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Day of the Dead

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For other uses, see Day of the Dead (disambiguation).
"Dia De Los Muertos" redirects here. For other uses, see Dia De Los Muertos (disambiguation).
Sugar skull given for the Day of the Dead, also made with chocolate and amaranto

The Day of the Dead is also known in Mexican culture as El Día de los Muertos. It is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and the Mexican community living around the United States and Canada. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November. The 1st of November is also called All Saints' Day, and the 2nd of November is also called All Souls' Day.

The traditional mood for this holiday is bright with emphasis on celebrating and honouring the lives of the dead. This is because they think of The Day of the Dead as the continuation of life. They believe that death is not the end, but the beginning of a new stage in life. These people are usually Christians of Native American descent whose ancestors introduced indigenous ideas of life after death.

Although this holiday is dedicated to the dead, the original festival was dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl (also known as ‘The Lady of the Dead’), but in English she is called Catrina. On the first day of the festival, the people honour dead children and infants, whereas adults who have died are honoured on the second day.

The Day of the Dead is celebrated to a lesser extent in other Latin American countries; for example, it is a public holiday in Brazil, where many Brazilians celebrate it by visiting cemeteries and churches in a form of Ancestor worship. In Spain this holiday has great festivals dedicated to it also: there are big parades, and at the end of the day respected people all gather around cemeteries and pray to their loved ones who have died. Most of the celebrants are Catholic. The holiday is also observed in the Philippines. Observance of the holiday in Mexican-American communities in the United States has become more important and widespread as the community grows both numerically and economically each generation. Similarly-themed celebrations also appear in some Asian and African cultures.

Observance in Mexico

Origins of Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead celebrations in indigenous Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous peoples such as the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Mexican, Maya, P'urhépecha, and Totonac. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2500–3000 years.[1] In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.

The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl,[2] known as the "Lady of the Dead", corresponding to the modern Catrina.

In most regions of Mexico November 1st honors deceased children and infants where as deceased adults are honored on November 2nd. This is indicated by generally referring to November 1st as "Día de los Angelitos" (Day of the Little Angels) and November second as "Día de los Difuntos" (Day of the Dead).[3]

Beliefs

Graveside ofrenda (altar) in Morelia, Mexico
Detail of an "Ofrenda" in Ciudad Universitaria, México.

Some feel that death is a special occasion, but with elements of celebration, because the soul is waking up for the first time. Plans for the festival are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the period of November 1 and November 2, families usually clean and decorate the graves.[2] Most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas, or offerings, which often include orange marigold called "cempasúchil", originally named cempoalxochitl, Nahuatl for "twenty (i.e., many) flowers", in modern Mexico this name is often replaced with the term "Flor de Muerto", Spanish for "Flower of the Dead". These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings.

Toys are brought for dead children (los angelitos, or little angels), and bottles of tequila, mezcal, pulque or atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or the deceased's favorite candies on the grave. Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto ("bread of the dead") or sugar skulls and beverages such as atole. The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased.[2] Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrenda food, so even though the celebrators eat the food after the festivity, they believe it lacks nutritional value. Pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Mixquic, Pátzcuaro and Janitzio, people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives.

Catrinas, one of the most popular figures of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico

Some families build altars or small shrines in their homes.[2] These altars usually have the Christian cross, statues or pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pictures of deceased relatives and other persons, and scores of candles. Traditionally, families spend some time around the altar praying and telling anecdotes about the deceased. In some locations, celebrants wear shells on their clothing so when they dance the dead will wake up because of the noise. Some will dress up as the deceased.

Public schools at all levels build altars with offerings, usually omitting the religious symbols. Government offices usually have at least a small altar, as this holiday is seen as important to the Mexican heritage.

Those with writing talent sometimes create short poems, called "calaveras" ("skulls"), mocking epitaphs of friends, sometimes describing interesting habits and attitudes or some funny anecdotes. This custom originated in the 18th-19th century, after a newspaper published a poem narrating a dream of a cemetery in the future, "and all of us were dead", proceeding to "read" the tombstones. Newspapers dedicate calaveras to public figures, with cartoons of skeletons in the style of José Guadalupe Posada. Theatrical presentations of Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla (1817–1893) are also traditional on this day.

