Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Celebrating Mexico's Colorful, Macabre Fiesta: Day Of The Dead

forbes.com
 

Festivals are among the delights of traveling, and I’ve flown to Mexico this year just to experience one of the most fascinating of them all: Dia de Los Muertos — the Day of the Dead. The darkly beautiful tradition goes on day and night, from October 31 through the first two days of November.
For the holiday, Mexican markets sell toys and candy transformed into deathly symbols such as skeletons, coffins, and La Muerta, death herself. Calaveras, cheeky poems criticizing politicians or chiding friends and family are written as if the person had already passed — a clever mockery of death, reminding us of our own mortality.
On October 31, All Hallows Eve, children create altars to entice the angelitos (the spirits of dead children) to return, and go door-to -door asking for calavaritas, sugar skulls. It’s the dark side of Halloween.
November 1, All Saints Day (also called El Día de los Angelitos), poignantly focuses on deceased children, who are believed on this day to return to life. Graves are cleaned and decorated with candles, paper streamers, and seasonal flowers such as marigolds. And on November 2, All Souls Day — the true Day of the Dead — families and loved ones gather at cemeteries to be there when the adult spirits return.
Sugar skull given for the Day of the Dead. The...
Calavarita sugar skull. They’re sometimes made with chocolate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Celebrations include music, food, prayers and home altars adorned with photos, lighted incense, candles, flowers, and candy skulls inscribed with the names of the deceased. Altars typically include papel picado (Mexican folk art of colorful cut paper), and personal objects and favorite meals of the departed.
Lighted candles illuminate the way for the dead souls. At nightfall you can visit a cenote, or cave, where the symbol of death prowls around in a boat, candles lighting the water with the heat of faith and life, far more evocative and beautiful than any Halloween haunted house.
English: Paper maché figures in Guanajuato Mar...
Paper figures in Guanajuato Market.  Mexican folk art often dwells in the macabre.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ancient legends are part of the fiesta’s expression. “Catrina” is Mexico’s favorite, most adapted representation of death — the star of many Day of the Dead celebrations.
This image was selected as a picture of the we...
Catrinas. The really, really mean girls. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Español: Catrina en el Centro Histórico de la ...
Another version of Catrina walks through the center of Mexico City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Legends are also told about the  surprising, beautiful Xtabay, who especially scares men. And a haunting figure, La Llorona, intrigues us to discover just what causes it to live in eternal tragedy.
Español: La LLorona, leyenda Nederlands: La_Ll...
La Llorona,  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
While American Halloween features candy, the Day of the Dead features regional cuisine such as tamales and mole sauce, pumpkin and fruit sweets, and the famed pan de muerto (bread of the dead).
Image from Mexican pan de muerto. Title is in ...
Mexican pan de muerto.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Making pan de muerto at a display ded...
Making pan de muerto in the Zocalo of Mexico City, for Day of the Dead (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The fiesta’s ending varies, depending on the region. At a Mayan ritual of darkness and fire, the shaman, surrounded by flames, gives thanks for the sacred elements of Water, Sun, Wind, Earth and Life. Villagers dance to drums beats, and the Xcalacoco community prays for harmony, promising to continue feeding the Fire of Life.

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