A Dia de los Muertos Odyssey

Cemetery decorated for Dia de los Muertos, Romerillo, Chiapas

Dia de los Muertos, the time of year in Mexico when the worlds of the living and dead intersect, is coming up.  According to the lore of the holiday, on November 1 and 2, the souls of the dead visit and partake of the lives they once lived on earth. Preparations to welcome the dead begin well before these days and in many places Halloween (Oct. 31) is included in the celebration. 

Each region of Mexico contributes its own specific beliefs and customs to this pan-Mexican holiday. Our odyssey, here, begins in Chiapas, Mexico with its unique contribution of pre-Columbian Maya beliefs and customs.  The green crosses in the photo above are typical of Maya areas and have a local meaning and symbolism beyond that of the Christian cross.  In Romerillo Chiapas, people place boards over graves so that the dead during the year, so they cannot leave them and wander around before Dia de los Muertos.

Grave in Cemetery of Romerillo, Chiapas

Read all about Dia de los Muertos as it is celebrated in Chiapas:
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2013/11/dia-de-los-muertos-chiapas.html

Dia de los Muertos, Cemetery San Juan Chamula, Chiapas

You can see it, as well, in the Videos linked below. The first one I shot at the November 2 celebration in the cemetery of San Juan Chamula, Chiapas. It is one of a kind and you will be treated to an event not usually seen by outsiders, since photography is forbidden ( I had special permission)
A second video is of the celebration in the beautiful cemetery of Romerillo shown in  two of the photos above.  
The third video is of the Panthéon (cemetery) of Cristöbal de las Casas.  Cemeteries are hubs of activities during Dia de los Muertos and this video captures the beauty and poignancy of the celebration.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2013/11/videos-of-dia-de-los-muertos-in-chiapas.html

Add caption

In the states of Quintana Roo and Yucátan there are unique twists to Dia de Los Muertos where the holiday is known by its Maya name of Hanal Pixán.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2014/11/dia-de-los-muertos-hospitality-for-dead.html

Add caption

In parts of the US once owned by Mexico, elements of Mexcian culture are still vibrant.
Here are two videos shot in the Spanish missions of San Antonio, Texas, which was once a part of colonial Mexico. They show the unique blending of indigenous American and Mexican-Christian elements in this Dia de los Muertos celebration.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/10/coahuiltecan-indian-blessing-of-dia-de.html

Dia de los Muertos revelers, Oaxaca

Oaxaca is justifiably famous for its celebration of Dia de los Muertos.  People painted as skeletons, portraying La Catrina the icon of Dia de los Muertos, are everywhere.  Is this all fun and games?  No, there is a much deeper level to all the rollicking activity, as you will learn here:
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/11/dia-de-los-muertos-in-oaxaca-rehearsal.html

Open Grave in Cemetery of Pomuch, Campeche

Pomuch, a small town in Campeche, hosts what I call the "Ultimate" Dia de los Muertos". 
It's a little shocking, at first, but fascinating.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2016/12/pomuch-campeche-dia-de-los-muertos-you.html

                                       ----------------------------------------------

Mexico is wonderful any time of the year. During  Dia de los Muertos it is most itself with its essential nature, the unique blending of indigenous and Christian elements, shining through.

Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca: Rehearsing for Death

Scene from Dance Performance, Oaxaca, MX 

Scene from Dance Performance, Oaxaca, MX

Human beings instinctively fear death.  Yet in Oaxaca and throughout Mexico during the days of Dia de los Muertos, death is central.  Death-themed items such as skeletons, skulls made of sugar, flowers to decorate graves and create altars to the dead, and much more are sold in all Mexican markets. But, the importance of Dia de los Muertos goes way beyond these visual symbols and the events that are associated with them. With all the extravagant visual beauty of Dia de los Muertos it is easy to overlook psychological dimension; this will be done towards the end of this post.

Dia de los Muertos has roots both in the Catholic Church and in the prehispanic indigenous cultures of the region. At its heart is the idea that at this time of year, usually October 31-November 2,  the "veil" between the living and the dead becomes thin and the dead return to visit.  For a fuller explanation of Dia de los Muertos  please refer to my blog posts: 

http://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2013/11/dia-de-los-muertos-chiapas.html, and http://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2014/11/dia-de-los-muertos-hospitality-for-dead.html.

 Dia de los Muertos celebrates the relationship between the living and the dead with colorful death-themed paraphernalia sold in markets throughout Mexico in the weeks preceding the holiday; death is on view everywhere.

