Professor explains origins and significance of D铆a de los Muertos
Get insight into the days that help people confront their mortality and remember their loved ones
Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is celebrated from Nov. 1鈥�2, so major retailers and general observers can fall easily into the trap that it is the Mexican Halloween.
However, sweet treats like calaveras de azucar 鈥攕kulls made of sugar and decorated with brightly colored icing鈥攁re likely the only connection between the two.
D铆a de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 and 2.
Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of life, death and family, and it can provide peace to its celebrants.
鈥淗alloween has a spooky connotation; we talk about witches and candy and skeletons,鈥� says Alejandra Balcazar, Latine/x coordinator in the Center for Student Diversity.
鈥淒ia de Muertos is a tradition of joy. It is colorful, it is meaningful and it is beautiful. We are honoring a piece of life that people neglect to talk about because of fear or a connotation that it is scary. But death is part of life. We all need to be at peace with that part.鈥�
5 Facts About the Meaning of D铆a de los Muertos
Dia de los Muertos has its roots in Indigenous traditions.
The celebration arises from rituals performed by Indigenous peoples in what is now Mexico and Central America. In particular, the Aztecs would meet with a goddess named Miccaihuitl as part of a death ritual that involved making offerings to the goddess and the deceased. The Aztecs believed the dead were not gone. Instead they had an intimate relationship with the living, and offerings were made to maintain a reciprocal relationship.
Balcazar shared another origin legend.
鈥淚t was like Romeo and Juliet,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e died at war. She was very sad, and she went to the sun to pray. The sun was so touched by her sadness, it turned her lover into a cempoalxochitl鈥攖he yellow flower associated with Day of the Dead celebrations鈥攁nd turned her into a hummingbird. A lot of the symbols that we have come from those legends.鈥�
Popular depictions of Dia de los Muertos aren鈥檛 entirely incorrect or appropriated.
The 2017 animated film 鈥淐oco鈥� takes viewers along with the protagonist Miguel as he discovers his family history and develops a deeper respect for it. It also depicts the interplay between life and death and portrays it reverently, valuing the traditions and memories ancestors have passed down to those still alive.
Dia de Muertos is a tradition of joy.
Alejandra Balcazar, Latine/x coordinator in the Center for Student Diversity
鈥溾�楥oco鈥� is one of my favorite movies because they did so much research on it,鈥� Balcazar says. 鈥淭he director lived in Guanajuato City and recreated the historic city center into the movie. So it is very accurate.鈥�
There are many parts to the Dia de los Muertos tradition, and one of the most important is the ofrenda, or altar.
Common features to the celebration are the candy skulls, papel picados (vibrant paper flags), candles, marigolds and a type of bread called pan de muerto. But the holiday is centered on ancestors. Families create ofrendas, or altars, with photographs, foods, possessions or items that call to mind aspects of their ancestors鈥� personalities to honor them and keep their memories alive.
鈥淚'm very mindful about when I'm putting it together,鈥� Balcazar says. 鈥淚'm playing music that I know the person would like. I like trying to remember moments that I had with them and putting that mentally in the altar.鈥�
The holiday celebrates death as an important part of life.
Balcazar began celebrating Dia de los Muertos several years ago after growing up in Colombia, where it is not traditional. She learned more about the holiday from friends who celebrated and found it to be a beautiful experience.
鈥淚t is a moment to find your ancestors and people who were important to you and celebrate their lives, the impact that they have in your own story,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are still with you. When you are grieving, you can feel like, 鈥極h, I'm never going to see this person again; this is the end of the relationship.鈥� But connecting the spiritual with everyday life through reconnecting with relatives that have passed can provide comfort.鈥�
Day of the Dead is a holiday that anyone can celebrate, regardless of cultural heritage. Ideally, it should remind us of our commonalities as humans.
For the last several years, Balcazar has organized a Dia de los Muertos celebration at 快活视频that continues to grow. She invites the whole 快活视频community to attend and participate in the celebration.
Everybody has ancestors. Everyone is welcome to join and learn about the beauty of this tradition.
Alejandra Balcazar
鈥淭his is Latino centered, but it's not Latino exclusive,鈥� Balcazar says. 鈥淓verybody has ancestors. Everyone is welcome to join and learn about the beauty of this tradition. The main message of joy and celebration and love for your friends and family that pass鈥攅ven pets鈥攊s universal. We all have that in our lives.鈥�
The Skeleton Crew
Professor Lea Ramsdell is so well traveled in Spanish-speaking Latin America that it鈥檚 easier for her to list the countries she hasn鈥檛 yet visited: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela. Ramsdell's intense wanderlust means the bookshelves in her office are filled with musical instruments (she teaches a class on Latino cultural identity through music) and cultural keepsakes that she buys on her adventures. She picked up three figurines at a market in Mexico City in 2005, when she led a 快活视频Study Abroad trip there.
Figurines from Mexico watch over Lea Ramsdell鈥檚 office.
Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 and 2, when art like this is displayed on altars and in windows throughout the country. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a time to remember the dead, but it鈥檚 also a time to realize your mortality and not be afraid of it,鈥� Ramsdell says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a time to make social commentary. In a way they鈥檙e making fun of people in high society. They鈥檙e very dressed up and elegant, but they鈥檙e skeletons. She looks like she thinks she鈥檚 really something, but she鈥檚 still mortal after all.鈥�
The design of the female skeleton鈥檚 dress conjures nationalistic images, Ramsdell says. Both the Mexican flag and the dress feature a green, white and red color scheme and include an image of a cactus with an eagle perched atop it eating a serpent. 鈥淭hat was the signal for the Aztecs, who were a nomadic tribe at one point,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey were to search for this cactus with an eagle on top of it eating a serpent and build their homeland there.鈥�
The figures are made of papier-m芒ch茅, so they鈥檙e extremely light. Ramsdell thinks she bought them for $15 or $20鈥攑ricey by Mexican standards at the time. 鈥淚 find it fascinating to go to different cultures and see the kinds of things that are important to the people there,鈥� she says. 鈥淧opular culture appeals to me. I studied literature and civilization, and I love that, but something about the common person and what they find important, I鈥檓 really drawn to that. That鈥檚 exactly what this is about. These are an expression of the common person, not necessarily a trained professional artist. This wouldn鈥檛 be considered high art, but that鈥檚 exactly why I like it.鈥�
This article was originally published in 2022.
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