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"The Days of the Dead"

© Meg Greene Malvasi

It is an exhilarating, colorful sight. "Calaveras! Calaveras! (Skulls! Skulls!)" shout children dressed as monsters, devils, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and skeletons. Some carry an open "coffin" in which lies a classmate dressed in his Sunday best. By-standers and shopkeepers toss oranges, flowers, and candy into the coffin as it passes. With each gift, the "corpse" raises his hand and cheers.

This scene, and others like it, occur every year throughout Mexico and in many Mexican-American communities in the United States. These are Los Dias de Muertos, which translates as The Days of the Dead, celebrated from October 31 to November 2. And what a celebration it is!

The Days of the Dead is an old holiday dating back to the time of the Aztecs, who dominated central Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish in the early sixteenth century. Late October and early November were a special time according to the Aztec calender. It was then that people celebrated the passing of summer, enjoyed the last flowers, and welcomed the arrival of the Monarch butterflies who migrated south. The Aztecs believed that these beautiful black and orange creatures carried with them the spirits of loved ones who had returned to be near their families and friends, to hear their favorite music again, and even to eat their favorite foods! The celebration that became The Days of the Dead thus originated as a way to remember these ancestral spirits. The Spanish conquistadores and missionaries discouraged such observances. The Spanish were hard at work trying to convert Meso-Americans to Roman Catholicism. The native traditions, however, proved too strong to destroy. Eventually, the observance of the Days of the Dead intermixed with such Catholic holidays as All Saint's Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2), both of which also commemorate the dead.

Preparations for the present-day celebration of the Days of the Dead begin in late October when families build ofrendas , or altars, in the corner of the dining room. Family members then decorate these altars with flowers, fruits, clothing, candles, masks, photographs, and whistles and drums. For many families, the decorating of the ofrenda is an important time to be together. It is also a time when kitchens fill with the dizzying aromas of candy sugar skulls and "pan de muerto" ("bread of the dead"). Perhaps, too, parents have bought chocolate skulls and coffins for the children to eat. More traditional Mexican fare, such as tamales and tortillas, are also prepared. Some are placed on the ofrenda, others are left for the family's meal.

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