Top 10 Things to Know About

the Day of the Dead We've all heard about the Day of the Dead or seen the classic

sugar skull paintings—but what does this celebration really

represent?

Over 500 woman gathered in Mexico City on November 1, 2014, to set a Guiness World Record for the largest gathering of women dressed as Catrina. P H O T O G R A P H B Y T O M A S B R A V O , R E U T E R S

By Logan Ward

Here’s one thing we know: Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is not a

Mexican version of Halloween. Though related, the two annual events differ

greatly in traditions and tone. Whereas Halloween is a dark night of terror

and mischief, Day of the Dead festivities unfold over two days in an

explosion of color and life-affirming joy. Sure, the theme is death, but the

point is to demonstrate love and respect for deceased family members. In

towns and cities throughout Mexico, revelers don funky makeup and

costumes, hold parades and parties, sing and dance, and make offerings to

lost loved ones.

The rituals are rife with symbolic meaning. The more you understand about

this feast for the senses, the more you will appreciate it. Here are 10 essential

things you should know about Mexico’s most colorful annual event.

W H A T I S D A Y O F T H E D E A D ? Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a

celebration of life and death. While the holiday originated in Mexico, it is celebrated all over Latin America with colorful calaveras (skulls) and calacas (skeletons). Learn how the Day of the Dead started and the traditions that make it unique.

R E C OG N I T ION B Y U N ES C O

Thanks to efforts by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization, or UNESCO, the term “cultural heritage” is not limited to

monuments and collections of objects. It also includes living expressions of

culture—traditions—passed down from generation to generation. In 2008,

UNESCO recognized the importance of Día de los Muertos by adding the

holiday to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Today

Mexicans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds celebrate Día de los

Muertos, but at its core, the holiday is a reaffirmation of indigenous life.

V I E W I M A G E S

Left: There are endless variations of the Catrina sold in many forms during the holiday—and throughout the year in Mexico. Right: Participants walk down a mural-painted street during Dia de los Muertos. P H O T O G R A P H B Y T I N O S O R I A N O , N A T I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C ( L E F T )

Left: Papel picado, or pierced papers, blow in the wind in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. You can

find papel picado around Mexico throughout the year, but especially around Day of the Dead. Right: A Mexican woman sits at at a gravesite covered in marigolds and other flowers during a Day of the Dead celebration in Tzintzuntzan, Mexico. P H O T O G R A P H B Y R A U L T O U Z O N ( L E F T ) A N D P H O T O G R A P H B Y J A N

S O C H O R , A L A M Y ( R I G H T )

H I S T O RY

Day of the Dead originated several thousand years ago with the Aztec, Toltec,

and other Nahua people, who considered mourning the dead disrespectful.

For these pre-Hispanic cultures, death was a natural phase in life’s long

continuum. The dead were still members of the community, kept alive in

memory and spirit—and during Día de los Muertos, they temporarily

returned to Earth. Today’s Día de los Muertos celebration is a mash-up of

pre-Hispanic religious rites and Christian feasts. It takes place on November

1 and 2—All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on the Catholic calendar—around

the time of the fall maize harvest.

Flowers and candles set the mood during a Day of the Dead vigil at a cemetery in Oaxaca, Mexico. P H O T O G R A P H B Y K E N N E T H G A R R E T T , N A T I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C

A L TA R S

The centerpiece of the celebration is an altar, or ofrenda, built in private

homes and cemeteries. These aren’t altars for worshipping; rather, they’re

meant to welcome spirits back to the realm of the living. As such, they’re

loaded with offerings—water to quench thirst after the long journey, food,

family photos, and a candle for each dead relative. If one of the spirits is a

child, you might find small toys on the altar. Marigolds are the main flowers

used to decorate the altar. Scattered from altar to gravesite, marigold petals

guide wandering souls back to their place of rest. The smoke from copal

incense, made from tree resin, transmits praise and prayers and purifies the

area around the altar.

L I T E RA RY C A LA V E RAS

Calavera means “skull.” But during the late 18th and early 19th centuries,

calavera was used to describe short, humorous poems, which were often

sarcastic tombstone epitaphs published in newspapers that poked fun at the

living. These literary calaveras eventually became a popular part of Día de

los Muertos celebrations. Today the practice is alive and well. You’ll find

these clever, biting poems in print, read aloud, and broadcast on television

and radio programs.

T H E CA LA VE R A CA T R IN A

In the early 20th century, Mexican political cartoonist and lithographer José

Guadalupe Posada created an etching to accompany a literary calavera.

Posada dressed his personification of death in fancy French garb and called

it Calavera Garbancera, intending it as social commentary on Mexican

society’s emulation of European sophistication. “Todos somos calaveras,” a

quote commonly attributed to Posada, means “we are all skeletons.”

Underneath all our manmade trappings, we are all the same.

Sugar skulls are sold in many forms across Mexico. This colorful group has sequins for eyes in Mercado Benito Juarez. P H O T O G R A P H B Y T I N O S O R I A N O , N A T I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C

In 1947 artist Diego Rivera featured Posada’s stylized skeleton in his

masterpiece mural “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park.”