Market, Oaxaca MX

The dead are welcomed back, included and special food is prepared for them and left on  altars made in their honor and on graves.

Santa Cruz, Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca, MX

Cemetery, Tlalixtac de Cabrera, Oaxaca

Altar in church, Santa Cruz, Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca, MX

Graves and graveyards are specially decorated for the event in ways that range from the simple to the dramatic.  The grave below is in Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca and it shows the typical flowers used for Dia de los Muertos- marigolds and cockscomb as well as the candles that are used to illuminate the graves at night.

Cemetery in Santa Cruz, Xoxocotlan Oaxaca MX

In some cemeteries, grave decorations are much more elaborate and done by professional artists who specialize in this kind of work, as in this grave from San Felipe del Agua, Oaxaca. This grave is of a man who had been an organist/pianist of note and his family had paid to have this complex floral tribute created.

Cemetery in San Felipe del Agua, Oaxaca MX

The cemeteries are full of mourners who express their grief in various ways. Some people sit in silence and others are more boisterous, creating a party-like atmosphere in the cemeteries. Many of the cemeteries in Oaxaca have live bands playing on stages.

Cemetery in Santa Maria Atzompa, Oaxaca MX

There is a subtle psychological dimension to Dia de los Muertos that is easy to overlook. True, it is a holiday for honoring, remembering and connecting with the beloved dead, but, in a way, it is also a holiday that prepares the living for death.  During Dia de los Muertos, and particularly in Oaxaca, you see people in all kinds of places with skeleton-painted faces. 

Singers leading Procession of Virgin of Santo Domingo, Oaxaca, MX

Dia de los Muertos revelers, Oaxaca, MX

Dia de los Muertos revelers, Oaxaca, MX

The people in these photos were participating in one of Oaxaca's famous night-long celebrations that happen throughout the city from October 31-November 2.   It is easy to dismiss the painted faces as "just" a costume, but this is missing their deeper significance, one which most Dia de los Muertos revelers are unaware. Having a face painted like a skeleton is a way of connecting with the idea of being dead oneself.  Looking in the mirror and seeing a skeleton looking back has some psychological impact whether or not  the participant is aware of it.

Cemetery in Santa Maria Atzompa, Oaxaca

Some mourners in graveyards have skeleton-painted faces in the spirit of the celebration but also in a kind of solidarity with the dead. It is a poignant way of recognizing and sharing kinship with those no longer living.

Cemetery in Tlalixtac de Cabrera Oaxaca MX

Cemetery in Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca MX

Cemetery in Santa Maria Atzompa, Oaxaca MX

Each year in Oaxaca, during the time of Dia de los Muertos, symbols of death are everywhere.  Although a lot of the holiday's events are entertaining, there is something much more profound to all of it.   During Dia de los Muertos everyone is face to face with the most centrally-feared event in human life, death.  Having this repeated opportunity to interface with death in such an open and positive way does impact participants and their outlook on death.

Dia de los Muertos: Hospitality for the Dead

Dia de los Muertos Altar;  San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, MX
(click to enlarge photos)

Mexican altars for Dia de los Muertos range from the very simple to to the elaborate. Yet, they all share a single purpose: offering hospitality to the dead and including them, for a brief period of time in the world of the living as not just memories but really present.  This unique outlook on death forms a sharp contrast to attitudes to the dead outside of the Latin American world where the dead are remembered with respect and their memories treasured, but where the prospect of the dead actually being present makes people uncomfortable. 

For the Days of the Dead, November 1 (children) and 2 (adults) in Mexico everything is done to entice the dead back to their former homes on earth and a big part of the effort is food.The living strive to throw a great party for the dead with the things that they used to enjoy eating and drinking in life.

Altar at Los Arcos Restaurant, Izamal, MX

The altars, altares in Spanish, regardless of how elaborate they may be are all just tables as can be seen in the photos below; we tend to lose sight of the fact that all altars in all religions are  tables meant to serve sacrifices to the gods.  The altars for Dia de los Muertos serve food that the living sacrifice for the comfort of the dead, who although they are not gods, are the honorees of these days. In fact, in the language of the Yucatec Maya, the name for Dia de los Muertos, is Hanal Pixam which translates in Spanish as Comida de las Animas, or food for the souls.

Small Table Altar, Izamal, MX

Decorative for Dia de los Muertos in form of a table altar, Playa del Carmen, MX

The observance of Dia de los Muertos varies throughout Mexico from the very traditional as documented in my video shot in Chamula Chiapas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg_1bTFIi1g  to more typical observations of the holiday as seen in this video from San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np9YteLYljE.  Over the years, the Oct. 31st celebration of Halloween has come to be included in the holiday.

