In the process of life, where there is birth there will be death. And although life is impermanent, the moral and emotional essence of being which is the soul lives on.
The actual form of afterlife remains one of the many mysteries in the world, but in most formal belief systems the ultimate destination is attainment of the presence of God. Everyone has a life story and everyone has motivation for the choices he’s made, but almost universally everyone wants to be remembered after he dies by the people among whom he lived.
By indulging in reminiscence, the living gain a sense of personal continuity, are encouraged to earn an honorable legacy and reminded to offer prayers for the dead.
Bereavement rituals
Rituals for remembering and celebrating life and death have existed since man began to live communally. By sharing common traditions, the bereaved find comfort through the support of others with much the same life experiences .
The indigenous Aztec/Mexica/Zapotec people of Mexico believed life and death were connected, so the deceased were buried with their significant items to give them comfort on their journey through the underworld.
Pre-Christian Celts recognized that winter could bring starvation and hypothermia, so on Hallomas they celebrated the end of harvest season.
Oct. 31 was also thought to be the devil’s birthday and the very time during which the veil between the living and the spirits of the dead was its thinnest, so Druids disguised themselves with costumes as protection against roaming evil spirits who had successfully penetrated it and returned home for the evening.
Praying for the dead is part of Judaic culture and a Christian obligation. In 760 A.D., Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel at St. Peter’s Basilica to all of the Christian martyrs and decreed Nov. 1 to be All Saints’ Day and the time on which to honor those in heaven.
Nov. 2 evolved as All Souls’ Day after St. Odilo, the early 11th-century abbot of the French monastery at Cluny, decreed that to be the date on which all of the Benedictines in the monasteries of Cluniac Reform would annually commemorate all of the deceased faithful and pray for the release of souls from purgatory.
Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebrations in Mexico evolved as the religious practices of Mesoamerica’s indigenous people fused with the Christian rituals introduced by the 16th-century Spanish conquistadors.
It is the time during which the souls of deceased loved family members and friends are invited to live again and return to their earthly family homes for a visit. Day of the Dead customs vary from town to town, but the southwestern state of Oaxaca has to be one of the more engaging places in which to experience this national holiday.
Lying at the convergence of two mountain ranges with a large temperate central valley, Oaxaca is so beautiful that lead conquistador Hernan Cortes was given the area as his reward for conquering the Aztec Empire and claiming Mexico for Spain.
In this region, 58 percent of the current population are direct descendants of the indigenous Mixtec and Zapotec peoples and they keep their cultural heritage alive by passing their rituals, traditions and spiritual ties to their ancestral lands from one generation to another.
Widespread traditions
Common to all celebrations of the Day of the Dead throughout Mexico are the creation in private homes of altars stocked with offerings (ofrendas), cleaning and decorating of deceased loved ones’ graves with flowers and candles, all night graveside vigils, storytelling, and making and exchanging special foods such as sugar skulls and sweet breads.
In Oaxaco City, prayers and a Mass for the lonely and the marginalized are offered on Oct. 30. By All Hallows’ Eve, children have helped their elders collect necessary items from the city market and prepare their home for the return of the dead.
In private houses, an altar is set on a table draped with a white cloth, and photos of the deceased are carefully displayed. Stalks of sugarcane (carrizo) are woven into the shape of a triumphant arch that symbolizes the entrance to heaven and attached to the table. Draped above the altar is diaphanous fabric (cielo) to represent the sky or heaven.
Colorful pierced tissue paper banners (papel picado) with calligraphic messages to be carried by the wind are draped across altars’ table tops. Because it’s believed the spirits of the dead will arrive back on earth hungry and thirsty, heaping platters of fresh regional fruits, favorite traditional treats like sugar coated egg bread (pan de yema) or bread decorated with powdered sugar bones or images of the Virgin Mary (pan de muerto) and savory chocolate sauced dishes (mole negro) are cooked using the most premium ingredients a family can afford.
Gourds filled with alcohol and the souls’ favorite beverages are placed on the altar. A small dish of salt representing the continuance of life is placed next to a small dish of water which will used to purify and cleanse.
The returning spirits, of course, haven’t bodies so they can’t consume the food, but they’ll gain nourishment from absorbing the aromas and energy of the delicacies. Shallow boxes representing tombs are put out next to religious symbols.
Sugar skulls (calaveras de azucar) inscribed with the names of the honored dead on the foreheads, emblematic of the Mesoamerican practice of keeping skulls as trophies displayed during festivals to represent death and rebirth, are prominently displayed and gifted or exchanged with visitors.
Miniature reproductions of skeleton figures (calacas) dressed in representative occupational clothing and posed going about in daily activities are also featured. Marigolds (cempasuchiles), considered by the Mesoamericans as flowers of death, and candles infused with copal resin incense are final additions to the altar.
