Celebration of the dead - El Dia de los Muertos
A cultural celebration crossing cultural lines
David Moll
Issue date: 11/2/04 Section: News
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As Halloween draws near, the hordes of demons, witches and goblins come forth in dogged pursuit of bite-size candy bars. In this Anglo-Saxon tradition, death is seen as the termination of life. Halloween takes on this dark perspective and embraces morbidity.
The Mexican festivity, El Dia de los Muertos, takes a different tack altogether. It is a custom that demonstrates love and respect for one's ancestors. The event celebrates the continuation of life, family relationships and community after death. It is not a morbid occasion, but rather a festive time. And while this celebration that has transformed through the years, it is a holiday with a complex history, and the nuances vary quite a bit by region.
The original celebration can be traced to the Aztec traditions dedicated to remembering children and the dead. The ritual originally took place between late July and the beginning of August. About 500 years ago, Spanish priests moved the date so that it coincided with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve - from which comes the traditional "western" Halloween.
As a key part of embracing mortality, the festivities are celebrated by welcoming their dead back into their homes and by visiting the graves of close kin. At the cemetery, gravesites are spruced up by family members, decorating them with flowers before enjoying a picnic at the gravesite. The meals prepared for these picnics are sumptuous and steeped in tradition.
In this setting, the principle of mortality takes on an entirely different context. It is believed that the souls of the dead return to this world during the festivities, and that death does not mean the cessation of life. Because of the warm social environment, the vibrant decorations and the abundance of food, drink and good company, this commemoration of the dead takes on a celebratory note, in spite of the implicit fatalism.
In the home, families create altars commemorated to their departed loved ones. These altars are decorated with items that they believe are beautiful and attractive to the souls of their departed ones. These include offerings of flowers and food, but also things that will remind the living of the departed - photographs, their diploma or articles of clothing - and the things that the deceased prized and enjoyed while they lived. This is intended to entice the dead and assure that their souls return to take part in the remembrance.
The Mexican festivity, El Dia de los Muertos, takes a different tack altogether. It is a custom that demonstrates love and respect for one's ancestors. The event celebrates the continuation of life, family relationships and community after death. It is not a morbid occasion, but rather a festive time. And while this celebration that has transformed through the years, it is a holiday with a complex history, and the nuances vary quite a bit by region.
The original celebration can be traced to the Aztec traditions dedicated to remembering children and the dead. The ritual originally took place between late July and the beginning of August. About 500 years ago, Spanish priests moved the date so that it coincided with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve - from which comes the traditional "western" Halloween.
As a key part of embracing mortality, the festivities are celebrated by welcoming their dead back into their homes and by visiting the graves of close kin. At the cemetery, gravesites are spruced up by family members, decorating them with flowers before enjoying a picnic at the gravesite. The meals prepared for these picnics are sumptuous and steeped in tradition.
In this setting, the principle of mortality takes on an entirely different context. It is believed that the souls of the dead return to this world during the festivities, and that death does not mean the cessation of life. Because of the warm social environment, the vibrant decorations and the abundance of food, drink and good company, this commemoration of the dead takes on a celebratory note, in spite of the implicit fatalism.
In the home, families create altars commemorated to their departed loved ones. These altars are decorated with items that they believe are beautiful and attractive to the souls of their departed ones. These include offerings of flowers and food, but also things that will remind the living of the departed - photographs, their diploma or articles of clothing - and the things that the deceased prized and enjoyed while they lived. This is intended to entice the dead and assure that their souls return to take part in the remembrance.