the food and flowers offered, the candles, the tissue banners, and the glass of water, respectively. In addition, each of these elements also serves to welcome and rejuvenate the spirits in some way. For example, within the elements of “earth” - the candy, fruit, and bread - nourishes the souls after their journey, and the salt, they believe, purifies the souls. Furthermore, the marigold flowers are the flowers of the dead and signify friendship and everlasting love. Fire, the candles, light the way for the souls´ homecoming; and the water serves to quench their thirst. Families may also offer tequila, cigars, the favorite foods of their beloved deceased so as to honor and please their spiritual guests.

The altars may be small and modest in nature, such as the majority of those built by the families in their homes. However, some families go all out, erecting huge, elaborate, and very beautiful altars, which they proudly display in the Cuernavaca town center (the Zócalo), or in mini chapels. Other families build altars over gravesites, and many even sleep in the Panteones (cemeteries) during the holiday! Then on Nov. 1st or 2nd, they have a picnic at the gravesite with all of the food and drink they have offered to the soul. We constructed our own altar here at CCIDD in honor of departed coworkers and to commemorate the deceased family members of the current workers. As I said in the beginning of this article, also I went to the Zócalo during the festivities to see the progression of the ofrendas there. Whole families collaborated in the Zócalo to construct their altars, which, admittedly, were much more beautiful than our ofrenda at CCIDD. However, even the ofrendas in the Zócalo paled in comparison to those constructed in Ocotopec, a pueblo just outside of Cuernavaca.

On the evening of November 1st, I went with some friends to Ocotopec, which is widely known in the state for capturing the essence and the spirit of El Día de los Muertos. There, families spend weeks creating ofrendas that take up entire chapels! Large crowds (thousands of people) walk from chapel to chapel admiring the ofrendas. The ofrendas in Ocotopec often include a life-size coffin, huge flower arrangements, and a full banquet of food as an offering. As I walked from ofrenda to ofrenda, I was increasingly amazed at the extent of the festivities. How much the Mexicans love and honor their beloved deceased! I began thinking about the ways, or lack there of, that I commemorate my departed friends and family. Sure, I think about the people from my life that have passed, but I very rarely visit their gravesites, much less celebrate their deaths. In this way, it was very humbling for me to experience the Mexican Day of the Dead. I was also humbled by the generosity of the Ocotopec citizens. Not only do they share their ofrenda and their love for the person(s) for whom it was constructed, the citizens also offer each visitor something to drink and/or eat – after every ofrenda! Remember that thousands of people pass through the many ofrendas! It was truly astonishing the time and money spent by the Ocotopec families in order to ensure that everyone who visits may celebrate the life and death of their deceased. And in Mexico, the Day of the Dead is truly a celebration. It is a bright, colorful, gregarious, and joyous occasion – the reunion of the dead with the living. Here in Mexico, it is their culture to accept death as a natural part of life. For them, death does not mean utter and complete isolation of the departed from the living, and therefore death isn´t afforded such a negative connotation. In my opinion, it is a very refreshing take on death, and I feel very fortunate to have been included in the celebration.