When you think of holidays in the fall, you might think of Halloween or Thanksgiving. But there’s one popular holiday celebrated throughout Latin countries, known for its vibrant celebrations of life and death. This holiday is known as Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. This celebration involves making detailed altars known as ofrendas and laying out belongings or the favorite dishes of a deceased loved one as a way to remember and honor them.
Dia de los Muertos was created with a mix of Mesoamerican indigenous traditions and spanish catholic observance. Though the Aztecs had been celebrating it long before it became what it is today. The Aztecs believed that life and death were an endless cycle, and death was needed to continue to the next life. They had two main festivals that were celebrated in late August, which were Miccailhuitontli, called the “Feast of the Dead,” and Huey Miccailhuitl, called the “Great Feast of the Dead.” Miccailhuitontli centers on the deceased children; it would last about 20 festival days as a way to honor and celebrate them. Huey Miccailhuitl is centered on the deceased adults, lasting a month based on the Aztec calendar; it would be a way to celebrate and honor them. The Aztecs also believed that the goddess of death, Mictecacihualt, was known as the Lady of the Dead, who was said to watch over the bones of past lives that were said to create new life in the land of the living. After Spain conquered the Aztecs, it forced catholicism and folk tradition from Spain. The holiday was then combined with All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Mictecacihualt was also replaced with a new “lady of the dead,” La Catrina, an elegant skeletal lady who represents the equality of death.
In 1910, José Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican illustrator, used skeletal people as a way to address the political and societal issues in a satirical way to reference the obsession with European customs. He created the Catrina to be dressed with a fancy hat in a European style, and her name came from Catrin, which means well-dressed man or woman.
Today, Dia de los Muertos is celebrated mostly in Mexico and in Mexican communities around the United States, though there are some countries in Central and South America that celebrate it. Usually, the ofrendas (altars) would be built before Dia de los Muertos happens. The ofrendas would then be decorated with papel picado (tissue paper with complicated designs), cempasuchil (Mexican marigold), candles, loved ones’ photos and with the loved ones’ favorite items or food. It’s said that the spirits that return enjoy the spiritual essences of the food, and it can guide them home. Mexican marigolds are also said to help guide spirits home if you scatter a trail to the ofrendas; the smell of the flower is needed to guide them home. On Nov. 1, it was said that the souls of the children would return first, and on the next day, the souls of the adults would return. These two days would be filled with visiting loved ones’ graves and festivals that celebrate life instead of mourning for the dead.
Another popular symbol for Dia de los Muertos is the Alebrijes. A colorful and fantastical creature that is a combination of different animals. In 1930, Pedro Linares, a papier-mache artist, became ill and had a feverish dream where he was in a forest surrounded by these fantastical creatures that chanted one word: “Alebrijes.” He then started to create these bizarre creatures, reviving an ancient tradition of Nahuales and animal totems, who were seen as spiritual guides in Mesoamerican cultures. The Mayans, Zapotecs and Mixtecs believed in Nahuales — shapeshifting spirit animals that protected humans from evil. The Aztecs believed in a tonal, an animal spirit linked to one’s destiny; these beliefs interweave to show that the concept of a hybrid animal has been around for a long time. Today, alebrijes are an important part of Mexico’s cultural and artistic imagination.
