DIA DE MUERTOS MASTERPOST
I wanted to write some vital information regarding the best celebration of the year: Día de los muertos. So, let’s start with the basics:
Syncretism or cultural appropriation?
Something that really annoys me is this nonsense “nationalism” that some people have regarding this specific celebration with catch phrases like: If you are not Mexican you can’t celebrate día de los muertos; If you have mexican roots, you shouldn´t try celebrate this day, only real mexican people from México are allowed to celebrate it. And the worst: How dare you? That’s cultural appropriation…
First of all we need to learn the difference between cultural appropriation and syncretism.
The term cultural appropriation is often wrongly use to describe how a dominant culture adopt or use some traditions, clothes or anything related to a smaller culture. For example, someone from Europe wearing a sugar skull costume/makeup for Halloween.
But, that’s not the definition of cultural appropriation, the correct use of the term should be: When a dominant culture steal or disrespect something from a smaller culture. For example when Joel Robert Poinsett decided to rename and patent the Cuetlaxóchitl plant a.k.a Poinsettia.
The main difference between the two examples being that in one hand someone is wearing a costume for fun and without malicious intention, on the other hand someone is making profit and obliterating the origin of a native and sacred plant.
The only thing that really bothers me is when someone disrespect the craft, art and traditions of a specific culture because for some of those people who make papel picado, calaveras of any material, or some other craftsmanship it’s literally their way of living.
You and me, we can buy this things and then decorate our houses and feel great about it, but for the people who made them, their art signify their income and identity as a community.
Thankfully in 2008 UNESCO declare día de los muertos as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Regarding syncretism is a more complex definition. Syncretism usually occurs when two or more different cultures “mix” their traditions, beliefs and folklore and give birth to a new culture or religion. Now, granted this situation usually involved conquest, war or domination, and while I’m not trying to excuse the violence and sometimes eradication towards native cultures; I see it as a way in which these original cultures survived an evolved into a more complex, rich and beautiful culture.
A recent event that happened to me only yesterday was that I was buying a pumpkin to carve (because I also celebrate Samhain and Halloween) and when I was returning to my home on the subway, a guy saw my pumpkin and proceeded to lecture all the people in the train of how about he was Christian and the Bible “teach” him that all of those celebrations are a thing of the Devil. This is just sad because of the wrong information he’s spreading, he’s denying his roots and because he’s offending other ways of thinking.
I get it, you are free to follow any religion you want, but you can’t go offending others believes. RESPECT the traditions and folklore and LEARN from reliable sources about it.
So, is it wrong for people without Mexican origins to celebrate día de los muertos?
No. But to celebrate día de los muertos properly there’s some information that’s crucial to know in order to respect the tradition
Disclaimer: Due the scattered and not always reliable information about the original celebrations is very difficult to pin point certain facts, therefore I will include some links to clarify certain subjects but I’ll also rely on the traditions past by generations within my family and members of my community. Aclaro que soy mexicano.
To call día de los muertos a 100% prehispanic tradition is a mistake, at least the way we celebrate it today. First of all, for all the people out there pointing and criticizing others for not being Mexican enough to celebrate día de los muertos, here’s a shocking truth:
The original día de los muertos was actually celebrated around August and the celebration lasted for a month, besides honoring the dead, the celebration was also dedicated to Mictecacíhuatl and Mictlantecuhtli Goddess and God of Mictlán (the Aztec underworld).
The main reason why the Catholic Church decided to change the month and days of celebration was to coincide to Allhallowtide. I think it’s important to acknowledge by now, that all over the world there have always been festivities throughout the year to honor our ancestors.
And just as the day and month were changed, other traditions evolved into something different and diversify across the country and regions. According to my bisabuela which was from Oaxaca, they had the tradition to celebrate día de los muertos from October 28th to November 13th (approximately) because apparently each day is for different deads to visit us; those who are infants, the adults, the animals, those who committed suicide, those who died by water, those who died in accidents and the lonely souls, etc. Now, I’m not quoting my bisabuela but I think this variation comes from the prehispanic believe of the journey to Mictlán and the different types of afterlife you’d have according to your type of death.
Actually, the whole purpose of setting the Altar or offering is to give the souls food, drink and rest from their long journey and to celebrate the time we share with them again because when we celebrate día de los muertos we are not mourning about those who left us, we are celebrating the continuation of life, life itself and that we are reuniting with our loved ones, once again.
