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Dia de Los Muertos… The Mexican Day of the Dead
by Linda Neil
Hispanic people in the United States and Mexico have an important annual observance, beginning on the last day of October. Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, has considerable religious significance and predates the conquest of Mexico by Hernado Cortez.
The festive period begins on the night of October 31 and continues
through All Saints Day and All Souls Day, celebrated November 1st and
2nd respectively. On the night of October 31st, in rituals that recall
the ancestors worship of their Indian forefathers, many Mexican
families erect altars to the dead in their homes. Included in these
altars are ofrendas, offerings of the favorite foods and drinks of the
departed, to be enjoyed by their spirits when they return to visit
their loved ones. The altar is laden with bright orange marigolds (the
zempoalxochitl, flower of the dead) and lighted with a multitude of
candles. Traditionally, the altar is lighted on the 31st to await the
arrival of the dead children, los angelitos. At twilight on November
1st until dawn of the 2nd, the altar is again lighted and this time
the vigil is for the departed adults.
A happy time of communion with death
This is a time of happy communion with the dead, not a time of sorrow. Nobel Prize winner, Octavio Paz, in his essay, “The Labyrinth of Solitude” explores the Mexican fascination with the duality of life and death.
“Our
relations with death are intimate”, Paz writes, “more intimate perhaps
than those of any other people.” He further described this almost
ghoulish celebration as an escape from the difficulties of every day
existence – not only the poverty, but also a kind of blackness in the
soul which perhaps has its roots in the joining of two antagonistic
groups, the Indian and the Spanish. Whatever the reason, this Mexican
fiesta is a full-blooded affair, colorful, highly emotional and it
lasts for days.
On Dia de Los Angelitos, “Day of the little Angels”, the souls of the little children are said to return home. They find an abundance of candies, cookies, milk and honey and other favorite foods awaiting them. Nearby toys are placed fro them to play with after they finish eating.
The following night, November 1st, is for the returning adult souls. They are greeted with more abundant fare; turkey with mole (chocolate and chile sauce), chayote a potato like vegetable and pan de muertos, bread shaped in the forms of skulls and skeletons.
Additionally, tequila, pulque, or other local fermented drink is available in abundance.
Friends and family usually celebrate both nights, often talking with the departed ones in a very convincing manner. They rarely partake of the food prepared for the spirits, but later give it to friends or less fortunate neighbors. In rural Mexico it is not uncommon for the local curandero ( healer or wise man) to say a mass for the recent dead. This is followed by great amounts of tequila, tamales for the living, and a night of dancing, song and bonfires.
On the Island of Janitzio in Michoacan
The most colorful celebration in Mexico is probably on the Island of Janitzio, in the middle of Lake Patzcuaro high in the mountains between Guadalajara and Mexico.
As night falls the lights of thousands of candles are seen in the hands of the Tarascan Indians as they make their way to the cemetery. The women, wearing heavy black pleated skirts, embroidered aprons and blouses, their black braids adorned with yarn and ribbons carry offrendas (offerings) of elaborately formed bread, to the graveyard where they will sit by graves of their loved ones to await the souls who travel through the pines and over the lake to visit with them. Sounds of violins and guitars drift across the waters to the mainland with melodies of ancient times.
Early on the morning of November 1st, the Tarascan men climb into
their dugout canoes and paddle out on the lake in search of wild duck.
They circle around the ducks and hurl harpoon-like weapons, called
atlatl, at the ducks. When this long bamboo spear, a prized weapon for
the Indians since 2000 B.C. hits its mark it stands upright in the
water. The ducks are prepared in spicy sauces on open fires throughout
the village and feasted upon by all.
Death in the marketplace.
For weeks before the celebration, death is marked in the stores and on the streets in Mexico in the form of tiny skulls of spun sugar, elaborately decorated sugar skeletons and many coffins of candy. Children are eager to have death’s head masks and amuse themselves with toy funeral processions and miniature altars made of wood or clay.
Death is also the theme of the Calaveras (literally skulls, or skeletons) which are mock obituaries or satirical versus appearing in local newspapers at this time of the year.
The verses and writings often spoof politicians and film stars and may touch on matters that cannot be otherwise discussed.
Life depends on Death
While the Spaniards arriving in the new world brought with them the Catholic All Saints’ and All Souls days, the Indians they found in the Americas already believed that life depended on death. The Mayans, who believed man sprung from the corn plant carved corn plants into the tombstones. The corn plant is the Mayan symbol of life and fertility.
The Aztecs believed that the god Quetzalcoatl poured his blood over the bones of his ancestors gathered from Mictlan, “home of the dead.”, to begin the human race.
Glimpses of the festivities can be found in towns and cities throughout the United States where there is a Mexican population. In Mexico, the most colorful celebrations are found in the states of Michoacan and Oaxaca. However the visitor has only to visit the cemetery in any small village on November 1st to find it adorned with bright gold flowers, candle was and the remnants of a feast prepared for a departed soul.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Linda Neil, lover of rural Mexico, maintains homes in Uruapan, Michoacan and La Paz, Baja California Sur. The former is less than an hour’s drive from Lake Patzcuarao and the Island of Janitzio. Linda is the founder of The Settlement Company and Linda Neil Properties. She is a real estate broker and writes articles on real estate. She is in demand on both sides of the border, as a speaker. Linda is one of authors of a new real estate course “Doing Business in Mexico.”
For further information and references, please contact Linda Neil.
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Author Linda Neil is a partner in Linda Neil Properties and founder of The Settlement Company, the first escrow company in Mexico, which is dedicated to processing the trusts and title transfers of Mexican real estate for foreign buyers and sellers for properties located ANYWHERE in Mexico. Ms. Neil is also licensed as a Real Estate Broker in California, is an Accredited Buyer Representative through NAR, and has over thirty five years of hands on experience in all aspects of Mexican real estate. She holds membership in AMPI, NAR and FIABCI and PROFECO Certificate 00063/96