Altars, special dishes, parades, candles everywhere and people dressed in makeup as if they were skulls are just some of the postcards of the Day of the Dead in Mexico, the country that somehow internationalized this curious celebration. Because to say it loud and clear, every November 1st and 2nd the dead come back to life, death “visits” life for a while and everyone – living and dead – meet again in a festival that astonishes and moves in equal measure. .
But better, start at the beginning. When does this celebration date back? From before the arrival of the Spanish to America. By then, native peoples such as the Zapotecs and the Mexica were worshiping their deceased, only after the arrival of Columbus, in 1492, these rituals were united with those of the Catholic Church and became something else, a clear example. of what is known as “syncretism”.
Before, long before all that, the native peoples of pre-Hispanic Mexico venerated their deceased ancestors in various rituals. And instead of celebrating their ancestors as they do now, which is by receiving them at home with a party and visiting them in the cemetery, they held celebrations to guide the dead to Mictlán, an equivalent of hell.
Before the burial, they surrounded the deceased with offerings: food, objects and some very special and bright flowers of a flower called cempasuchil, which is orange and serves to guide the dead person’s path to the Beyond with its light.
With the entry on the scene of Catholicism, two days in November were set as the dates on which they had to be honored: November 1 to remember the children and the 2nd to remember the adults. These two dates install a kind of “portal” between life and death and it is believed that the deceased can return to this side of the world for a while. That is precisely why it is about receiving them in the best possible way: with music, food, candles and flowers.
Visits from the Beyond
The fascinating thing about the Day of the Dead in Mexico is precisely that: the mix between death with joy and celebration, that strange crossing between two worlds that, for Western culture, are usually clearly separated. But that’s how it is: that day, with its epicenter in the Mexican capital, there are parades, altars, family gatherings and much more, as if the dead of each family deserved the best of receptions.
A curiosity is that much of what is considered an inevitable part of the celebration today does not actually date from ancient times but is something incorporated very recently into the event. For example? The skulls. Another example? The well-known Catrina (that skeleton of a woman who wears a huge hat full of flowers on her head) is a character that dates back to the 19th century. Jose Guadalupe Posada Aguilar was a very famous illustrator and caricaturist in Mexico, and is responsible for creating La Catrina, although its original name was La Garbancera, while the muralist Diego Rivera gave it the name by which it is known today. Jose died in 1913 due to alcoholism, alone and buried in a free grave, but his drawings remained immortalized.
Witches versus the Dead.
Although the two celebrations are followed in the Gregorian calendar, the Halloween party on October 31 and the Day of the Dead on November 1 and 2, they have little or nothing to do with each other. The word “Halloween” comes from the phrase “All Hallows’ Eve” which, in Scotland, was used to refer to “on the eve of the celebration of All Saints”. Furthermore, on Halloween, religious celebrations originally had a sadder and more sacred tone that was lost over time. Unlike this, Mexican holidays are more joyful and colorful. Although both dates have Christian influence, the Day of the Dead precedes the Catholic Faith, while Halloween has always been closely linked to Christianity. But, without a doubt, the big difference is in how people celebrate it: On Halloween, children dress up as monsters and go out to ask for candy (the famous trick-or-treat, sweet or trick) and its main characteristic is pumpkins with faces, while the Day of the Dead covers all people and ages, people decide to dress in specific ways, but not disguise themselves, and skulls are the most important icon. The day-to-day Halloween party is best known in the world, strongly linked to the American influence on television and cinema, where many horror films are set on that date. On the other hand, the Day of the Dead, although it has been Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 2003, is a lesser-known celebration in the world, with Latin America being the only area where it is celebrated.
From Cult to Cinema.
In 2017, Walt Disney together with Pixar released the film “Coco” in theaters around the world, based on The Day of the Dead. Miguel, the 12-year-old boy who is the protagonist, spends much of the film in the World of the Dead, trying to come back to life and fighting with his great-great-grandmother to achieve his dream of being a musician. It is one of the Disney films best received by the public in recent years and highly acclaimed by critics. It raised 5 times the initial budget, reaching 800 million dollars. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Film and Best Original Song with “Remember Me”, a very emotional song that made many shed a couple of tears. As a curious fact, Coco is the only Disney film that premiered earlier in Mexico than in the United States, coming out in the former on October 20, 2017 – a week before the Day of the Dead celebrations – while in the United States United only hit theaters on November 22.
The Day of the Dead is a beautiful celebration in all areas, it is familiar, emotional but happy and above all, it is very colorful, full of energy and good music. In the north of our country, in provinces like Jujuy or Salta, this day is celebrated almost as much as in Mexico. Perhaps, in a few years, it will expand throughout the country and in the streets it will be typical to see Catrinas and marigold flowers.
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