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Día de Muertos History
Medieval Europe
 The
Christian evangelization of non-Christian Europe took about 1,000 years with all
rites, rituals and ceremonies associated with death and the dead being nearly
eradicated. Prior to the evangelization, it was common to honor the dead around
the growing cycles held during the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes where large bonfires
were built around the gravesides, offerings of food and wine were brought and
consumed, and singing and dancing lasted through the night. The Roman Catholic
Church, having its roots as an underground religion, had held celebratory masses
in the catacombs around the graves of saints and martyrs and in the seventh century,
Pope Boniface IV established All Saints Day to be celebrated in May. In the following
century, Pope Gregory III moved this feast day to November 1st, but this was not
sufficient to attract converts, so in the tenth century, the Abbot of Cluny decreed
that all Cluniac monasteries celebrate the dead who had died as baptized Christians
in the same manner as the saints and martyrs. By the eleventh century, November
2nd was incorporated into the liturgical calendar as All Souls Day by Pope Urban
II. Unofficially, at the time, the church made other concessions to incorporate
rites and ceremonies of non-Christian Europe into the newly established traditions
of All Souls Day.
 One
of these traditions in Northern Spain was prepared bread, pan de animas or soul
bread to flower-bedecked graves then later distributed to the poor. Another tradition,
was the use of lit oil lamps outside the home in order to help the souls find
their way back to their earthly homes. In some cases, people set fresh linen on
the beds and did not sleep on them all through the night with the belief that
loved ones used them to rest before undertaking the long journey back to paradise.
Spanish Conquest of México
México-Tenochtitlan fell on August 13, 1521 and the
systematic destruction, sacking, exploitation, and extermination
of the indigenous population began in earnest. With the
divine permission of the Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish
Crown, the evangelizing clergy proceeded to erase all vestiges
of the belief systems of the natives. Although pyramids,
temples, codices (picture books) were destroyed and desecrated
then replaced with churches and written doctrine, eventually
many of the Spanish beliefs came to coexist with the indigenous
beliefs, as the numerous Catholic Saints joined the hierarchy
of the gods. After the conquest, the mass conversion of
the Mexika-Aztecs and other native peoples to Catholicism
was facilitated by combining the sites and ceremonies of
indigenous culture with Spanish.
Colonial México
 One
example of this cultural merging is the apparition of La Virgen de Guadalupe,
now the patron saint of México and a powerful icon in Hispanic culture.
Ten years after the conquest of México in 1531 on the hill of Tepeyac where
a temple once stood to Tonantzin (TOH-Nan-seen) the Mexika-Aztec earth
goddess, La Virgen de Guadalupe appeared before a native of a local village and
requested a church be built in her honor; he was the messenger to the Bishop.
Overall, the legend was successful in fusing the brown skinned, Nahuatl
(NA-watl) speaking goddess with the Christian Virgen Mary.
 The
first celebrations of All Souls Day on November 2nd in México were carried
out when the very first relics arrived from Europe in the early 1530's. From that
date, during the next 300 years of the Spanish Colony, people took relics made
of bread or of sugar paste to be blessed on November 2nd seeking protection and
blessings for the year. This custom set the stage for the present day tradition
of sugar skulls and the addition of little bones made out of dough to the traditional
Spanish pan de animas now known as pan de muerto. Death was also
made into a public spectacle for elaborate and festive funerary rituals and processions
in honor of the death of the king, a member of the royal family, the viceroy,
or an important member of the clergy. Death as La Portentosa or La Reina Muerte
was seated on top of an elaborate catafalque (coffin stand), built especially
for the occasion, as she presided over the funerary rituals. Her presence was
used as a means to remind all of the imminence of their own death as well as of
her powers. No one could ever escape her or her whims. These "official"
rites were performed in all of the cities and towns of La Nueva España
and attendance was mandatory.
Post-Colonial México
 Towards
the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, Jose Guadalupe
Posada (1852-1913), a master printer and lithographer, reanimated the skeletal
image of the benign Portentosa. He gave her a humorous touch and his calavera
images have become classic worldwide images associated with the Mexican traditions
of Día de Muertos.  Posada
used his calavera images as social commentary, political satire, and statements
by asserting the very egalitarian principles that Mexicans attribute to death
itself. He tapped into the syncretic traditions and mindset of México.
Posada recognized the roots that lay in Pre-Columbian culture as well as in the
Spanish obsession death as a punishment from God. His calaveras marked the standard
of present day Día de Muertos skulls and skeletons with their grins,
cocky attitudes, and ability to portray a great variety of human activities. They
reflect the Mexican understanding that death is always imminent, making them embrace
her in a satirical and humorous way - not the European angst. To make the point
that even the rich and powerful must come to terms with the inevitablitlity of
death, Posada created and personified the elegant Victorian lady Calavera Catrina
and the mustachioed Calavera Zapapista.
Present Day Celebrations
 Ultimately,
over the last 500 years through diverse manifestations and
subjugation, the syncretization of Christian and indigenous
beliefs and practices contributed to the evolution of Día
de Muertos to the present day. Death is celebrated in
the midst of life as Día de Muertos is one
of the most important yearly celebrations in México
and in communities in the United States from coast to coast
where there are Méxicanos, Mexican Americans and
Chicanos who identify with their cultural inheritance. In
México, the building of an altar with its accompanying
ofrenda is a tradition which is practiced primarily by indigenous
groups, blue collar and working class Mestizos, as well
as urban intellectuals and artists who recognize their "Indian"
roots and pay homage to that heritage.
 Preparation
for Día de Muertos festivities begin in mid-October and continues
through to the two days of the fiesta, November 1st - All Saint's Day and November
2nd - All Soul's Day. On November 1st, children are honored and adults on November
2nd. For these dates, altars are erected in the homes and/or day of the dead community
events in the United States, and special visits or pilgrimages are made to the
cemetery. Often altars are decorated with photographs of the deceased, marigold
flowers or cempasúchil (sem-pah-soo'-cheel), petate mats, candles,
personal mementos, pan de muerto, papel picado (paper cut-outs),
miniature toys, food, water, salt, and kopal incense (a resinous incense).
* Images from 2007 Microsoft "Live Search"
Day of the Dead
| Papel Picado-Cut
Paper |
| 2011
Day of the Dead | Cut
Paper with Scissors |
Cut Paper with Knife | Ofrendas
| Skeleton
Puppets |
Paper
Flowers |
Extensions | Vocabulary
& Bibliography |
Education
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