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One of Mexico's best known and most eagerly awaited holidays is the celebration of the Day of the Dead on November 2nd. This colorful event is also uniquely representative of the mixture characterizing our culture.

We know little of the customs of the earliest settlers of our land, the builders of the great ceremonial center of Teotihuacan, who flourished between 200 and 800 AD; but we do know that the broad avenue between the pyramids of the Sun and the Moon is the Way of the Dead, and that they buried theirs with food, weapons, toys and tools. Their city and ceremonial site were mysteriously destroyed at some time during the eighth century. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Aztecs found the sign they were seeking and established their capital the city, Tenochtitlan, on the lake near the ruins of Teotihuacan. And, though they were said to be a rough and crude people, by the early 15th century, they had formed the vast Mexica empire.

The Aztecs were open to learning new rituals and beliefs from other cultural groups and the people they conquered. They exacted tribute and took prisoners for human sacrifice, but they did not impose their laws and religious beliefs on their subjects.

The Mexica believed that what happened to people when they died depended on the manner of their death, and not on their lives. There were four places that people went after death:

Children who died before tasting corn went to Chichihuacuauhco, where they were fed by a tree producing milk. They were destined to be reborn and repopulate the earth after the current race (the fifth) was destroyed.

Common people who died an ordinary death went to Mictlán. The journey was long and perilous, and their relatives gave them food and prayers for the trip, fires to light their way. It was believed that they would require the assistance of a dog to cross the river Apanohuaya. After that, the spirits must traverse mountains, snow-covered hills, and endure bad weather and attacks by snakes and lizards before reaching their destination.

Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent, was the symbol of death and resurrection. Legend has it that he traveled to Mictlán with Xolotl, a god with the head of a dog, to bring back the precious bones of the ancient dead. He then ground them up and anointed them with his own blood to create the people living under the fifth sun, our universe.

Those who died by lightening, drowning, or diseases relating to water were under the special protection of Tlaloc, God of Rain. They went to Tlalocan, the mansion of the moon. This place was fresh and happy, with green boughs and ripe fruits.

The fourth mansion of the dead was that of the sun, Tonátiuh Ihuícac, where joy was endless and flowers never wilted. Men who died in war and women succumbing in childbirth went here. The men accompanied the sun on its morning journey, and the women in the afternoon. After four years, these spirits were allowed to return to earth: the warriors as birds and butterflies, and the women as goddesses who could reclaim their utensils and appear to their bereaved husbands.

In 1521, the Great Tenochtitlan fell to the Spanish conquistadors. Their conquest was not only a military affair, but a religious one from the beginning. In Latin America, though the indigenous population was decimated, it was not physically or culturally extinguished. Many of the missionaries sent to convert the "pagans" became fascinated by their culture and arts. They encouraged them to write Codices describing their customs so that these would not be lost. There was much intermingling; the missionaries taught Catholic symbols to the native population and used native craftsmen for church construction and for the production of religious objects. Native techniques and styles were accepted. Thus, Indian crafts and motifs survived, and a greater degree of syncretism occurred than in many conquered regions. Furthermore, the colonizers brought with them the wealth of tradition and the varied imagery and forms of their homes.

One Mexican town famous for its celebrations of the dead, is also an excellent example of this cultural and religious mixture; it is Mixquic, located within the Federal District. Its very name may be derived from Mixquiztl, the Goddess of Life and Death. According to the Mendoza Codex, Mixquic was one of the first places conquered by the Aztecs in 1430. The inhabitants of this lovely city were forced to render tribute to Teotihuacan. When the Conquistadors arrived, Bernal Díaz del Castillo tells us, they gave them rich gifts and told them of their grievances with Moctezuma. Mixquic joined the Spaniards against the Aztecs, later becoming an important part of the colonial system. In 1533, the Augustinian missionaries arrived and changed the name to San Andrés Mixquic, after the Apostle Andrew. But the Catholicism practiced in Mixquic, and all over Mexico, continues to be mixed with pre-Hispanic symbolism.

Today, Mixquic is one of the main centers for celebration of the dead, the Fieles Difuntos (Faithful Deceased). Here the ritual is elaborate and formal. The festivities begin well before the traditional Day of the Dead on November 2nd.

First, the house must be cleaned and utensils made or bought to receive the honored visitors. The cemeteries are also cleaned, repaired and decorated in advance. Lanterns used to be fashioned of cane and paper and placed over the doorway with a candle to inform the dead that the people within believed in them, and were preparing to receive them.

Again, the dead are divided according to how and when they died, not their lives. On October 28th, those who perished in accidents are received. Young children are invited to visit the living on November 1st. And November 2nd, the day we know as Day of the Dead, is the celebration for adults who have passed on. On the 3rd of November, the living may eat and share the objects from the altar. People give their neighbors presents, saying they were left for them by the deceased.

