Dias de los Muertos

Judy. One of the main reasons we chose to come to Oaxaca at this time of year is the Dias de los Muertos celebration. Of course, we’ve all heard of it, and in the US now, even Target and Walmart carry the decorated skulls and the strings of little paper-cut flags. It’s a good time to be had by all, the light side of Halloween.

Here, though, it’s a very important holiday, a kind of combination Halloween and All Saint’s Day.  Indigenous peoples have celebrated for thousands of years, and in anthropological museums one can see images of the skeletal Gods of Death and the Underworld, Bezelao and Xonaxi Quecuya (try saying that three times quickly). 

It was originally a month-long celebration in late summer, but with the arrival of the Catholic Church, it was gradually moved to All-Saint’s Day, with November 1 being the day to honor children who have died (Dia de los Angelitos), and November 2, the day to honor adults who have passed on.

As we saw in Poland years ago, for weeks people go to the graves of loved ones and scrub headstones and pull weeds. In their homes they make altars filled with marigolds, the flower that represents Dias de los Muertos, and candles. In some pueblos (Dias de los Muertos seems to be more important in small villages), it begins on October 31.  Families fill the altars with favorite foods of the dead to welcome them. They go to cemeteries and light candles and the sacred incense copal, eating picnic dinners “with” those who died, including “pan de muerto”, the decorated bread of the dead, and sometimes pouring mezcal or tequila on the graves. It is a warm, welcoming remembrance with spirits welcome and loved—hence the flowery skulls. The scent of copal and marigolds calls the spirits home, and the cold wind that blows this time of year is said to be returning ghosts, coming to visit their loved ones. It’s really a beautiful sentiment.

Decorations in the home of our Airbnb

Here in Oaxaca, we’ve seen skeleton images since we arrived in late September, especially the fancy-dressed La Calavera Catrina, queen of the dead (said to be based on an ancient goddess, Mictecacihuatl), who is really a pretty new, if ever-prevalent symbol. In the early 1800’s, an artist named Jose Guadalupe Posada created her as a parody of the upper class, overdressed Mexican women who were trying to be as white as possible. But the image took off, and now the skeleton with the big hat, often smoking or drinking, is everywhere. On November 1, many of the women paint their faces like skulls and dress like her. The chick is much loved. As we’ve gotten closer to the holiday, more like her have shown up in stores and restaurants, and walls.  Here are some of the images I've found around the city: