Mexico's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Blends Indigenous, Spanish Traditions

Paying respects on November 1 at the Panteón (Cemetery) 
with flowers and other offerings, Mixquic, Mexico City
Photo: Elizabeth Ruíz/Cuartoscuro

Last night I reread Jenny's previous Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) posts. I didn't see how I could improve on them. Their descriptions of the roots of the annual celebration deep in the soil of the Mesoamerican cosmovision is compelling.

But this morning I came upon this article in Milenio, a Mexican newspaper. I've translated it for Jenny's English-language readers. Links to the three original Jenny's posts are provided in Still Curious? (scroll down).

Sand painting for Día de los Muertos in Oaxaca. Photo: Internet

Milenio: November 1, Mexico • The legacy of the pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican and Catholic traditions converge in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, a festival of the dead, whose rituals are authentic living testimony to this cultural fusion.

In an interview, Andrés Merino, a member of the Institute of Anthropological Research National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), observed:

"The origins of the celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico predate the arrival of the Spanish (...), but are fused with the medieval Catholic tradition."

Original peoples in South Central Mexico and North Central America (Mesoamerica) are characterized as having "very elaborate forms of spirituality" linked to the harvest and structured around a cycle of four celebrations culminating with the "harvest festival" or "festival of the dead". Merino added:

"The dead play an important role in the entire agricultural cycle, their support is requested at critical moments, such as for arrival of the rains for growing corn. (...) They are the intermediaries with the gods of rain."

The festivities were presided over by the goddess Mictecacíhuatl, known as "Lady Death" (currently related to "Catrina", character created by the graphic artist José Guadalupe Posada [and made popular by Diego Rivera]) and her husband Mictlantecuhtli, Lord of Land of the Dead.

With the arrival of the Spanish, the harvest tradition was merged with Catholic medieval customs and modifications appeared in the preparation of offerings and altars—the ones seen today reflect this cultural fusion (syncreticism).

"The offerings are great symbolic, artistic expressions. There is an order in the way they are represented, and it is here where this tradition of combining the cultures appears," he said.

The Catholic Hispanic legacy is seen, for example, in the pan de muerto [bread of the dead], made with wheat flour [introduced by the Spanish], eggs, sugar and anise; in the placement of fruits and flowers not native to the region [also introduced by the Spanish] on altars, and in the use of candles and Christian concepts, such as "souls" to refer to the dead who return this one night in the year.

Family Altar, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, to honor the Grandmother, who had died in the past year. Photo: Reed Brundage

The Mesoamerican origins, meanwhile, appear in the design of the altars that reproduce the cosmovisión ("worldview") unique to these cultures. The altars represent: the

• Underworld, where incensarios (censers burning copal) are placed; the 
• Midpoint [earthly level], where offerings [bread, fruit, water, salt, tequila, cerveza] are placed; and the 
• Upper level [heavens], with images and photographs of the dead.

The altars, characterized in most cases by their bright colors, are complete with copal incense and sweet drinks fermented from corn, chocolate, typical dishes like pumpkin or sweet tamales, and it is customary to place the names of the deceased with their photographs.

"Here, what appears is a celebration of Life, there is a joy in being connected with the dead. (...) I believe that it is the end of a human cycle that is lived with great joy," observed the expert.

During this celebration, in addition to going to the cemeteries, children often go out on the streets to sing praises and ask offerings on behalf of the dead, with a chilacayote (a fruit similar to pumpkin) with a candle inside. Merina believes this custom can confuse Day of the Dead with Halloween, a festival of Nordic tradition, which has been introduced into Mexican culture through the influence of television and the supermarkets.

"The Halloween influence has to do with the middle class that goes to the supermarkets, which reflect the influence of U.S. television. (...) But this is not the tradition in the traditional communities," he added.

In 2003 UNESCO declared The Day of the Dead to be an Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The celebration lasts for two days: November 1 is dedicated to the souls of children who have died and adults who have never married. In the predawn hours of that last day (November 2), Mexicans keep vigil in cemeteries for all their dead.

Still Curious?

Sensitive photos of Día de los Muertos vigils on Janitzio Island (Pátzcuaro, Michoacán) convey their beauty and simplicity, followed by photos of altars prepared in Oaxaca.

Related Jenny's Posts:

• Día de los Muertos: Mesoamerican Roots;
• Día de los Muertos: Preparations;
• Día de los Muertos: Ritual Observances;
• Day of the Dead Altars: Symbols.

Report of traditional Día de los Muertos customs in Andrés Mixquic a pueblo-mágico in the Delegación (Borough) of Tláhuac, Mexico City (Spanish only), and how they are slowly, sadly, changing.