Day of the Dead - Hosting Parties for our Dearly Departed
Time to read: approx 3.5 minutes
“A civilization that denies death ends by denying life.” Octavio Paz
On Hosting Parties for our Dearly Departed
The Day of the Dead (November 1st) is approaching, and so is the day of the Faithful Departed (November 2nd) two days that are particularly important in several Latin American cultures. Although there are variations in the traditions, one common thread among all the celebrations is that those days are meant to be about remembering, and visiting those we lost... or rather allowing them to visit us.
In the Aztec, Mayan, and Andean traditions (amongst others), it is said that the spirits of our ancestors and our loved ones travel back to our realm at midnight on November 1st, and they travel back on November 2nd. It is our duty, as the earth dwellers left behind, to set up offerings consisting of their favorite foods, favorite drinks, and various treats while they visit us; and no celebration would be complete without special treats for the living to enjoy as well.
These traditions live (rent free) in my memory as happy days spent visiting my grandfathers at the beautiful cemetery in San Salvador. My mom would commission cemetery workers to scrub, clean, and paint the tombstones of my family members’ gravesites. We also purchased flowers for them, and of course a treat that is only available on Day of the Dead in El Salvador: Hojuelas (a sweet and crunchy fried treat doused in panela syrup). I remember running into my (living) friends and extended family at the cemetery and spending time with them remembering those who had left us too soon. We would walk the cemetery, admiring the gorgeously decorated mausoleums, the marble statues, and everyone’s festive offerings consisting of food, toys, and flower crowns.
When I was older, I also had the wonderful experience of living in Guatemala and learning more about the Mayan Kaqchiekel traditions of Day of the Dead. In the town of Sumpango, people spend several months building enormous kites measuring 40 ft in diameter or more. The kites (shown above) have colourful and intricate designs depicting Mayan gods and scenes from Mayan cosmology.
The kites are flown above the tombstones as a way to guide the dead back to this life for one night. I gathered with friends at the cemetery and ate Fiambre, a Guatemalan cold dish made up of more than 50 ingredients and that is only available on November 1st and 2nd; we listened to live music and watched the kites dancing in the sky. I heard stories about their buried loved ones, and they heard some about mine.
Later in life, I learned of the T’anta Wawas (“bread babies”) a tradition found in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and other parts of Latin America. For the Day of the Dead, people bake bread in the shape of babies (in Quechuan T’anta is the word for bread, and wawa means baby), often painting faces directly on the bread or adding masks made of plaster. Bread ladders are also baked and left out for the spirits who are visiting to come down from above. All the bread babies are put as offerings along with the dearly departed’s favorite earthly delights such as fruit and candy (and sometimes alcohol and cigarettes).
Another Latin American tradition that is now widely known in the world is the Day of the Dead parades and celebrations in Mexico. These celebrations have made their way to the shared western Imaginarium with movies like Coco, James Bond, your friend’s Halloween costume, and many other popular culture references.
La Catrina Garbancera (a tall and elegant female skeleton wearing a fancy hat and a fancy dress) which is at the centre of these celebrations, is a symbol created by Cartoonist Jose Guadalupe Posada over 100 years ago and popularized by famous Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera. In Mexico, La Catrina represents the humorous side of death as it was meant to poke fun of those who let money and status get to their head. La Catrina now serves as a reminder that death is democratic, and it is coming for everyone, either rich or poor. These traditions that are part Catholic and part Indigenous, have evolved, gained recognition all over the world, and have now become a part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list by UNESCO in 2003.
To me, there is something beautiful about celebrating the dead every year, and I am so happy I grew up with these traditions in my life. One thing I know for sure is that after we have lost someone and we have grieved, there is a time when the pain of loss intersects with the quiet and heartfelt joy of having loved someone deeply and wanting to celebrate them and host them back into our lives for even just one day; one day filled with colourful flowers, Hojuelas, bread babies, candy, Pan de Muertos, and sugar skulls, but also filled with stories and memories that honor their life and their afterlife.
