Day of the Dead

Mexico is a beautiful and fascinating country.  The culture, tradition, family values and hospitality are truly unique.  Foreigners find it more difficult to understand 'Los Dias de Los Muertos' than any other Mexican holiday.  It is a perfect example of the complex heritage of the Mexican people.  The belief of today's Mexicans are based on the complicated, blended culture of their ancestors, Aztecs, Mayans and Spanish invaders with Catholicism.  The church decreed Nov. 1 as 'All Saints Day' to honor Saints and Martyrs and later designated Nov. 2 to honor all dead.



Wreaths are sold along every streets.

 Life in ancient Mexico was so uncertain and difficult that death was expected at every turn.  In fact revered, even welcome as a better option than struggling for survival.

 Cempazuchitl, marigolds were thought by the Aztecs to symbolize death, it is believed that the scent of the petals forms a welcome path to return to their altar or grave.

Marina, owner of Las Primaveras unpacking boxes of palms and
fresh flowers flown in from Mexico City

 
While some prefer to build an 'Ofrenda' or altar at home, the majority of the people in our area visit the grave.  Some people leave flowers and wreaths and others prepare an altar to invite the spirits to return for a few hours of laughter, tears and memories.



Pan de Los Muertos (bread of the dead)
is a sweetened bread baked in round loaves.
It is placed at the altar with a glass of water,
the necessities of life.



Sometimes a beer, like this can
of Modelo is left in place of water.

Beginning early in the day, people start
buying the wreaths (coronas) to take to
the cemetery



Adela, who works in our condo, places wreaths at the grave
of her mother and father, who were from Michoacan.  Her mother
gave birth to 11 children.  Her father had memories of Zapata's
men coming through their area during the revolution of 1910-1920. 

 

 Adela has many family, including in-laws buried in this cemetery. This cemetery is an old one and is full.  There are concerns about where they can build a new one.

This wreath is made from corn husks, a beautiful piece of art. This altar has fruit, water, bread and fresh flowers.



The family is making arrangements to
place around the perimeter of this
child's grave.

Rather than a time of mourning, it is a celebration of life and
death, when the spirits of the dearly beloved return to earth
for a fiesta.





These young girls are talking and laughing
as one applys white paint to the headstone.

 Sometimes the altar has a photo of the loved one being honored, prayer candles with purple to symbolize pain, suffering, grief and mourning, white is for hope and pink for celebration.  People in our area do not use the sugar skulls like in Michoacan.  They are made from a sugar paste, then decorated with icing.  The sugar represents the sweetness of life and the skull represents the sadness of death.

Sadly enough , some seem to be forgotten,
very rustic cross and no flowers.



This family share a meal, an important time for family to be
together.

Salvador Solomon, the tennis pro at La Punta waits at his brother's grave for his brothers so that they can share a beer with their brother, Alvaro.  Like many people here at Club Santiago, I watched these young men grow up as their father maintained the tennis courts here.  It was sad for us when Alvaro, a handsome, intelligent young man died at the age of 31.

Mexicans view death as a transition of life, a normal stage in the circle of life on earth, a progression - not an ending.

Aurelio, who worked all of his adult life inside Club Santiago as a caretaker for houses is buried here.  Like me, he loved the time of the year that the barcino trees bloomed, covering the hills with white flowers.  He asked his daughter to make sure that he had a wreath with the dried barcino flowers.  It is beautiful. 




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Many alters are decorated with paper picada
(Mexican tissue paper decorations), that take
hours to make.






Writer, Octavio Paz commented about his people's relationship with death, saying the Mexican is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it.

La Catrina (means dapper), the popular muertos image was created by Mexican artist, Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913).  It was modeled in the french style and reflects the ladies fashion of the early 1900's.

We don't see La Catrina used often in our area for day of the dead but can be found in folk art collections or decoraton in the corner of the bar.

On Day of the Dead, Mexico celebrates life in it's embrace of death.