CELEBRATING LIFE, DEATH ON DAY OF THE DEAD
Costumes help honour loved ones at Mexican festival
A row of vendors has set up outside the white gates of 5 de Diciembre cemetery in Old Town Puerto Vallarta. There is an assortment of colourful flowers, paper wreaths and other items on sale and they are doing a brisk business. Almost every grave inside the cemetery is decorated for Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. People are dressed in costume, a mariachi band is playing and families are visiting, laughing, decorating graves and, in some cases, picnicking beside the graves of deceased loved ones. Even though the theme of this holiday is death, the scene is anything but sombre. It’s a celebration of life and death and it takes place on Nov. 1 and 2 in Mexico and other parts of Latin America.
I wander among the sunbleached headstones. There’s a pink and blue mausoleum decorated like a castle with Disney princess balloons and, while I pause to admire it, the woman decorating it starts talking to me. When I tell her how beautiful the gravesite is, she talks about her little girl who died much too young. “She loved Disney princesses,” she says. “This is for her.”
WHAT IS THE DAY OF THE DEAD?
The celebration of Dia de los Muertos originated with Aztec, Toltec and other Nahua peoples, 3,000 years ago. These pre-hispanic people believed death was a normal part of life’s continuum. To them, the deceased were still part of the community and during Dia de los Muertos, it was believed the dead returned to visit their loved ones. The holiday was originally celebrated in August as a kind of harvest festival, but Catholic influences moved it to Nov. 1 and 2 to correspond with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’
Day. According to tradition, Nov. 1 honours the souls of children (angelitos or little angels) who have passed away, while Nov. 2 is the celebration for the souls of adults. Altars are set up in homes and in public places like Puerto Vallarta’s malecon. The altars are meant to welcome spirits back to the realm of the living and are loaded with a family member’s favourite foods, beverages, family photos and a candle for each dead relative. Visiting and decorating the graves is an important ritual, because flower petals at the graves and altars help to guide the dead home.
CALAVERA CATRINA
Calavera means “skull” in Spanish and skull face paint, skull art and candy skulls are a big part of this holiday in Mexico. Calavera also has another meaning though.
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the word was used to describe humorous poems that made fun of the living.
These poems are read as part of the Day of the Dead celebrations. Mexican political cartoonist Jose Guadalupe Posada took it a step further in 1910 when he created a picture of a female skeleton in fancy French attire to accompany one of these poems. He named it La Calavera Catrina or “elegant skull.” It was meant as a form of satire and the phrase “todos somos calaveras” or “we are all skeletons” is also attributed to Posada. It means that under our fancy clothes and possessions, we are all the same. We cannot escape death. This message really struck a chord with the Mexican people and today the skull is one of the most important symbols associated with the holiday.
FESTIVAL FOOD
Every holiday has special food associated with it and Day of the Dead is no exception. Some families place the favourite foods of their deceased loved ones on an altar. Other foods include pan de muerto, a sweet bread shaped like people and skulls. Other treats include candy skulls and a sweet, warm drink called pulque.
PARADES AND MORE
Outside the cemetery, people are lining up in preparation for the Day of the Dead grand parade through the Old Town. I wander around taking pictures as the long shadows of dusk fill the square. Nearly everyone is wearing some sort of costume or face paint. As I watch the long procession from a curbside seat, I can’t help but think of my experience in the cemetery earlier that evening.
Death may be the common fate of mankind, but it doesn’t have to be feared. As long as we remember our loved ones, they will always be with us and that’s something worth celebrating.
Most Mexican communities celebrate the Day of the Dead. For more info, visit visitpuertovallarta.com.