Dia de Muertos (México)

On the 1st and 2nd of November, San Miguel de Allende and all of Mexico will be celebrating The Day of the Death (Dia de los Muertos). Specifically, 1st of November is Dia de Todos los Santos (All saints Day) to honor all the saints of the Catholic faith and those who had died in a state of grace but had not been canonized, and children, on the 1st and Dia de los Muertos (Day of All Souls), which is for all departed loved ones, on the 2nd.

It is essentially a prehispanic celebration that honors the dead but it also matches the Catholic celebration. Like many other Catholic celebrations, in ‘the New World’ it was adapted onto existing indigenous festivities to meld the "new" Catholicism with the "old" pagan beliefs. This is a Mexican and Central American celebration and it's also celebrated in some communities of the United States.

The Celebration consists of putting up an altar, decorated with perforated paper, candles, xempaxúchil flower, and with items that the dead relatives liked when they were alive, such as wine, tequila, cigarettes, food, candies and their photos so they would know it was all for them.It is said that during these nights, all the dead travel from the Land of the Death (la Tierra de los Muertos) to our world, to visit and celebrate with their relatives that are still alive. The Offering (Ofrenda) in the Altar is a tribute so they will enjoy the pleasures of living one more time.

The people of San Miguel, indeed, all of Mexico, have started preparing offerings for their departed family members, relatives, friends, as well as public figures, loved celebrities and artists. There is a lil’ bazaar being set up at the jardin near the market, which will sell offerings in various shapes and colours, that look like lil skeletons or tequila bottles. They will have offerings usually in the form of foods placed at altars at home for family.

In San Miguel de Allende, there are altars in public areas and buildings too, like the public library (Biblioteca Publica), the police station and radio station.The Mexicans are amazing. It seems like they dance to everything, even death. Death is not to be feared. Here in San Miguel de Allende, I learn that they celebrate it, even count it as a festive day. People laugh at and with death. They still hold on to the ancient traditional belief of the Aztecs that when one dies, his spirit continues to live in Mictlán, where all souls reside after leaving life on earth. It is said that Mictlán is not a dark or scary place, but one that is quiet and pleasant where souls rest before they continue on their journey to heaven or Tlalocan. In order to make this journey, the souls need food and water for sustenance, candles and or the bright yellow flowers to light the way, coins to pay the ferryman to get them across the river to Mictlan and a thorny staff to drive away the devil. Hence, the tradition of offerings of these items. There is also another version where the souls stay in Mictlán till they can come and visit their loved ones in this plane, and so the offerings and decorations are of those mentioned above, but the foods are the departed's favorite so that when their spirit come home to visit and share the banquet, they will enjoy themselves and then leave happily to heaven.

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Day of the Dead was celebrated in August and coincided with the end of the agricultural cycle of corn, squash, chickpeas and beans. Harvest from the land was a natural part of the offerings. With the coming of Catholicism, the day was to turn into an act of mourning and prayer for the dead to rest in peace. The indigenous tradition though is stronger and has been mixed in with everything and hence, Dia de los Muertos has become a carnival of smells, tastes and loves in which the living and the dead co-exist together for a day, playing together in remembrance, combining the pain of losing a loved one with the belief that the soul is whole and well, in the Land of the Dead, therefore making it a celebration full of joy and color mixed with silences at night and day wakes.Although altars vary from one place to another, there are several basic elements present in all. According to tradition, every altar must have 7 levels, which represents the 7 levels that souls must pass to finally be able to rest. The altar also needs to be swept with herbs moving towards every direction of the 4 winds a day before. A good altar has to have all the levels. The highest level being at the center of the altar, where a photo of the loved one is usually placed, yet smallest in size, and the seventh is the last and largest level which is on the ground. This part holds firewood, coal, a brazier or three stones used to make a hearth, water and a cross made of ashes or salt. The middle levels hold the loved one’s favorite foods and other items—a doll for a child or a guitar for a guitar player, for instance. Additionally, a humorous poem about famous people is added. Another popular custom is to have calaveritas made with sugar, boiled water and lemon for living friends and family or to give them. Anyways, back to the altar, each level has to be covered with a white cloth or colored paper. All colours, except black can be used. Black is not used as it represents sadness and darkness, which is not in accordance with the celebrations. The usual colours used are purple, green, yellow and orange. The 4 elements of nature has to be present at the altar: earth, represented by the foods offered; wind, represented by a light moving object such as the coloured and design-cut china paper with images of death in endless forms and shapes, placed on doors and hung from wall to wall; water, represented by a glass, vase or bottle of water for the soul to quench its thirst after and for the journey; and fire, represented by candles that serves as light against the darkness of death, to illuminate the path of the deceased so that they arrive well. The bright yellow flowers, xempaxúchil, also acts like the candles guiding the souls home and is used everywhere, in homes, at altars, in gardens as well as the Jardin Principal in San Miguel de Allende.

Another very popular tradition is the Pan de Muertos. To me, it signifies the coming of the day as it is sold everywhere during this time. Every bakery sells it, even Starbucks and complete with hot chocolate too!Among the foods often placed on altars are rice, pollo en mole (chicken in mole sauce), pozole (traditional Mexican corn soup), tamales (steamed stuffed cornmeal patties), beans, corn-on-the-cob, tortillas, coffee, fruit juice, water, traditional drinks such as atole (a creamy drink made of water sugar and rice, wheat or oat flour), tepache (a fermented pineapple drink) and pulque (fermented maguey sap) and aguardiente (sugar cane brandy), beer, cigarettes, tejocotes (a seasonal native fruit), sugar cane, peanuts and Mexican candies like charamusca, a sort of taffy, garapiñado, candy-coated peanuts, and sugar skulls.

A friend of mine, who is a local of San Miguel de Allende, actually tested the belief that the spirits that come to the banquet are said to consume the essence of the food, so if you were to taste it after the appointed time they were to visit, it would have no flavor. He tasted some of the food at the altar the very next day and found that indeed, there was no smell nor flavor to any of the foods there.Over time, more traditions were added, such as visiting cemeteries and dining on the tombs of departed family and friends. It is believed that the spirits take part in the festivities. Another custom is to bring flowers and clean the gravesite. Stories are told among family and friends, people get together to do the altars and visit. Some people even hire bands from northern Mexico or Mariachis to provide entertainment. So you see, rather than it being a sad day for the dead, Dia de los Muertos, is a very cheerful and colorful event. The Mexicans treat death with humor. For dying itself, Mexicans use playful expressions such as petatearse, estirar la pata (literally, “stretch your foot out”) and pelarse (slang for “take off”). These playful twist of words find their way into verses and sayings that make light of kicking the bucket.

For the people of San Miguel de Allende and all of Mexico, The Day of the Dead is a celebration of life.