Why is the Day of the Dead celebrated in Mexico?

The Day of the Dead 2021 holiday dates back long before the arrival of the Spaniards in Mexico, there are indications of the commemoration, at least, for about 3,000 years, in some of the ancient Mexican ethnic groups.

Why is the Day of the Dead celebrated? Because, according to popular belief, tribute should be paid to the dead. The celebration considers that “the souls of deceased loved ones visit the world of the living.”

The beginnings of the Day of the Dead 2021

The central point was the belief that the souls of the deceased return from the underworld; in celebrations, it was customary to place altars to welcome the return.

These altars, called tzompantli, consisted of rows of skulls strung by perforations made in the parietals, which symbolized death and rebirth, as explained by the Government of Mexico in the text entitled Celebration of the Day of the Dead.

In its beginnings, the commemoration of the Day of the Dead 2021 was carried out in two festivities:

• Miccailhuitntli or festival of the dead 
• Ueymicailhuitl or feast of the great dead

Each one lasted a month. The first took place in the ninth month of the Mexica solar calendar, called Tlaxochimaco, corresponding to the month of July, and the second in August.

Death, symbol of life

In the celebration, “death is a symbol of life that materializes on the altar. In this sense, it is a celebration that carries great popular significance, since it includes various meanings, from philosophical to material, “explained the text Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition that transcends time.

Why are the dead celebrated on November 1 and 2?

• Upon the arrival of the Spanish, the festival was adopted and the veneration of their dead was transferred to the Christian calendar, which coincided with the end of the agricultural cycle of corn.

Therefore, the celebration of the Day of the Dead takes place on November 1 and 2, since it is divided into categories:

• November 1 corresponds to All Saints, a day dedicated to the “little dead” or children, in reference to the Miccailhuitntli
• On November 2 to the Faithful Departed, that is, the adults

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated?

During the festivity, it is customary to place offerings and altars decorated with marigold flowers, papel picado, sugar skulls, pan de muerto, mole, or a favorite dish of the deceased person being celebrated.

“Tradition also indicates that to facilitate the return of souls to earth, marigold flower petals should be spread and candles placed tracing the path they are going to travel so that these souls do not get lost and reach their destination”, indicated the text Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition that transcends time.

Also, they include decorating the graves with flowers and often making altars on the tombstones.

The Day of the Dead 2021 is celebrated throughout the country; in some regions, there are variations of the celebration, according to local beliefs.

Essentials to building a Day of the Dead Alter

Water

Water is considered as a representation of the source of life. It is offered to souls to quench their thirst after their long journey and to strengthen their return. In some cultures symbolizes the purity of the soul.

Salt

The element of purification is offered so that the body does not become corrupted on its round trip for the following year.

Candles

To give light to the souls, candles are required. The ancient Mexicans used ocher rajas. The flame they produce means, in addition to light, faith and hope; and it serves as a guide so that the souls can reach their old places and light the return to their abode.

In several indigenous communities each candle represents a deceased, that is, the number of candles that the altar will have will depend on the souls that the family wants to receive. If the candles or candlesticks are purple, it is a sign of mourning; and if four of these are placed on a cross, they represent the four cardinal points.

Aromatic Flowers

The Day of the Dead season is not only framed by the colorful orange flowers, but also by the characteristic aroma of copal and incense. The copal was offered by the natives to their gods since the incense was not yet known, this arrived with the Spaniards.

In addition, it is used to clean the place of evil spirits and thus the soul can enter your house without any danger.

The flowers, mainly cempasúchil, are symbols of the festivity for their colors and aromatic stelae. They adorn and aromatize the place during the stay of the soul, which when leaving will please the spirits that have returned to their family. The white flowers cannot be forgotten, because their white color means purity and tenderness, and accompany the souls of the children.

In many places of the country, it is customary to put paths of petals that serve to guide the deceased from the cemetery to the offering and vice versa. The yellow flower of the leafless cempasuchil is the path of color and smell traced by the routes to the souls.

The ‘Mat’

One more element, but which is no longer used in large cities, but in some communities, is the mat. Among the multiple uses of the mat is a bed, table, or shroud. On this particular day, it works so that the souls rest as well as the tablecloth to place the food of the offering.

Puppies

What should not be missing in the altars for children is the izcuintle, the puppy toy, so that the souls of the little ones feel happy when they arrive at the banquet. The izcuintle puppy is the one that helps the souls to cross the plentiful Chiconauhuapan river, which is the last step to reach the Mictlán.

Bread

Made in different ways, bread is one of the most precious elements on the altar. The majority is known as puff pastry and this represents the skull and bones. Its shape is round as is the cycle of life and death. Known as Pad de Muerto, or Bread of the Dead.

Portrait

Other objects to remember and offer to the deceased are the portrait, to remember the soul that will visit us; but this must be hidden, so that it can only be seen with a mirror, to make it clear that the loved one can be seen, but it no longer exists.

Other images of saints can be placed so that they serve as a means of interrelation between the dead and the living.

Foods

Sharing food, such as apples, which represents blood, and kindness through the pumpkin in tacha candy.

The mole with chicken is the favorite dish that many natives of the country put on the altar, although they also add barbecue with everything and consommé. The banquet of the kitchen is in honor of the remembered.

You can include hot chocolate. The pre-Hispanic tradition says that the guests drank chocolate prepared with the water used by the deceased to bathe, so that the visitors were imbued with the essence of the deceased.

Sugar Skulls

Medium sugar skulls are an allusion to death always present. The small skulls are dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the great one to the Eternal Father.

Other elements are the liquor is to remind you of the great pleasant events during your life and encourage you to return and relive those moments for the night. A large cross of ash serves so that when the soul reaches the altar they can confess their faults.

For children

The souls of children are given alfeñique sweets and pasta made with sugar; animal figures, little baskets with flowers, shoes, and coffins. Elsewhere, altars are adorned with little clay toys painted in bright colors; so when the souls of the deceased arrive “little ones” can play as they did in life.