Pan de muerto, traditionally eaten on the holiday

A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (colloquially called calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial term for "skeleton"), and foods such as sugar skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Sugar skulls are gifts that can be given to both the living and the dead. Other holiday foods include pan de muerto, a sweet egg bread made in various shapes, from plain rounds to skulls and rabbits often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.

Island Pacanda, Lake Patzcuaro Mexico - Dia de los Muertos


The traditions and activities that take place in celebration of the Day of the Dead are not universal and often vary from town to town. For example, in the town of Pátzcuaro on the Lago de Pátzcuaro in Michoacán the tradition is very different if the deceased is a child rather than an adult. On November 1 of the year after a child's death, the godparents set a table in the parents' home with sweets, fruits, pan de muerto, a cross, a Rosary (used to ask the Virgin Mary to pray for them) and candles. This is meant to celebrate the child’s life, in respect and appreciation for the parents. There is also dancing with colorful costumes, often with skull-shaped masks and devil masks in the plaza or garden of the town. At midnight on November 2, the people light candles and ride winged boats called mariposas (Spanish for "butterfly") to Janitzio, an island in the middle of the lake where there is a cemetery, to honor and celebrate the lives of the dead there.

In contrast, the town of Ocotepec, north of Cuernavaca in the State of Morelos opens its doors to visitors in exchange for 'veladoras' (small wax candles) to show respect for the recently dead. In return, the visitors receive tamales and 'atole'. This is only done by the owners of the house where somebody in the household has died in the previous year. Many people of the surrounding areas arrive early to eat for free and enjoy the elaborate altars set up to receive the visitors from 'Mictlán'.

In some parts of the country, children in costumes roam the streets, asking passersby for a calaverita, a small gift of money; they don't knock on people's doors.

Some people believe that possessing "dia de los muertos" items can bring good luck. Many people get tattoos or have dolls of the dead to carry with them. They also clean their houses well and cook lots of foods to set upon an altar. The foods they put are the favorites of the deceased loved one they are thinking of.

Observances outside Mexico

A Day of the Dead altar in Los Angeles pays homage to "dead" (cancelled) television shows, with traditional marigolds, sugar skulls and candles.

United States

In many U.S. communities with migrants from Mexico, Day of the Dead celebrations are held, very similar to those held in Mexico. In some of these communities, such as in Texas[4] and Arizona,[5] the celebrations tend to be mostly traditional. For example, the All Souls’ Procession has been an annual Tucson rite since 1990. It was begun by artist Susan Kay Johnson as a way to process her feelings about her father’s death. She combined elements of traditional Dia de los Muertos celebrations with those of pagan harvest festivals. The first procession had 35 participants but the 2005 process had over 7000. The parade progresses from Fourth Avenue to the downtown Tucson area, with people in masks, carrying signs honoring the dead and an urn in which people can put slips of paper with prayers on them to be burned.[6]

In other communities, interactions between Mexican traditions and American culture are resulting in celebrations in which Mexican traditions are being extended to make artistic or sometimes political statements. For example, in Los Angeles, California, the Self Help Graphics & Art Mexican-American cultural center presents an annual Day of the Dead celebration, that includes both traditional and political elements, such as altars to honor the victims of the Iraq War highlighting the high casualty rate among Latino soldiers. An updated, inter-cultural version of the Day of the Dead is also evolving at a cemetery near Hollywood.[7] There, in a mixture of Mexican traditions and Hollywood hip, conventional altars are set up side-by-side with altars to Jayne Mansfield and Johnny Ramone. Colorful native dancers and music intermix with performance artists, while sly pranksters play on traditional themes.