Speaking about ofrendas, is time to set the basic elements that a día de los muertos altar needs to have, these elements can vary depending of the purpose of the offering and the different states of México, for further information, please watch this amazing video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUTWMq-47Wk
All credit to the person who created this infographic, here’s the original link: http://pikby.com/media/452048881332174918/
The layout for the altar depends a lot of the different traditions and purpose of the altar. It’s more likely that you see a pyramid type of structure that represent the different levels of Mictlán (7 to 9 levels) but there are those who choose only 3 levels for a more Catholic representation of Purgatory, Earth and on the very top, Heaven.
For the people who decide to spend the night in the graveyard, they set the altar on top of the tombs. There are also one level altars either at floor level or set up in a table (my favorite).
Earth. It’s usually represented by a plate with salt and a cross made with quicklime or ashes. The cross it’s a representation of the four cardinal points and the four elements and opposed to the image, it doesn’t have to be a catholic cross (t shape) it can be a regular and equilateral cross.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/supernovamx/30184178393/in/photostream/
Air. Represented with the famous papel picado (derived from the ancient papel Amate) due the sound and motion it makes when air passes through it. Also, the burning of the sacred copal.
Fire. Candles, a lot of candles. To light the way to the altar and then as a guide to return to the afterlife.
Water. A plate with water and a lot of glasses to alleviate the thirst of our beloved ones.
The four elements also cleanse the space of residual energies and prevents negative entities to enter the sacred space, especially copal.
The most important part to remember about the food, it’s that the offerings we put in the altar are for the dead ones, except when people set the altar inside the cemetery they share the food with their family and with their dead relatives. Of course you can make a significant amount of food and divide it in different plates and in that way share it.
The food can vary, there’s no rule about what food to offer, and I mean you don’t have to cook or buy Mexican food. We usually cook or buy the favorite meals and beverages of the ones that visit us.
In México there can’t be a proper dia de los muertos without pan de muerto. The most delicious bread of the entire year (and probably of the entire world, I’m sorry but it’s my favorite bread) specially reserved for the season.
The only way to describe the flavor is: sweet, comforting and aetheric. The origin of the pan de muerto it’s one of the most amazing examples of syncretism regarding the festivity.
The most iconic decorations of dia de los muertos, skulls and skeletons. They are present in almost all the elements of the altar but I’m referring to “sugar skulls” specifically.
The reason why I didn’t entitle this section as sugar skulls is because the skulls doesn’t necessarily have to be made of sugar, here in México we have a lot of variants made of dark chocolate, amaranth, and candy. And for the not edible type of calaveras the variety of the materials is huge: talavera, ceramic, barro, barro negro among others.
Each calavera represent a dead member of the family and usually has the name of the relative in the forehead.
Note: Another way to celebrate dia de los muertos is by giving your friends and family, alive ones, their own calaveras with their respective names.
I know it might seem somewhat morbid and perhaps in some places would be considered taboo, but keep in mind the perception of dead is very different in México.
Calaveras share a little bit of the origin with pan de muerto. In prehispanic times true skulls of the dead were used, so for the Catholic Church this was unacceptable and they decided to use the alfeñique technique to elaborate the famous sugar skulls.
I’m pretty sure the decorations are based primarily in the depiction of Miquiztli day in the Aztec calendar and the representations of the lady and lord of Mictlán, even though I don’t know any evidence that support this.
Or Marigold, this flower is essential to dia de los muertos. It is said that the color and smell guide our ancestors to the altar. It’s believed that the color have a resemblance to the sun and the warmth it provide to the “spark of life”.
Besides aesthetics, we use cempasúchil flower to form a path to the altar whether it’s in our house or in the graveyard, so the souls won’t get lost.
It’s really important to define the ancestors to whom the altar is built, for example, it’s very common for schools or cultural venues to set the altar for celebrities, scholars and important people in the Mexican culture.
And to clarify, as opposed to what the COCO movie (I really like it) showed if you don’t have a picture of a member of your family, you don’t have to worry, as long as you put their favorite food, music and beverage, they will come.
This one is a little bit odd, I have a catrina themed mirror because my bisabuela always put a mirror on the altar. I haven’t found any “reliable” source about this specific item and its meaning in the altar but some people believe the souls needs to “recognize” their spiritual form by looking at the mirror.
I don’t know if this practice has something to do with Tezcatlipoca…
In fact I found another infographic that claims the mirror needs to reflect the pictures and oppose the front of the altar so the only thing that reflect is the pictures. I can’t confirm any of these but I write it anyway in hopes that someone can clarify it.
