Día De Muertos (sometimes also spelt as Día de los Muertos: Spanish for "Day of the Dead") is a Mexican holiday and tradition celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, honoring the memory of deceased persons. It is culturally influenced by the diverse traditions of the Indigenous populations of Mexico as well as Catholic traditions (such as All Souls' Day and All Saints' Day. It is commonly associated with other celebrations such as Halloween or the Celtic Samhain in popular culture, although in reality they're really different.
While deeply rooted in Mexico, Día de Muertos is also sometimes celebrated throughout Latin America, particularly in countries with significant indigenous populations like Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru. It is also observed in parts of Central America, northwestern Argentina, and the Andean region of South America. In recognition of its cultural importance, UNESCO declared Día de Muertos an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of Mexico in 2008. The holiday's reach extends further, with celebrations among migrant communities in places like Buenos Aires and among the Kariña people of Venezuela, with dances such as La Llorona. In Spain, Mexican immigrants continue to celebrate Día de Muertos traditions through cultural events.
Fashion[]
Día de Muertos fashion, also known as Day of the Dead fashion, is a celebration of the Mexican holiday that honors deceased loved ones. It is a time to remember and celebrate those who have passed away, and fashion plays a significant role in showcasing this cultural celebration. Traditional Día de Muertos fashion often includes vibrant and colorful clothing with intricate designs and patterns. Women may wear traditional Mexican dresses called "zarapes" or "huipiles" in bright colors such as red, purple, or yellow. These dresses are often adorned with intricate embroidery, lace, or flowers. Men may wear traditional Mexican shirts called "guayaberas" with pleated details and embroidery. Accessories are also important in Día de Muertos fashion. Women may wear flowers, such as marigolds, in their hair or as corsages. Men may wear sombreros adorned with ribbons or feathers. Skull motifs, representing the sugar skulls associated with the holiday, are also common in accessories such as necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. The makeup and face painting that accompanies Día de Muertos fashion is a key component. Many people paint their faces to resemble decorative skulls, known as "calacas" or "calaveras." These face paints often feature intricate designs with colorful flowers, hearts, and other symbols. Overall, Día de Muertos fashion is a vibrant and expressive way to honor and celebrate the loved ones who have passed away. It embraces traditional Mexican clothing and customs while incorporating modern elements and personal style.[plagiarized]
Traditions[]
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- Rhymes: Also called "literary skulls", they are actually humorous epitaphs of people still alive that consist of verses where death (personified) jokes with real-life people, alluding to some peculiar characteristics of the person in question. They end with sentences where it is stated that they will be taken to the grave. It is very common to dedicate the "calaveritas" to public figures, especially politicians in power. In many cases the rhyme speaks of the aforementioned as if they were already dead.
- Engravings: Lithographs, generally created by José Guadalupe Posada, which although he did not draw specifically for the Day of the Dead, they were caricatures with which he collaborated in different publications of the early 20th century in Mexico, and which are used on these dates for their allusions to death festive.
- Sugar skulls: These are skull-shaped sweets, generally made of fudge, chocolate, amaranth, gummy, among others. They are generally sold in the traditional markets called "Todos Santos" in addition to commercial stores, street markets, etc.
- Candy skulls: These have the name of the deceased (or in some cases of living people, in the form of a modest joke that does not particularly offend the aforementioned) written on the forehead, and are consumed by relatives or friends.
- The bread of the dead: A type of sweet bread that is baked in different shapes, from simple round shapes to skulls, adorned with bone shapes made with the same bread; sprinkled with sugar and made with aniseed, similar to the traditional huesos de santo/saint's bones in Spain.
- Flowers: during the period from November 1 to 2, families usually clean and decorate the graves with colorful flower crowns of roses and sunflowers, among others, but mainly cempasúchitl and "velvet flower", which are believed to attract and guide the souls of the dead.
- Offerings and visitings of the souls: It is believed that the souls of the children return to visit on the first of November, and that the souls of the adults return on the 2nd. In the event that the grave cannot be visited, either because the tomb of the deceased no longer exists or because the family is too far away to visit it, detailed altars are also made in the houses, where the offerings are placed, which can be plates of food, bread for the dead, glasses of water, mezcal, tequila, pulque or atole, cigars and even toys for the souls of children. All this is placed next to the portrait of the deceased, surrounded by candles.