In Mixquic, a bellman rings out the hours at which the various rituals should be performed; offerings at home and at the graveyard are presented in strict order. But in most places throughout Mexico the celebration is somewhat less formal. People still take their offerings to the graveyards and share a meal with their loved ones who have passed away, though many cities now prohibit eating and drinking within the burial grounds. And a great many families, even businesses, put up altars or ofrendas.

The offerings to the dead should contain the following elements:

Water - which represents life in pre-Hispanic cultures and baptism in Catholicism. The spirits are also believed to be thirsty after their journey.

Salt - is for purification, and to preserve the bodies against decomposition.

Copal or incense - Today incense is used to guide the dead back through their sense of smell. In ancient times, it signified reverence; in Christianity it symbolizes a conveyance of prayers to heaven.

Candles - have taken on the task of lighting the dead on their journey back. The Mexica burned ocote so the dead would not lose their way to Mictlán.

Flowers - are another essential element of this ritual. They are not only placed on the ofrendas and tombs of loved ones; but, since their scent also leads the dead, a pathway of flowers is laid from the front door to the altar. White flowers are offered to children, representing their purity. But the flower known as the Flower of the Dead is Cempasúchitl (the Marigold). Legend has it that Tenoch was saddened by all of the death during the conquest of Tenochtitlan. He asked Tonatiuh (the Sun God) to help him remember the deceased. The next morning, the fields surrounding what is now Mexico City were covered with these bright orange flowers.

A petate - or straw mat is used to represent the shroud, and for the dead to sleep upon if they are tired.

Food - Fruits, mole, and the special breads made for the dead with crossed bone decorations are a must for any offering. Usually cigarettes and alcoholic beverages are included. Anything the remembered dead particularly liked is considered appropriate.

Calaveras - The word calavera means skull, but refers to a great many items used in the Day of the Dead celebration. Candy skulls are a true form of folk art, and are made from sugar, chocolate, amaranth seeds, gum drops, candied fruits and almost anything you can think of.

Papel picado - is a special form of punched out paper used for many occasions in Mexico. It is believed to be derived from the pre-Hispanic custom of working magic with figures cut from amate bark. Probably because these figures were frequently included in burials for protection, they are popular on altars and surrounding the celebrations for the dead. Many of the designs used today, however, are those of José Guadalupe Posada.

Guadalupe Posada, an early 20th century engraver, began making political cartoons and broadsides using skeletons as his characters. His work, which was low-priced and extremely popular, has come to be representative of the Day of the Dead. His "Catrina", or elegantly dressed lady skeleton, is one of the most widespread images of the Day of the Dead and appears in all kinds of folk art, papel picado, on wrappers of candy skulls, and even in our illustrations. Posada called both his engravings of skulls and skeletons as well as the satirical verses with which he accompanied them calaveras.

Source: Latin American Library/ Tulane University

Short, humorous, sometimes quite biting, literary calaveras are still written in the form of epitaphs, or describing encounters with Death, who is most certainly a Lady in Mexican lore. This custom is so popular that most newspapers publish a section of calaveras about public and political figures, and many a modern office finds itself deluged with photocopies of satirical verses about the bosses or co-workers.

Our indigenous forefathers buried along with their dead, not only weapons and food, but toys and the tools of the trade they practiced in life. Small representations of dogs might help them get to Mictlán.

Nowadays children frequently go from door to door -or car to car at stoplights- asking for money or candy. One tends to think that this is in imitation of Halloween, and certainly we have been-and are being-influenced by our neighbors to the north. But indigenous communities also had a tradition of children going from house to house asking for tamales. It was considered a blessing on the ofrenda to give them one; in the olden days, candles were also given to the children, who went to the graveyard at the end of their rounds and lit them for the forgotten dead.

And the crafts relating to the Day of the Dead abound. Small depictions of skeletons enjoying daily life, courting one another, or mocking our mortal foibles, are made of wood, clay or other readily available materials.

The Day of the Dead in Mexico is a time to remember those who have gone before us, thank them for enriching our lives, and contemplate our own mortality, both with reverence and with humor.

Perhaps a fitting end for this brief look at the Day of the Dead is the epitaph written by Octavio Paz (1914-1998), Nobel Laureate and one of the great exponents of our mestizaje, the mixture of blood lines and creeds which formed our modern Mexico.

EPITAPH ON NO STONE
Mixcoac was my town: three nocturnal syllables, a mask of shadow on a solar face. Our Lady came, the Mother Whirlwind. She came and ate it. I was wandering the world. My words were my house, my tomb the air.

Source: The Austin Chronicle.

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