Day of the Dead celebrates those who have passed and teaches kids about the cycle of life
by Joe Tarr
When Susana Guijarro thinks about her father, she remembers working on his ranch every summer.
"He was a great, great man, a great father and husband," says Guijarro, who owns Mexico Lindo. "I especially remember him eating. He always wanted to eat with the whole family together. I'd come home from work, and he'd be waiting for me."
In her home country of Mexico, Guijarro would be openly encouraged to remember her late father this Saturday. Throughout Mexico and Latin America, people will remember their loved ones who have passed on, and they'll spend time mocking death for missing them.
DÌa de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is held every Nov. 2, throughout Latin America. It is a custom that dates back hundreds of years, to Aztec and Mayan culture, and has also been shaped by Catholic and Celtic celebrations. And although it may not be as openly practiced in the United States, many immigrants continue at least some of the traditions in this country.
The Catholic Church created All Saints Day and All Souls Day on Nov. 1 and 2 around the turn of the first millennium in an attempt to stop the ancient Celtic harvest rituals, a time when it was believed the dead had access to the living world.
When the Spaniards sailed to Mexico, they tried a similar approach. However, the church's attempts to replace the indigenous customs were not completely successful and many of the old rituals continued, even as the natives were converted to Christianity.
"Reverence for their ancestors has always been a dominant part of indigenous people," says Jack Krammer, who works with Hispanics for the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville. "The ancient Mayans, Aztecs, and other indigenous people all had festivals for the dead. When the Spanish missionaries came upon these people, they used [those rituals] as a tool."
The celebrations have now become incorporated into the Catholic religion. "This is not fully endorsed by the church, but it doesn't offend anybody," Krammer says. "This is not divinity worship. It's an expression of people's love to their dead. It's not like they're praying to them—they're communicating to them."
The customs and celebrations for DÌa de los Muertos vary widely throughout Latin America. But one of the most common things people do is to prepare an altar in their home to the lost one, including photographs, flowers, and candles. Many people will also prepare the dead person's favorite meal or drink. By doing this, they invite the spirit to return and visit.
Aida Davis, who also works for the Catholic Diocese, says she keeps the altar up year round. It sits on top of her television in the living room, a constant reminder. "In my house, I have a little altar. I have a picture of my mom. I have a cross and I light a candle," she says.
In many places, families will take the dead person's favorite food to the cemetery that evening, where they'll clean the grave and have a picnic, telling stories about the deceased. They leave some of the food for the dead, as well as candles and flowers, usually marigolds, or cempasuchil, as the flower was called by the Aztecs.
Many families will bake a pan de los muertos, a bread of the dead to leave at the graves—in some places shaped like a round loaf, in others a pretzel that resembles a skeleton.
In some parts of Latin America, the mood is not so festive. Davis says that in her native Panama, the day is somber and reverential. There are no parties or celebrations. "In Panama, we don't play any Salsa music; we don't play any festive music. It's against the law. We go to the cemetery and we go home and we don't work." The radio stations are only allowed to play more subdued music, classical and chamber music, she says.
The traditions aren't as strong in some cultures. Jeannine De La Torre Ugarte, a diocese employee from Peru, says her family didn't really celebrate the day other than by going to mass. "My mother was not big on going to the cemetery. She said, 'Your father's not there. If you want to talk to him, you can do that any time you want to.'" Others in Peru did go to the cemetery, however.
For Anglos, one of the stranger aspects of the holiday is the way children celebrate it. They eat skeleton-shaped candies. They make or buy skeleton toys, some of them representing dead family members. The children might also write epitaphs to each other.
The idea is to mock death, Krammer says, but also to teach children that it's a part of life. "I think it's a healthy way of dealing with death," he says.
Silvia, a Mexican native, says when she was in school in Mexico, they'd bring shoeboxes decorated as coffins to school. Each box would have the name of their family on it. They would also go to the cemetery. "Normally, we don't do much praying. We're just thinking about the relationship with the dead, listening for them."
Jose Contreras, who grew up in California, says he remembers putting aside certain things at the home altar and at the cemetery for relatives. "We would make candies shaped like skulls," he says. "We'd buy a lot of food and make a lot of things. It's more of a celebration. It's to keep remembering the dead and the good times." Contreras now mainly marks the day by going to mass.
Many Hispanics in Knoxville don't celebrate the day the way they would in their native countries. Home altars are still common, but since many of their loved ones aren't buried here, the cemetery trips are not as common.
Another reason the day isn't as big here is because there are so many more religions in the United States.
"Religion is more in the streets in Mexico—you celebrate inside the church and outside the church. We're used to keeping our religion more private because there are so many different denominations here that we don't want to flaunt it," Krammer says.
October 31, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 44
© 2002 Metro Pulse
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