The Day of the Dead is a Mexican custom of celebrating All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) both official holidays of the Catholic Calendar together in a festive atmosphere. The Day of the Dead merges pre-Columbian and modern Catholic beliefs. The celebration was founded to honor all the faithfully departed of the previous year.
There are a number of different customs surrounding the celebration of the Day of the Dead. Altars are created to present food and beverages for the dead to partake in spirit and the living to consume later. These altars, or ofrendas, are generally arranged with flowers (traditionally marigolds), a candle for each dead soul, and adorned with mementos, photos and other remembrances of the deceased. Incense can also be used.
Calaveras are obituaries set to poetry. They are often attached to ofrendas as a placard. They generally describe the character of the deceased in a jovial or satirical tone.
Papel picado are a popular decoration in Mexico. The tissue banners are made using scissors, but since the 1940’s they have been cut with tiny chisels called fierritos. Today, skilled artisans use more than fifty different chisels to make various cuts in up to fifty sheets of tissue paper at the same time. Colored banners are displayed on October 31st, the day the angelitos (deceased children) arrive, at 3 p.m. On November 1, the angelitos depart and the animas (deceased adults) arrive. When this occurs the colored banners are removed and the black and white banners are displayed.
Food is an important part of the celebration. Typical foods include: bread, chalupas, enchiladas, fruit, vegetables, and sweets. Other delicacies are: sugar skulls (bought from bakeries with the names of family members who are alive and deceased inscribed), candied fruit and pumpkins, tamales (corn meal with meat or raising wrapped in corn husks), and maize dough cakes. The traditional pan de muerto, dead bread, is commonly decorated with sugar. The bread is always placed on the altar and not removed until the visit to the cemetery for the soul. Beverages placed on the memorial include: water, coffee, beer, tequila, and atole (a special hot drink made from corn meal).
Day of the Dead can also be a very private celebration as a great deal of the event focuses on the home and the cemetery. Each community can bring their own heritage and culture to the event creating a variation of expression.
