| | |  Vallarta Living | October 2008 
Day of the Dead is Lively
 Rita Demontis - Toronto Sun
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| | At a cemetery, offerings and prayers for the departed are all part of the festivities during the Day of the Dead. | | |
We're all dying to celebrate the Day of the Dead.
Sure, Halloween's coming up fast and furious, with all those cute and naughty costumes and oodles of stomach-aching candies. And let's not forgot those wickedly delightful parties that are currently being planned with military precision.
We'll pass. And wait for the return of our dearly departed the way Mexicans and most Latin American countries have been celebrating the Dia de los Muertos for decades.
Details include dining al fresco at the local cemetery where departed family and friends currently reside, and cramming our mouths full of delicious, skull-shaped candies. And then there's that wonderfully aromatic pan de muerto - Day of the Dead bread, with just a hint of anise.
The original celebration can be traced to Mesoamerican native traditions and comes from beliefs that regard death not as the end of life, but rather as an awakening in the land of the dead.
In the post-conquest era the festivities were moved by Spanish priests to coincide with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve (Halloween). That means Mexicans mark the Day of the Dead in the first two days of November.
What happens during this time is families welcome the dead back into their homes and/or by visiting the graves of close kin. At the cemetery, family members spruce up the gravesite, decorate it with flowers and enjoy a picnic in addition to interacting with other family and community members.
In both cases, celebrants believe that the souls of the dead return and are all around them. Meals prepared for these picnics usually featuring meat dishes in spicy sauces, chocolate beverages, cookies, sugary confections in a variety of animal or skull shapes, and that special egg-batter bread of the dead.
Sounds gruesome? It's actually awesome to understand and embrace what is a natural occurance in all our lives.
For in being born are we guaranteed to die, it's as simple as that.
And one shouldn't be afraid of what one doesn't know. |
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