Similar traditional and inter-cultural updating of Mexican celebrations is occurring in San Francisco,[8] for example through the Galería de la Raza, SomArts Cultural Center, Mission Cultural Center, de Young Museum, and in Missoula, Montana, where skeletal celebrants on stilts, novelty bicycles, and skis parade through town.[9] It also occurs annually at historic Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Sponsored by Forest Hills Educational Trust and the folkloric performance group La Piñata, the Day of the Dead celebration celebrates the cycle of life and death. People bring offerings of flowers, photos, mementos, mentos, and food for their departed loved ones which they place at an elaborately and colorfully decorated altar. A program of traditional music and dance also accompanies the community event.

Europe and elsewhere

Observance of a Mexican-style Day of the Dead has spread to Europe as well. In Prague, Czech Republic, for example, local citizens celebrate the Day of the Dead with masks, candles and sugar skulls.[10] Mexican-style Day of the Dead celebrations can also be found in Wellington, New Zealand, complete with altars celebrating the deceased with flowers and gifts.[11]

Similar celebrations

Guatemala

Guatemalan celebrations of the Day of the Dead are highlighted by the construction and flying of giant kites[12] in addition to the traditional visits to gravesites of ancestors. A big event also is the consumption of fiambre that is made only for this day during the year."[13]

Brazil

The Brazilian public holiday of "Finados" (Day of the Dead) is celebrated on November 2. Similar to other Day of the Dead celebrations, people go to cemeteries and churches, with flowers, candles, and prayer. The celebration is intended to be positive, to celebrate those who are deceased.

Philippines

In the Philippines, it is called Araw ng mga Patay (Day of the Dead), Todos Los Santos or Undas (the latter two due to the fact that this holiday is celebrated on November 1, All Saints Day), designated by the Roman Catholic Church), and has more of a "family reunion" atmosphere.[14] Tombs are cleaned or repainted, candles are lit, and flowers are offered. Entire families usually camp in cemeteries, and sometimes spend a night or two near their relatives' tombs. Card games, eating, drinking, singing and dancing are common activities in the cemetery, probably to alleviate boredom. It is considered a very important holiday by many Filipinos (after Christmas and Holy Week), and additional days are normally given as special nonworking holidays (but only November 1 is a regular holiday).

Haiti

In Haiti, voodoo traditions mix with Roman Catholic Day of the Dead observances, as, for example, loud drums and music are played at all-night celebrations at cemeteries to waken Baron Samedi, the god of the dead, and his mischievous family of offspring, the Gede.

Europe

In many countries with a Roman Catholic heritage, All Saints Day and All Souls Day have long been holidays where people take the day off work, go to cemeteries with candles and flowers, and give presents to children, usually sweets and toys.[15] In Portugal and Spain, ofrendas (offerings) are made on this day. In Spain, the play Don Juan Tenorio is traditionally performed. In Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, people bring flowers to the graves of dead relatives. In Poland,[16] Slovakia,[17] Hungary,[18] Lithuania,[19] Croatia,[20] Slovenia,[21] Romania,[22] Austria and Germany, the tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives.In Tyrol, cakes are left for them on the table and the room kept warm for their comfort. In Brittany, people flock to the cemeteries at nightfall to kneel, bareheaded, at the graves of their loved ones, and to anoint the hollow of the tombstone with holy water or to pour libations of milk on it. At bedtime, the supper is left on the table for the souls.[23]

Japan

The Bon Festival (O-bon (お盆) or only Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist festival has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people from the big cities return to their home towns and visit and clean their ancestors' graves. Traditionally including a dance festival, it has existed in Japan for more than 500 years. This holiday is three days in August.

Korea

In Korea, Chuseok is a major traditional holiday, also called Hankawi (한가위,中秋节). People go where the spirits of one's ancestors are enshrined, and perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning; they visit the tombs of immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors.

China

The Qingming Festival (simplified Chinese: 清明节; traditional Chinese: 清明節; pinyin: qīng míng jié) is a traditional Chinese festival usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar. Along with Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, it is a time to tend to the graves of departed ones. In addition, in the Chinese tradition, the seventh month in the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits come out from the underworld to visit earth.

