Día de Muertos/Day of the Dead
Birth
and death, two of the most transcendental moments of life are celebrated by all
cultures according to their particular belief system, historical development,
environment, and evolution within their culturally specific context. Every world
culture has coping mechanisms to deal with the loss of life. In México,
the belief among its native ethnic groups and within the great majority of its'
Mestizo (mixed European, Indigenous, African ancestry) population, is that
the dead have divine permission to return to the family home for forty-eight hours
(November 1st & 2nd) each year to enjoy the pleasures they knew in life, and
it is the duty and responsibility of the surviving family members to welcome their
deceased loved ones and ancestors for a brief reunion on their yearly visit. Day
of the Dead celebrates a communion between the living and the dead in a colorful
festival of ritual and life.
Pre-Columbian
México
Within
the cycle of Mexican festivals, Día de Muertos
festivities are among the most important. Anthropologists
believe the Day of the Dead to be the oldest surviving celebration
in the Americas, with roots deep in Pre-Columbian world
of Mesoamérica and intertwined with European beliefs
and traditions brought over by the Spanish conquerors in
1519.
Death is not regarded as a termination,
but a culmination of the life cycle and as an entrance into another realm in which
earthly aspects are recreated. Life and death, or paired oppositions - duality,
is one of the basic structural religious principles of Mesoamérican religious
thought. * Photo, right: Giant statue of Coatlicue, She of the Serpent Skirt,
Post-Classic Mexika-Aztec Dating back to the Pre-Classic period (1,500
BC) through the post-classic period (1521 AD), Mesoamérican cultures held
similar cosmogenic beliefs as well as similar beliefs towards death and the afterlife.
They also practiced similar funerary and commemorative rituals towards their dead.
Foremost, they conceived death as an integral part of life. The duality of creation
and the universe was the central axis of their belief system. Everything was inexorably
tied to its opposite, thus, life was seen as death and death as life. As a matter
of fact, life was viewed mostly as a dream and it was believed that death brought
the awakening from that dream. In a flowery poem written by Mexika (me-SHEE-ka)
-Aztec, Texcoco Speaker or Ruler, Netzhualcoyotl, he explores this metaphor: "We
come only to sleep, only to dream It is not true, it is not true that we come
to live on this earth We become as Spring weeds, we grow green and open the
petals of our hearts Our body is a plant in flower, it gives flower and dies
away . . ." As one awoke from the dream of life, the dwelling
place of one's afterlife was not determined by one's conduct on earth, with all
of its transgressions, but, rather, by the manner in which one died. Their world
view was not based on a doctrine of salvation or redemption, but on one with an
ethical concept dissimilar to the Christian one. Ethical principles which guided
their life and the approval of the gods, thus led to the attainable happiness
on earth. Through particular forms of religious observance, the peoples of Mesoamérica
have sought to ensure harmony and balance both with themselves and with the greater
cosmos. One's
destiny after death was a matter for the gods to determine, not the individual.
Therefore, one's final destiny in the afterlife was determined by the manner of
the individuals' death. For example, Eagle and Jaguar Warriors who died in battle,
as sacrificial victims to Tonatiuh (toh-nah-tu), the Sun God, or women
who died in childbirth were destined to join Tonatiuh on his daily trajectory
across the zenith. Tlaloc (tlah'-lohk), the Rain God, called those whose
death involved water (drowning, pneumonia, etc.) to dwell in Tlalocan (tlah'loh-kahn),
the paradise of Tlaloc. Children under the age of three went to the tree of the
nursemaid, or Chichihuacuaucho (chee-chee-wah-kwah-ooh'-ko) the wet-nurse
tree, located in Omeyocan or "place of duality." Along with other minor
exceptions, the great majority of the dead traveled the road of the nine underworlds
to Mictlan (meek'tlan), the land of the dead, to be greeted by Mictlantecuhtli
(meek-tlan'-teh-kook'tlee) and his consort. As
each level was reached, the dead had met up with a dangerous challenge which they
had to negotiate and overcome in order to reach the end of their difficult journey.
The present day practice of placing ofrendas, or offerings of food, water and
salt on the leveled altars which are installed during Día de Muertos
celebrations is a reflection of this ancient belief. All in all, the honoring
of the dead as well as a cult of death played a prominent role throughout Mesoamérica
and the rituals and ceremonies associated with death can be divided into three
general categories: 1) The worship of the gods of death and all of those associated
with the underworld. 2) Ancestor worship with specific rituals. 3) Elaborate
funerary rituals and yearly ceremonies honoring the dead, July 24 - August 12,
Miccaihuitontli (meek-ky-wee-tohn-tlee) was for the children and August
13 - September 1, Hueymiccailhuitl (way-meek-ky-eel-weetl).
* Images from 2007 Microsoft "Live Search"
Papel Picado-Cut Paper | History
of Day of the Dead |
| 2011
Day of the Dead | Cut
Paper with Scissors |
Cut Paper with Knife | Ofrendas
| Skeleton
Puppets |
Paper
Flowers | Connections
& Extensions |
Education
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