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Day of the Dead (Nov 1st and 2nd)

The Day of the Dead (Nov 1st and 2nd)

From the beginning of time, man has felt the need to explain the mystery of life and death. Many civilizations and cultures have created rituals to try and give meaning to human existence.

Where do we come from?
Why does life end?
Is there "life" after death?
If so, what kind of "life"?
Can we do something while alive so we can enjoy "life" after death?

These are some of the questions man has asked himself in order to understand our finite existence on this earth.

To the indigenous peoples of Mexico, death was considered the passage to a new life and so the deceased were buried with many of their personal objects, which they would need in the hereafter. Many times even their pets were sacrificed so they would accompany their masters on their long journey.

From pre Columbian times, El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead has been celebrated in Mexico, and other Latin countries. This is a very special ritual, since it is the day in which the living remember their departed relatives.

Sometimes, when people of other cultures hear for the first time about the celebration of the Day of the Dead, they mistakenly think it must be: gruesome, terrifying, scary, ugly and sad. Nothing further from the truth, Day of the Dead is a beautiful ritual in which Mexicans happily and lovingly remember their loved relatives that have died. Much like when someone goes to a graveyard to leave some lovely flowers on a tomb of a relative.

Mexicans celebrate their departed, with a tradition that arose from the melting of the prehispanic culture and the Cristian religion imposed by the Spaniards. This conjunction of cultures gave birth to what we know today as the Día de los Muertos Celebration.

During El Día de los Muertos, The Day of The Dead, Mexicans create beautiful Altars dedicated to the memory of their loved ones. Altars are decorated with typical Mexican Flowers such as Cempazuchitl (Tagetes erecta), which is an aromatic annual plant with yellow flowers typically used for this purpose. A picture of the person it is offered to is placed typically in the middle, along with items that were enjoyed by that person during their time on earth.

Food is also placed on the altar for the dead which are believed to come visit their loved ones on those days and so they are provided with their favorite plates to enjoy while visiting.

There are typical plates ellaborated during these dates, such as the Sugar Skulls "Calaveras" which are exactly that, skull shaped sweets made out of sugar and decorated with different colors, flowers, details and of course the name of the person to whom it is dedicated on the forehead of the skull.

El pan de Muertos, The Dead's Bread is a sort of sweet bread specifically made only during this time, and it is enjoyed both, by people and of course placed on the Altar as an offering to the loved ones that have passed.

All in all, the Día de los Muertos celebration is a celebration of joy, instead of mourning. Through time, the typical Mexican humor has made it more ellaborate, by creating artistic forms of celebration, such as the verses that are placed on Newspapers for example, dedicated to political figures, celebrities, personalities, etc, wich are still alive and these verses make fun of them as if they were already dead. It is said that all these cultural expressions show a way in which Mexicans have come to see that death is inevitable and a little humor over it makes the passage much easier!!!!