Nepal

During the Nepali holiday of Gai Jatra ("Cow Pilgrimage") every family where a family member died during the previous year makes a construction of bamboo branches, cloth, paper decorations and portraits of the deceased, called a "gai." Traditionally, a cow leads the spirits of the dead into the next land. Depending on local custom, either an actual live cow, or a construct representing a cow may be used. The festival is also a time to dress up in costume, including costumes involving political comments and satire.[24]

African cultures

In some cultures in Africa, visits to the graves of ancestors, the leaving of food and gifts, and the asking of protection serve as important parts of traditional rituals. One example of this is the ritual that occurs just before the beginning of hunting season.[25]

In fiction

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Miller, Carlos (2005). "History: Indigenous people wouldn't let 'Day of the Dead' die". Day of the Dead - Dia De Los Muertos. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  2. ^ a b c d Salvador, R. J. (2003). "What Do Mexicans Celebrate On The Day Of The Dead?". In John D. Morgan and Pittu Laungani (ed.). Death and Bereavement Around the World: Death and Bereavement in the Americas. Death, Value and Meaning Series, Vol. II. Amityville, New York: Baywood Publishing Company. pp. 75–76. ISBN 0895032325. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ Palfrey, Dale Hoyt (1995). "The Day of the Dead". Día de los Muertos Index. Access Mexico Connect. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  4. ^ Wise, Danno. "Port Isabel's Day of the Dead Celebration". Texas Travel. About.com. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  5. ^ Hedding, Judy. "Day of the Dead". Phoenix. About.com. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  6. ^ White, Erin (2006-11-05). "All Souls Procession". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  7. ^ Making a night of Day of the Dead Los Angeles Times October 18, 2006; accessed November 26, 2006.
  8. ^ See newspaper article, and see photos.
  9. ^ Photos of Missoula, Montana Day of the Dead parade.
  10. ^ Day of the Dead in Prague.
  11. ^ Day of the Dead in Wellington, New Zealand
  12. ^ Visit to cemetery in Guatemala
  13. ^ Observance in Guatemala Accessed June 11, 2007.
  14. ^ "One of the many Filipino traditions often practiced is celebrating All Saints’/Souls’ Day or Day of the Dead." Accessed Nov. 26, 2007.
  15. ^ All Saints Day celebrations in Italy
  16. ^ Polish observance Accessed June 11, 2007.
  17. ^ Slovakia observance. Accessed June 11, 2007.
  18. ^ Hungary observance. Accessed June 11, 2007.
  19. ^ Lithuanian observance. Accessed June 11, 2007
  20. ^ Croatian observance. Accessed June 11, 2007
  21. ^ Slovenian observance. Accessed November 5, 2007.
  22. ^ Romanian observance. Accessed June 11, 2007.
  23. ^ See All Saints Day, All Souls Day.
  24. ^ Nepali holiday honoring the dead. Accessed June 11, 2007
  25. ^ African ancestor ritual; Importance in many traditional religions throughout all of Africa serve as communications with ancestors

Further reading

  • Brandes, Stanley. “The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity.” Journal of American Folklore 442 (1998) : 359-80.
  • Brandes, Stanley. “Sugar, Colonialism, and Death: On the Origins of Mexico’s Day of the Dead” Comparative Studies in Sociology and History 39.2 (1997): 270-299
  • Brandes, Stanly. “Iconogaphy in Mexico’s Day of the Dead.” Ethnohistory 45.2(1998):181-218
  • Carmichael, Elizabeth. Sayer, Chloe. The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico. Great Britain: The Bath Press, 1991.
  • Conklin, Paul. “Death Takes A Holiday.” U.S. Catholic 66 (2001) : 38-41.
  • Garcia-Rivera, Alex. “Death Takes a Holiday.” U.S. Catholic 62 (1997) : 50.
  • Roy, Ann. “A Crack Between the Worlds.” Commonwealth 122 (1995) : 13-16
  • Shawn D. Haley and Curt Fukuda DAY OF THE DEAD: When Two Worlds Meet in Oaxaca, Berhahn Books, 2004.
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