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| Altar Made for Frida Kahlo By Students |
I love the symbolism and decorum evident in all Mexican holidays and celebrations and Dia de Los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead, is no exception. It honors loved ones who've died, that much is clear. But I needed some fine tuning on the why's and wherefore's of the holiday. So I headed into Santa Barbara's La Calenda, a charming Mexican artisan shop, to talk to owner Esperanza Vargas. Vargas hails from Oaxaca, has lived in California thirty years, and has owned the shop in Santa Barbara for nine.
"When I was little, I think Dia de Los Muertos was more a cultural thing," she said. "Every year my mother would make the preparations. She would create a big, big altar called an ofrenda about two weeks before, and she would make the bread, which is very important, pan de muerto. In our pueblo, if people didn't bake themselves, they would look for someone to make the bread or go to the bakery. But with the baker there was a long wait because having the bread was essential. All the homes would make their own mole and chocolate. My mother would start three days before with her cooking preparations for the mole. It took that long. I asked her why do we do it?
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| Pan de Muerto |
She said, "Mi hija, for angel babies that die, angelitos, God lets them see their families once a year and that's why we make everything they used to like. They come to visit us during these days, November 1 at midnight for babies, November 2 for adults, because we send them the smell of the foods they used to like, so they follow the smells. Also, it's for the family, but if someone's family did not make an altar, we put one for them along with ours.
"You see," she said, "God gave them permission to come visit and that's why they do it. But now, sadly, they are making it too ugly. The drug dealers are saying Dia de Los Muertos is to honor their Santa Muerte, but that's not the reason at all. The real reason they come is because they were given per-mission by God.
"November 2 is for adults and we make food and bring flowers we have at home, marigolds, and take them to the cemetery where they are buried and we spend time with our loved ones there."
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Marigolds Grown for Dia de Los Muertos (Mexico Desconocido)
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The History Channel states the holiday traces its earliest roots to the Aztecs in what is now central Mexico. Aztecs used skulls to honor the dead for three thousand years before Day of the Dead celebrations emerged. Although it is sometimes confused with Halloween because of the symbolic skulls, it is not related at all.
After the Conquest in the 16th century, the Catholic church moved indig-
enous rituals honoring the dead, originally in the summer with an entire month dedicated to the dead, to times that coordinated with Catholic dates for All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November first and second. That's how they came to be merged together.
Dia de Los Muertos came into being thanks to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as the 'lady of the dead.' It's said she watches over the bones of the dead and swallows the stars during the day.
Offerings for the dead consist of water, the loved ones' favorite food and drink, flowers (marigolds because of their intense color and strong smell to guide spirits back to the family altar), bread and other things that were important in the dead person's life. Sometimes paths strewn with marigold petals are made so the souls can easily find their way home.
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| Sugar Candy Skulls or Calaveras |
Skulls like the ones placed on Aztec temples for rituals remain key to the tradition that honors life rather than mourns death. Though skeletons (calacas) and other trappings of death are key, the ancient holiday is viewed as part of the cycle of life, in a joyous celebration that embraces death. In Mexico the inevitability of death is accepted rather than feared and families come together to honor their ancestors. The skeletons came about in the 19th century in Mexico City when a social activist and cartoonist created La Catrina (elegant skull), a well-dressed skeleton, to protest the Mexican people's desire to look European. Catrinas dance and sing; flowers, fruit and candy decorate the altars. For two days death's morbid side is buried beneath music and remembrances. Today people dress up as La Catrina or paint their faces like skeletons as part of their Dia de Los Muertos celebrations.
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| La Catrina in La Calenda, Santa Barbara |
The Nahuatl people of central Mexico believed the deceased traveled on a year-long journey to the land of the dead, or Chicunamictlán. The living would provide supplies, food and water, to aid them in their trek. This practice inspired the modern tradition of creating altars at one's home, ofrendas, as well as leaving offerings at their grave sites. Altars are the centerpiece of the celebration and offerings are inspired by the four elements—fire, candles; water, pitchers left for the thirsty; earth, traditional foods; and wind, the papel picado which allows souls to pass through due to their perforations.
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| Picado with Perforations for Soul to Pass Through |
Papel picado, thin and colorful paper strung high to catch the wind, represents the delicate nature of life. And the sugar skulls, calaveras, are also essential. Decorative, they are placed on the ofrenda and given as treats.
Families gather to clean graves before the holiday, then come the day, they eat and tell stories around the tomb. Ancestors are honored with a variety of foods and drinks: the candy skulls or calaveras, pan de muerto, tamales and mole, pozole, tortilla soup, hot chocolate, atole and pulque to drink.
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| Painting Faces Like La Catrina |
Photographs of the departed are front and center, surrounded by all the trappings of what the lost family member held dear in life. First and foremost, Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration of life that focuses on the connections that endure beyond death. It's a family time for joy, laughter, remembrance, and appreciation of the preciousness of life.
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| Cemetery During Day of the Dead Ceremonies (By Smithsonian Magazine) |
La Calenda Oaxacan Shop is located at 2915 De la Vina Street, Santa Barbara, and is open daily. For hours of operation, call (805) 845-3046 or check their website at lacalendasb.com.
