Dia de los Muertos

Who would have thought that death could be a joyous occasion? How many of us could celebrate death “New Orleans style” – with music and dancing? How many could do it “Mexican style”? See if you can…

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-history.html

More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death.

It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate.

This ritual, which maintains some of the basic Aztec principals (such as the use of skulls) and has since been merged with Catholic theology, embraces death and ‘celebrates’ it. Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives didn’t fear death and viewed it as the continuation of life. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake. Today it is celebrated in Mexico and certain parts of the United States, including the Valley.

Today, people don wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. The wooden skulls are also placed on altars that are dedicated to the dead. Sugar skulls, made with the names of the dead person on the forehead, are eaten by a relative or friend, according to Mary J. Adrade, who has written three books on the ritual.

The Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth.

The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations believed came back to visit during the month long ritual.

"The pre-Hispanic people honored duality as being dynamic," said Christina Gonzalez, senior lecturer on Hispanic issues at Arizona State University. "They didn't separate death from pain, wealth from poverty like they did in Western cultures." However, the Spaniards considered the ritual to be sacrilegious. They perceived the indigenous people to be barbaric and pagan and in their attempts to convert them to Catholicism, the Spaniards tried to kill the ritual.

But like the old Aztec spirits, the ritual refused to die. To make the ritual more Christian, the Spaniards moved it so it coincided with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (Nov. 1 and 2), which is when it is celebrated today. Previously it fell on the ninth month of the Aztec Solar Calendar, approximately the beginning of August, and was celebrated for the entire month. Festivities were presided over by the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The goddess, known as "Lady of the Dead," was believed to have died at birth, Andrade said.

In rural Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate grave sites with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to grave sites and eat the favorite food of their loved ones.

In Mesa, Arizona the ritual has evolved to include other cultures, said Zarco Guerrero, a Mesa artist. "Last year, we had Native Americans and African-Americans doing their own dances," he said. "They all want the opportunity to honor their dead."

In the United States and in Mexico's larger cities, families build altars in their homes, dedicating them to the dead. They surround these altars with flowers, food and pictures of the deceased. They light candles and place them next to the altar. "We honor them by transforming the room into an altar," Guerrero said. "We offer incense, flowers. We play their favorite music, make their favorite food."

Srta./ Morah Frumin

Spanish & Hebrew Instructor