ferretbite

Day of the Dead. It's a very old tradition. The ancient mexicans, in general, had three obsessions: The Sun. War. And Death. Then we were conquered and the ancient traditions merged with the new religion. They tried to wipe them out but it just didn't work. So, how does it work?

It's not a sad day, quite the contrary, on this day the souls of those who are dead come back not to haunt but to spend the day with us. We share food, music, images, memories... So it's a happy thing. Us mexicans often make fun of death. Very often. We have a number of phrases and she's mostly depicted as a smiling skeleton, maybe even a dancing one. We eat it in the shape of bread or sugar candy.

On the first day, which was today, the souls of children come to visit their families, along with those of people who drowned or perished in an accident. Tradition says they should be given water and bread, though not the fancy kind. This is also valid for the souls of evil people, so they won't harm anybody.

Tomorrow, the big event takes place. Every other departed soul comes back to spend the day with us. They are attracted by the flowers we build the altars with, which are quite fragrant and colorful, as you have seen in my pictures (more to come soon). They should be offered fruit, tamales, coffee, chocolate, a delicious thing called mole, cigarrettes and in some places, alcohol. As you can see these are all spicy, scented things. The dead can't eat, but they can taste and remember what it was like. Their favorite meals or candy or whatever, should be there too.

In the night of the 2nd, dawn of the 3rd day of november, the dead go back too the underworld, where they'll remain until the next year. In some places, people make these paths with flowers that go from their house to the person's grave. This is meant to help them find their way both when they arrive and when they have to leave.