Thought I was joking about the relationship between animals and day of the dead?
According to the story, these beautiful dogs are guides of the underworld and they will help you through your journey in the afterlife also as dogs, they are guardians.
The importance of the xoloitzcuintle in the altar is to offer guidance and protection. But make no mistake, the figure it’s not the same as the Alebrijes showed in Disney’s COCO, in fact, alebrijes has nothing to do with día de los muertos.
This is the figure I’m speaking about:
Honestly, it doesn’t need explanation.
There are a lot of items that fall in this category because of the variety of the altars:
Arcs of flowers that represent the threshold between earth and the other “realms”
Saints if you have devotion for a specific saint it can be the patreon of the altar.
Toys so the children (angelitos) that passed away can play.
White color items for the souls at limbo.
Pet’s food, toys and habitats, it doesn’t matter what species.
And that’s it for the ofrenda, but I want to write about other elements that are important in día de los muertos.
One of the most awesome perks of celebrating día de los muertos on those specific days is that it coincide with the return of the monarch butterflies. Since ancient times in some regions of México, butterflies were believed to be the souls of our beloved ancestors that return in this gorgeous form, so, all what’s left to say is that this event is beyond spectacular…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMvE2uaqhV4
If you decide to travel to Michoacán, México. Above all, protect the environment and the butterflies in every way possible, so that we can keep enjoying this gift of nature.
This is not the diminutive of calaveras (sugar skulls). The term is used to describe a literary instrument, a type of “joking poetry” to mock, laugh and reflect about different situations or characters in our society and to celebrate life and death.
For foreign eyes they might be very difficult to understand because the sense of humor is very Mexican but it’s better if I show you a (bad) example of it of my own authorship:
I write this calaverita to illustrate better the concept and while it’s true I don’t appreciate President Trump in no moment I wish his dead. This, as I explained before is for fun only.
The death was drinking in her bed when she heard the news,
That president Trump wanted to eliminate birthright citizenship,
That’s it! Death proclaim, - Donald, you don’t have a clue
So she dress and with a movement disappear with a flip.
When Donny saw the bony one, he almost shit his pants
What the hell are you doing? Death asked
Please forgive me, indulgence you must grant!
I’ll take you with me, to the land of the vast.
Now that you are dead, you’ll see we are all equals
There’s no distinction in the land of the dead
Restrictions only exist in your head and that’s no secret
See the reality for once you dickhead.
In the afterlife we meet our true self
Differences are meaningless when you reach the end
So live out your life, enjoy and others respect
Because we all end up in the same place.
The beautiful and majestic lady. The greatest invention of the sadly unknown and always genius José Guadalupe Posada, this depiction of death in my opinion is the one who revitalized and gave Día de Los Muertos its essence as we know it today. At some point the syncretism turned this image in a new “version” of the goddess of death Mictecacihuatl and it has become so important in our culture that is a must in the ofrendas.
The Catrina is the perfect example of two cultures trying to overlap each other in disregard of their origins. And while its main purpose is to be satirical, unknowingly to Jose Guadalupe Posada he nailed the true message of Día de Los Muertos; it doesn’t matter how you dress, what makeup you wear, or how you act in front of people.
And most importantly, your origin, your beliefs, your sexual orientation, your skin color, your political ideas are not limitations or reasons for other to mock or discriminate; be proud of all the things that make you, you. Because at the end of the day, in our core, we’re made of the same material, we are all just a dancing skeletons in this fiesta call life.
“La muerte es democrática, ya que a fin de cuentas, güera, morena, rica o pobre, toda la gente acaba siendo calavera” José Guadalupe Posada
“Death is democratic, because at the end, blonde, brunette, rich or poor, all the people ends up being a calavera” José Guadalupe Posada
You can reblog this post as long as you do so, respecting the source.
In no way, I’m perfect, if you see some inconsistency or some wrong data I’ll be happy to check it out and correct it, if that’s the case.
The images do not belong to me with the exception of the altar, the mirror and the xoloitzcuintle figure.
The information in the links belong to their respective authors, I just tried to compile the most complete, reliable and easiest information.
If you want to watch the newest accepted tradition of México City (thanks James Bond) here’s a link to the annual parade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QYmez1tSFI
If you are interested in knowing more about Mexican culture a couple of blogs I suggest are: @tlatollotl @neomexicanismos
Where’s my altar? That’s the only part I can share, I’m sorry but I won’t share my family pictures