    

In each area of Mexico, the holiday takes on characteristics of the specific locale. These palm-leaf covered palapa altars are typical in the Yucatan, where the palapa is a basic unit of architecture.  The altars are placed within the palapa rather than being out in the open air.  The one below is from the cemetery in Playa del Carmen in the state of Quintana Roo, which is located in the eastern part of the Yucatan peninsula.

Playa del Carmen, MX

Each year a traditional altar like the one in the photo above is built in Playa's cemetery and is the only one there.  

Dia de los Muertos altar inside the above palapa

Palapa altar for Dia de los Muertos, Cozumel, MX

Yet, among all of the different twists on observing the Days of the Dead, usually Oct. 31-Nov. 2,  and in some places such as the traditional Mayan communities of Quintana Roo for the week following Nov.1, there is one thing they share in common: food. Dead souls are believed to enjoy food and drink as much as the living, although they partake of it in a different way, through inhaling its essence.  In fact, Hanal Pixam, the Yucatec Maya name for Dias de los Muertos, translates as Comida de las Animas or food of the souls.

In mid-October throughout Mexico begin offering the special foods associated with the holiday. One is  pan de muertos, bread of the dead, and these are sold throughout Mexico.

Pan de Muertos

If you look closely you can see the cut-out pieces of dough that resemble bones.
Along these lines, other foods typically seen during this holiday are skull-shaped
candies made of sugar. Sugar skulls, inscribed with the names of the deceased on the forehead, are often eaten by a relative or friend.

Sugar Skull, Playa del Carmen, MX

Sugar Skulls, Playa del Carmen, MX

Various sorts of other sweets are put on the altars for the enjoyment of the deceased, such as the preserved pumpkins seen in the photo below.

Preserved pumpkins in Playa del Carmen store

The dead have to be properly enticed back to the world of the living or they may not show up.  Engaging the dead person's  sense of smell is critical in guiding them back to the world of the living and in assuring that they will come to the altars to partake of the feasts offered.  Copal incense is burned in containers and sweet-smelling wood is put out as well to help them find their way.

Coal incense in Playa del Carmen store

Items for Dia de los Muertos in Playa del Carmen, MX

By far, the most unique food for Dia de los Muertos comes from the Yucatan and is know as  pibes or mucbil pollo.  This is a kind of tamale that is wrapped in banana leaves and roasted underground, the domain of the dead. I was told that the delicious-smelling steam coming from the hot food is what entices the dead.  

Pibes on altar in Restaurante Los Arcos, Izamal, Yucatan, MX

But, the good news is that you don't have to wait until you are dead to enjoy pibes.  Although it is placed on altars as an offering, as on the above altar from Izamal, it is a delicious food for the living and happens to be one of my favorite Yucatan foods. Personally, I look forward to Dia de los Muertos for my annual helping.

Pibes from Restaurante Los Arcos, Izamal, Yucatan

Not only food, but alcohol is included on altars as offerings to the dead (and the living).

In Chiapas, for instance, it is customary that the living drink the very high-proof local alcohol called pox, (pronounced "posh") that is also offered to the dead and it is an insult to refuse a glass of pox.

Beer for Day of the Dead in grocery store, Playa del Carmen, MX

Altar, Chiapas

The result is a party-like atmosphere in the graveyard, a place most of us would see as

a solemn venue.  Not, the case in Mexico, where the dead are welcomed with music, joy, food and drink.

Dia de los Muertos, San Juan Chamula, Chiapas

  The result is a party-like celebration in the grave-yard, a place that most of us would see as a very solemn venue.  Not the case in Mexico, where the dead are welcomed with music, joy and of course, food.  In some places the holiday is observed in a more sedate way, as it was in this lovely celebration in the cemetery of Playa de Carmen, MX this year.  There, I was fortunate enough to be invited into a family plot by the family's gracious matriarch who had a group of musicians serenade the tombs of two of her children.  The peace the celebration gave to her and the rest of her family was evident; everyone in the family, living and dead, was together again. 

Dia de los Muertos Celebration, Playa de Carmen, MX

Dia de los Muertos: Two Videos

Romerillo, Chiapas

If you have not already seen these videos take a look.  Both are of rarely-filmed celebrations of Dia de los Muertos in small Mayan communities in Chiapas.   Here are the links to them:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg_1bTFIi1g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0djWi91TKs

I hope that you enjoy them.  I shortly will be writing about the celebration of Dia de los Muertos in the Yucatan.