Posada’s skeletal bust was dressed in a large feminine hat, and Rivera made

his female and named her Catrina, slang for “the rich.” Today, the calavera

Catrina, or elegant skull, is the Day of the Dead’s most ubiquitous symbol.

F O OD O F T H E D EAD

You work up a mighty hunger and thirst traveling from the spirit world back

to the realm of the living. At least that’s the traditional belief in Mexico.

Some families place their dead loved one’s favorite meal on the altar. Other

common offerings:

Pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, is a typical sweet bread (pan dulce),

often featuring anise seeds and decorated with bones and skulls made from

dough. The bones might be arranged in a circle, as in the circle of life. Tiny

dough teardrops symbolize sorrow.

Sugar skulls are part of a sugar art tradition brought by 17th-century Italian

missionaries. Pressed in molds and decorated with crystalline colors, they

come in all sizes and levels of complexity.

Drinks, including pulque, a sweet fermented beverage made from the agave

sap; atole, a thin warm porridge made from corn flour, with unrefined cane

sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla added; and hot chocolate.

V I E W I M A G E S

Left: Marigolds and family photos decorate a Day of the Dead altar in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Right: A woman adds finishing touches on her Catrina makeup ahead of the Catrinas Parade in Mexico City, Mexico. P H O T O G R A P H B Y C O R B I S D O C U M E N T A R Y / G E T T Y I M A G E S

( L E F T ) A N D P H O T O G R A P H B Y A L E J A N D R O A Y A L A X I N H U A , E Y E V I N E / R E D U X

( R I G H T )

C O S T U ME S

Day of the Dead is an extremely social holiday that spills into streets and

public squares at all hours of the day and night. Dressing up as skeletons is

part of the fun. People of all ages have their faces artfully painted to

resemble skulls, and, mimicking the calavera Catrina, they don suits and

fancy dresses. Many revelers wear shells or other noisemakers to amp up the

excitement—and also possibly to rouse the dead and keep them close during

the fun.

P A P E L P I CA DO

You’ve probably seen this beautiful Mexican paper craft plenty of times in

stateside Mexican restaurants. The literal translation, pierced paper,

perfectly describes how it’s made. Artisans stack colored tissue paper in

dozens of layers, then perforate the layers with hammer and chisel

points. Papel picado isn’t used exclusively during Day of the Dead, but it plays

an important role in the holiday. Draped around altars and in the streets, the

art represents the wind and the fragility of life.

Left: Likenesses of author Gabriel García Márquez line an altar in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Right: Dancers in traditional costumes perform in front of the Santo Domingo church in Oaxaca, Mexico. P H O T O G R A P H B Y C R A I G L O V E L L , E A G L E V I S I O N S P H O T O G R A P H Y / A L A M Y

( L E F T ) A N D P H O T O G R A P H B Y R I C H A R D E L L I S , A L A M Y ( R I G H T )

D AY O F THE DEA D TOD A Y

Thanks to recognition by UNESCO and the global sharing of information,

Día de los Muertos is more popular than ever—in Mexico and, increasingly,

abroad. For more than a dozen years, the New York-based nonprofit cultural

organization Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders has staged the

city’s largest Day of the Dead celebration. But the most authentic

celebrations take place in Mexico. If you find yourself in Mexico City the

weekend before Day of the Dead this year, make sure to stop by the grand

parade where you can join in on live music, bike rides and other activities in

celebration throughout the city.

T A KE YO U R P I C K

Countless communities in Mexico celebrate Day of the Dead, but styles and

customs differ by region, depending on the region’s predominant pre-

Hispanic culture. Here are a few places that stand out for their colorful and

moving celebrations:

P Á T Z C U A R O

One of the most moving Day of the Dead celebrations takes place each year

in Pátzcuaro, a municipality in the state of Michoacán about 225 miles west

of Mexico City. Indigenous people from the countryside converge on the

shores of Pátzcuaro Lake, where they pile into canoes, a single candle

burning in each bow, and paddle over to a tiny island called Janitzio for an

all-night vigil in an indigenous cemetery.

M I X Q U I C

In this Mexico City suburb, bells from the historic Augustinian convent toll

and community members bearing candles and flowers process to the local

cemetery, where they clean and decorate the graves of their loved ones.

T U X T E P E C

This small city in the northeastern part of Oaxaca state is best known for its

sawdust rugs. For days, locals painstakingly arrange colored sawdust, flower

petals, rice, pine needles, and other organic materials in elaborate, ruglike

patterns on city streets. Traditionally made for important processions,

Tuxtepec’s sawdust rugs are judged in a contest held during Día de los

Muertos.

A G U A S C A L I E N T E S

Located roughly 140 miles north of Guadalajara, Aguascalientes—birthplace

of engraver José Guadalupe Posada—stretches its Day of the Dead

celebrations to nearly a week during its Festival de Calaveras (Festival of

Skulls). The festival culminates in a grand parade of skulls along Avenida

Madero.

P U B L I S H E D O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 7

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/top-ten-day-

of-dead-mexico/