When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in America in the 15th century they were appalled at the indigenous pagan practices, and in an attempt to convert the locals to Roman Catholicism moved the popular festival to the beginning of November to coincide with the Catholic All Saints Day (in which saints are honored) and All Souls Day (of observance and prayer for those who have died and those souls in purgatory). All Saints' Day is the day after Halloween, which was in turn based on the earlier pagan ritual of Samhain, the Celtic day and feast of the dead. The Spanish combined their custom of All Souls' Day with the similar Mesoamerican festival, creating the Día de lo Muertos, The Day of the Dead. This is an example of syncretism or the blending of a significant event from two different cultural traditions. Indigenous people of the Americas often would outwardly adopt the European rituals, while maintaining their original native beliefs.
The souls of children are believed to return first on November 1, with adult spirits following on November 2.
Plans for the Day of the Dead festival are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods that will be offered to the dead. During the period of October 31 and November 2 families usually clean and decorate the graves and construct simple but sincere altars. Wealthier families build elaborate altars in their homes, but most simply visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas, or offerings.
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These include wreaths of an orange marigold (also referred to as Flor de Muerto, the "flower of the dead", in Spanish, or zempoalxochitl, (twenty-flower) in Nahuatl, a term that has been carried into modern Mexican Spanish as cempazúchil), which are thought to attract the souls of the dead toward the offerings; toys, brought for dead children (los angelitos, or little angels); and bottles of tequila, mezcal, pulque or atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or the deceased's favorite candies on the grave.
Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods and beverages dedicated to the deceased as well as pillows and blankets. The ofrendsas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the deceased eat the spirit of the food, so even though they eat the food from the ofrendas after the festivity, they think it lacks nutritional value. The pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Xoxocotlán just outside of Oaxaca, people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives.
Some families do build altars or small shrines in their homes. These altars usually have the Christian cross, statues or pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pictures of deceased relatives and other persons, flowers such as marigolds, and many, many candles. Traditionally, families may spend some time around the altar telling stories about the deceased relatives as well as spend time praying.
Public schools at all levels build altars with offerings, usually omitting the religious symbols. Government offices usually have at least a small altar, as this holiday is seen as a valuable part of the Mexican heritage.
Those gifted like to write "calaveras" – short poems - mocking epitaphs of friends. This custom originated in the 18th-19th century, after a newspaper published a poem narrating a dream of a cemetery in the future, "and all of us were dead", proceeding to "read" the tombstones. Newspapers dedicate calaveras to public figures, with cartoons of skeletons in the style of José Guadalupe Posada. Theatrical presentations of Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla (1817–1893) are also traditional on this day.
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DAY OF THE DEAD OAXACA
The Day of the Dead can range from being a very important cultural event, with defined social and economic responsibilities for participants to being a religious observance featuring actual worship of the dead (e.g., as in Cuilapan, Oaxaca, an ancient capital of the Zapotec people, who venerated their ancestors and whose descendants do so to this day, an example of many traditional practices that Spanish priests pretend not to notice), to simply being a uniquely Mexican holiday characterized by special foods and confections (the case in all large Mexican cities.)
In general, the more urban the setting within Mexico the less religious and cultural importance is retained by observants, while the more rural and Indian the locality, such as Oaxaca, the greater the religious and economic import of the holiday. Because of this, this observance is usually of greater social importance in all of southern Mexico than in the northern part of the country.
• The continuity of life is clearly illumined by the love of families •
Photo by Miguel Angel Avendaño
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A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (colloquially called calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial term for "skeleton"). Also common are Sugar skulls, inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Other special foods for Día de Muertos includes pan de muerto (bread of the dead), a sweet egg bread made in many shapes, from plain rounds to skulls and rabbits often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.
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