Los Dias de Los Muertos
The Days of the Dead
by Julie Amaro, Connections Language School, La Peñita de Jaltemba, amarojewels@gmail.com
Starting on October 27th and continuing through November 3rd, symbolic offerings are placed on the alter. The twenty-seventh of October is the “Day of Pets” and the day to set up the alter with a picture of each loved one, a white candle and a small bowl of water. The twenty-eighth is the day of violent deaths or suicides, who are remembered with another white candle and anything else that has a meaning for them and you. The twenty-nineth is the day to honor people who have died from drowning, with another white candle. The thirtieth is for children in limbo, or unbaptized children or children that were never born, honored with another candle and a white flower. At midnight on Halloween we bid good bye to any visitors from the days in October and prepare to welcome the (baptized) children. November first is All Saint’s Day or in Spanish, “Dia de Todos los Santos” and it is traditionally to honor children or los muertos chiquitos. On this day another white candle is added as well as favorite foods and drinks of the departed, such as atole, chocolate, sweets, tamales, pan de muerto, nuts and seeds. Flowers called Cempasúchil or “Aztec marigolds” are added to the white flowers on the alter along with the favorite food and drinks. The Náhuatl associate these flowers with the sun, and for this reason they are important offerings to honor the dead. November second is for los muertos grandes or adults who died of natural causes. It is the day families visit the cemetery to clean and decorate the loved one’s grave stone. On the alter the favorite foods and drinks of the adults are placed, such as tequila, beer or coffee, and their favorite snacks.
The idea that the veil between the spirit world and the physical world thins around the beginning of November allowing spirits to visit is not unique to Mexico and is in fact a common theme around the world. In fact, before Halloween was commercialized beyond recognition, it was also a holiday to honor dead relatives and the jack-o-lanterns were made to show the spirits the way home. It is a beautiful reminder that those who have died or not “gone forever”, but merely exist on another plane. Physics teaches us that energy never disappears, it changes form, but never dissipates entirely and at its most basic level, all life is energy.
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