Nights of remembrance
All night vigils at Oxocotlan Cemetery are also an integral tradition.
Families in Oaxaca regularly visit relatives’ graves on significant occasions such as dates of birth, confirmation, marriage, and death and tend to all necessary maintenance because their upkeep isn’t an included municipal service, but in preparation for Day of the Dead celebrations entire families come to the cemetery to do thorough cleanings.
Graves are then embellished with elaborately
crafted sand tapestries that depict the religious image for whom the deceased had special devotion, flowers, photos and favorite mementos. Candles and incense are burned to help guide the spirits.
For some families, day time is a time for resting and reflecting while the night is for remembrance and celebration, so the graveyard picnics and social interaction are part of Oaxaca’s mortuary customs that promote strong senses of love and respect of ancestors and community solidarity.
All Hallows’ Eve
Although the Day of the Dead is an intensely personal holiday, it is also a time for vibrant public celebrations.
On the morning of All Hallows’ Eve, school children dressed in costumes and wearing elaborate face painting congregate with their parents and parade around Oaxaca’s main square (zocalo) on their way to school.
While some commercial character costumes like devils and witches are seen, most popular among children are visually imaginative national costumes in traditional colors and elaborate face painting to resemble calaveras. Animal costumes are also popular because the ancient Aztecs believed that when each person was born, he received a nagual or animal companion as his soul partner throughout life.
Color is used in all of the Day of the Dead traditions to communicate mood and meaning, with purple used to acknowledge grief and loss of loved one; pink to represent the blessings of having had the deceased in their lives; white to signify purity and renewal; and orange and yellow to represent the sun and light.
By mid-afternoon, the procession of souls begins when those of the children who died after being baptized arrive to visit with their families for the coming 24 hours. Godparents stop by the family homes to add sweets and toys and statues or photographs of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the altar and spend time praying with the mourning parents.
All Saints’ Day
At sunrise on Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day (Fiesta de Todos los Santos), the bells of the city’s magnificent colonial churches slowly ring to remind the souls of all deceased infants and children, who are known as little angels (angelitos), that they are much loved and tenderly remembered so they can return to the afterlife assured they are not forgotten.
It’s then time to welcome back adult souls and every street in the different neighborhoods (barrios) quickly fills with informally organized people in costumes celebrating the festival with merrymaking, music, dancing and parading around in carnival tradition (comparsas).
Although Oaxaca is the second-poorest state in Mexico with an average per capita income of $3,400 (U.S.), the residents wholeheartedly embrace the exorbitant luxury of intricate costumes. Particularly popular are disguises that represent important Zapotec deities associated with the underworld like Anubis, jackal headed god of the underworld and the Bat God.
Costumes associated with the Aztec Empire are also proudly worn and range from men and women wearing the feather fan headdresses that symbolized nobility to the Fourth Beast, last superpower on earth as seen by the Prophet Daniel in a night vision, which many of the indigenous folk here say is how their ancestors viewed the encomienda forced on them by the Spanish crown during its colonization of the Americas.
Almost everywhere, however, are La Catrinas, the icons of Day of the Dead. Dressed with lavish hats worn by upper class women during the Elizabethan era , these calaveras poke fun at the indigenous people who tried to imitate rich Europeans and hide their ethnicity (garbancera) because no matter how wealthy a person might be in life, she will also die and in death everyone becomes equal.
In the afternoon, a priest processes around the cemetery, blessing the graves and reciting the Rosary. Everywhere there is food, loud chatter and commotion as local storytelling heroes recite legends and parables. The spirits are enticed to come by and enjoy the party through musical requests played by hired guitarists.
All Souls’ Day
On All Souls’ Day (Dia de Todos los Almas), every member of extended families goes to the cemeteries (cemetarios) because this is day when souls in purgatory are allowed to return to earth.
Place settings are laid out at the grave site for the deceased to share in a feast of pan de muerto, mescal, and tamales after a candle is lighted in memory of each dead relative. Holy water is sprinkled on the floral arrangements, which symbolize the earthly paradise man has created for his enjoyment and to which, if a soul is saved, he can return and enjoy after death.
Now the time has come for the eldest family member to teach children about the Mexican legend that we die three deaths: The first is when our bodies die, the second is when our bodies are lowered into the ground and pass out of sight, and the third and most definitive death is when our loved ones forget us.
Listening to anecdotes about ancestors and seeing ancestor veneration through the clay funerary urns unique to Oaxaca encourages children to be proud of their heritage and its kinship-centered practices. As the night comes, all celebrants rejoice in knowing that once the fear of death is defeated, life can be fully be appreciated.
While the Day of the Dead’s origins are distinctly Mexican, the holiday is being seen now throughout the Americas in cities with large Hispanic populations. Despite its somber message that death will come to us all one day whether we want to admit it or not, its vibrancy and color and remembrances make this a great celebration of life.
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