- Portrait of the deceased: Portraits of the deceased suggests the soul(s) that will visit others on the night of November 2. This image honors the highest part of the altar. It is placed on its back and in front of it, a mirror is placed so that the deceased can only see the reflection of their relatives and they in turn see only the deceased.
- Painting/chrome of the Souls in Purgatory: The image of the souls in purgatory is used to request the departure of the soul of the deceased from purgatory in case it was found there.
- Twelve candles: although they may be less, they must be in pairs, and preferably purple, with crowns and wax flowers. The candles, especially if they are purple, are a sign of mourning. The four cross candles represent the four cardinal points, so that the soul can orient itself until it finds its way and its home.
- Cross: The cross is used in most of the altars and is a symbol introduced by the Spanish evangelizers in order to incorporate the catechism into a tradition so deeply rooted among the natives, such as the veneration of the dead, and is to remind one of their faith, since on Ash Wednesday he is told the phrase: "Remember that dust you are and to dust you will become", which reminds him that he is returning to the land from which he came. The cross goes on the upper part of the altar to one side of the image of the deceased and this can be made of salt, ash, earth or lime.
- Cucurbita moschata: A pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) occupies a privileged place both in traditional pre-Hispanic cuisine and in current Hispanic cuisine. It is part of the country's food tetralogy, along with corn, beans and chili, with which it is grown in the same milpa. Everything is used from it: stems, guides, flowers, fruits and seeds. On the altar it is prepared as a sweet, called gourd in tacha because the container used in the manufacture of sugar is called "tacho"; The pumpkin was candied in the cauldrons where the sugar was made: cooked with sugar, cinnamon, tejocotes, pieces of sugar cane or with other ingredients, according to the taste of the cook. The preparation of the gourd in tacha consists of introducing said fruit in a palm basket that is candied in the boilers where the sugar is made. This is the traditional way, since in the old machines of the mills the concentration of guarano or cane juice was made in two conical boilers, placed on a single oven (the dumbbell); one of the boilers was the porter, and the other the line. Currently it is prepared cooked in piloncillo or panela honey, formerly also called tacha to bless houses. The crystallized sweet is called calabash.
- Papel picado: the offerings are also usually decorated with papel picado, which is a Mexican craft that is made with Chinese paper cut out with figures of skeletons and skulls, this is considered a representation of the festive joy of the Day of the Dead and the wind
- Tejocote rod: with this the soul that returns to visit its relatives will make its way, for this reason the thorns should not be removed.
- Arch of cane and flowers: in some places in Mexico it is customary to make this arch, which symbolizes the transition to a life of purification and the abandonment of the earthly body
- Copal and incense: copal is a pre-Hispanic element that cleanses and purifies the energies of a place, sanctifying the environment.
- Water: water is of great importance since, among other meanings, it reflects the purity of the soul, the continuous sky of regeneration of life and crops, and in the offering it is represented with a glass full of water that serves for the spirit to quench your thirst after the journey from the world of the dead.
- Food: the traditional food is placed or the one that was liked by the deceased is placed so that the soul can enjoy it.
- Alcoholic beverages: are beverages that were to the taste of the deceased called "drinks", generally they are "little shots" of tequila, pulque, beer and/or mezcal.
- Corn: this must necessarily be in the casseroles since it is the divine plant that represents Mesoamerica. It can be in the form of tortillas, tacos, gorditas, tamales, or any other food. These must be of different colors and each color represents a different cardinal point. The red corn represents the west and the fire that is related to the fathoms of the copalero. Blue or black corn is associated with the north and represents air. White is the south, which is the land that shapes the clay of the pots. And finally the yellow corn that symbolizes the east and water. In case of not finding corn of different colors, they can be painted in the respective color.[plagiarized]
Media[]
Film[]
- Coco (2017)
- The Book Of Life (2014)
- The Big Wish (2019)
Gallery[]
