Mexicans eagerly await the Day of the Dead each year. Papel picado (cut paper decorations), marigolds, chocolate and sugar skulls, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), water, salt, candles, and the favorite foods of their ancestors fill altars in homes and public spaces with the sole purpose of remembering them and welcoming them back to share with the living.
According to Mexican customs and beliefs, November 1st is for remembering deceased children and November 2nd for deceased adults. In some regions, October 28th is for commemorating those who died in accidents or tragically, and October 30th is for remembering the souls of those who died unbaptized and remain in limbo. More recently, October 28th has also been designated to remember pets.
On November 7, 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the Day of the Dead in Mexican indigenous communities an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Although many believe that the pre-Hispanic past heavily influenced the Day of the Dead tradition, this celebration is actually an example of the latent syncretism between Hispanic and pre-Hispanic cultures.
According to Fray Diego Durán, there are two Nahua rituals dedicated to the dead: Miccailhuitontli, or the Feast of the Little Dead Ones, commemorated in the ninth month, equivalent to August in the Gregorian calendar, and the Great Feast of the Dead, celebrated the following month.
Indigenous people conceived of life and death as a dialectical concept. According to Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, the ancients said that when they died, they did not perish, but rather began to live again. Death was part of a constant cycle.
They conceived of planting in the same way: a cycle in which they had to harvest the crops to sow the seeds again. They feared that during these months the crops would die, as it was a time of transition between drought and abundance. The end of the corn cycle. In most Mexican regions, this is harvest time. To continue the cycle, they sought to share the fruits of their labor with their ancestors. It was a ritual of life and death in which they presented sacrifices and offerings (usually cacao, money, wax, birds, and fruit) so that the crops would grow again.
According to sociologist and anthropologist José Eric Mendoza Luján, later, during the years of the conquest, the locals changed the dates to appear as if they were celebrating Christian traditions during the month of the dead—just as they prayed to Catholic religious figures whose churches were built on top of indigenous ceremonial temples. More than 40 Indigenous groups, comprising over six million people, maintain rituals associated with this celebration, according to data from the Ministry of Culture.
November 1st is also known as All Saints’ Day, and November 2nd as All Souls’ Day. According to historian Elsa Malvido, the celebration of All Saints’ Day was promoted by the Abbot of Cluny in the 11th century to commemorate the Maccabees. Later, the Roman Catholic Church adopted the date, and it has remained in use ever since.
During this celebration, churches and convents displayed relics, remains, and treasures to which believers offered prayers to obtain forgiveness and avoid entering hell.
In regions like Castile, Aragon, and León, foods were prepared in the shape of bones, skulls, and skeletons, and these were taken to the church where the saint was venerated. Later, in homes, the image of the deceased was placed, along with the “saint’s table,” which served as a receptacle and was adorned with sweets and bread. The purpose was for this offering to sanctify the homes. Devotees and the faithful replaced long pilgrimages to sacred sites with this ritual.
All Souls’ Day was dedicated to the souls in purgatory, who could only be released through the prayers of the faithful. Thus, November 1st and 2nd became the ideal dates to ask for forgiveness, pray, and help the deceased. This tradition arrived in the Americas with the Spanish, and to display holy objects, they had to transport these artifacts from Rome to the port of Veracruz.
Celebrating in Cemeteries
After the cholera pandemic struck Mexico in 1833, says historian Elsa Malvido, corpses had to be buried in open spaces, far from populated areas where the dead could not infect the living.
The duality and syncretism between Indigenous and Catholic traditions transformed the idea of venerating relics and praying to them into the worship of ancestors. Cemeteries became ritual sites where gatherings took place, and graves became the new relics on All Saints’ Day.
Decorations, offerings, and flowers on the tombstones mingled with the hunger of those who came to visit the dead; for after their pilgrimage, often very hungry, they ate and drank while communing with the offerings and their deceased loved ones.
With much greater fervor in the central and southern regions of the country, the Day of the Dead is a profound tradition and a significant social event. The people, in addition to encountering death, commune with the living.
source: elpais
