TAY

Day of the Dead is a festive event in Mexico

Top and middle, calaveras. Above, an elaborate altar in Puerto constructed for Day of the Dead.

THE DAY OF THE DEAD CAN be traced back in Mexico for 3,000 years. The Aztec celebration occurred throughout the month of August and corresponded with the corn harvest. After the conquest, the rituals became incorporated into the Christian All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day (November 1 and 2).

The former commemorates saints who do not have a specific day and others who have reached heaven, including children, while the latter — also known as the Day of the Faithful Departed — is for souls who have not entered paradise because they died without having atoned for their sins. In Roman Catholic churches, a Requiem Mass is celebrated on this day.

The Aztecs believed that the souls of men who died in battle — or who were sacrificed — and women who died in childbirth, found their way to the Paradise of the Sun. Victims of drowning and those sacrificed to the rain god went to the realm of the rain. Everyone else was consigned to the underworld (Mictlán), and a long and arduous voyage ending in oblivion. But no matter how you died, death was not the end of one's existence. There were certain days, however, in which the dead would return to their old homes to visit their relatives. On these days they would be greeted with great joy. Even though they were not present in body, they were felt to be entirely present in spirit.

In our time, November 2 is the day of celebrating the return of departed loved ones. Naturally, a great deal of preparation goes into this celebration and many rituals must be observed.

Day of the Dead rituals vary from place to place, but all contain certain common practices: the welcome and goodbye of the souls, the positioning of offerings for the dead, the cleaning and adorning of the tombs, the watch in the cemetery and the celebration of religious offices.

It is a time of family gatherings in which the departed are very much present and is one of the high points of the year. Far from being solemn or morbid, the Day of the Dead celebrations are highly festive in tone. They celebrate the continuity of life and strengthen the links to the past. It is a remarkable time to be in the state of Oaxaca, to marvel at the creativity and spiritual strength of its people.The festival is so integral to the culture that it has spawned a wealth of brilliant cultural expression and practices.

Calaveras are skulls, and sugar skulls are one of the Day of the Dead sweets, part of a broad culinary tradition of special foods enjoyed by the living and the departed,

Calaveras are also satiric, light verses meant to be obituaries of people still alive. Politicians are a favorite target, they are also composed for fun between friends:

The grim reaper came to town with his scythe
but he didn't know that the Sol de la Costa
keeps everyone so well advised
that not even death comes as a surprise.

Calacas are also skeletons. They are often small figures made of wood or fired clay, and they are usually dressed in colorful costumes. They are often portrayed as musicians or revelers or as people going about their daily business. Are they mementos mori or are they invitations to a feast that includes the dead? Maybe the calacas tell the spirits of the dead that we still love them and enjoy their company even if they aren't with us in the flesh.

Papel picado (punched paper) is a popular art form with roots in the country's ancient cultures. The Aztecs used the bark of wild mulberry and fig trees to make a rough paper called amatl. It was used to make flags and banners to decorate temples, streets and homes.

Today, these sheets of intricate designs depicting flowers, birds, angels, crosses, skeletons, historic figures and more are used to celebrate all major fiestas, very popular during September's Patriotic Month and with appropriate symbols they are used to adorn the household altar.

IT'S REMARKABLE just how pervasive are the celebrations for the dead in this society. Most homes and many businesses will have an altar. The family altar is built on a table, with wooden boxes to create different levels. These are covered by a white tablecloth or sheet. Attached to the front of the table are pieces of sugar cane, reeds or palm leaves that are formed into an arc, which represents the earth and the heavens and the eternal cycle of life. The arch is decorated with flowers, particularly the aromatic marigold, cempasúchitl, "the flower of the dead." Other essentials are candles, bread of the dead, a bowl of water, copal incense, and fruits, such as oranges, bananas, limes, nuts and peanuts, and especially the local crab apples known as tejocote, which are often strung on string and hung around the altar. Each of these ingredients represents one of the four elements: earth, wind, fire and water.

Dishes containing the deceased's favorite foods are also on the altar: mole, chocolate or squash cooked with brown sugar, for example. You must also place gifts of items the departed used to enjoy: alcohol, cigarettes or a special candy and the image of the saint they were devoted to.

Add the whimsical skeleton figurines and it's impossible to use too many flowers, especially cempasúchitl, marigolds, which are believed to help guide the spirits of the dead on their journey home.

THE FESTIVAL FOR THE DEAD is embraced with notable fervor in the area's indigenous communities. In many of the Afro-Mestizo towns of the Costa Chica the Devil's Dance was originally a ritual dedicated to the African god Ruja, brought to the New World by slaves during the colonial era.

The dance still begins with Ruja being summoned with respect and reverence, but the dance has evolved into an homage to the dead — which is why it is only performed during the Day of the Dead.

If you haven't had the opportunity to see this impressive performance — featuring up to a score of leather-clad, masked stomping dancers —it's sure to be featured at the Coast Festival of Dance, during the Fiestas of November in Puerto.

THE SKELETON OF THE LADY Dandy (la Calavera de la Catrina) has become an icon of the Day of the Dead. It derives from an early 20th century zinc etching by José Guadalupe Posada and was meant to satirize the lifestyles of the rich and famous of the of the pre-Revolutionary era of Porfirio Díaz.

The Catrina is now synonymous with death, but she also represents the capacity to enjoy one's life and the importance of seizing the moment. Posada, who came from a working class family, was considered more of a popular illustrator than an important artist during his lifetime. But his work influenced José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, and today he is recognized as the artist who introduced native, non-European images to modern Mexican art. He died a pauper in 1913 at age 44.

—Warren Sharpe