![]() Image via Carlos Ivan Palacios.īecause the dead’s journey would be so arduous, the living would bury them with food, like chocolate and maíz, supplies, and sometimes, their canine companions who were sacrificed to aid them along the way. The manner in which people died would determine which heaven, of which there were thirteen, they would call home. ![]() Mesoamerican people believed in an afterlife that began as a series of journeys to reach a final resting place, and that series of journeys could take several years to complete. The holiday originated more than 3,000 years ago and, like many cultural traditions in Mexico, it emerged from Mesoamerican practices. Image via Fer Gregory.ĭía de los Muertos offers a space, almost a season, in time where I can reconnect with my culture while meditating on the lives of my loved ones, even the ones I never got to meet.īecause, in the same breath, commemorating your dead isn’t just remembering them, it’s also an act of remembering yourself. Día de los Muertos sugar skulls with cempasúchil flowers. They both died on a Thursday, exactly a week apart. Herminia and Cleto had six children together. Afterwards, he and his dog would split a big, fresh-baked concha for breakfast. Back home, he had a Great Dane who’d alert him when the pan dulce was ready at their local panadería. Image via Carlos Tischler/Shutterstock.Īs for Cleto-born on the same date I was, only 104 years earlier-he survived a bullet wound to the head in the revolution. A participant in Catrina Fest 2016 in costume. Times were very different back then, my great-aunt reminds me while sharing parts of their story. My great-aunt, Rosalinda (my official source for paternal family history), told me Herminia gave birth to one of their children while out looking for food alone, huddled between a doorway. She provided for her family while her husband, Cleto, was away during the Mexican Revolution (he was a Zapatista). Herminia, who was of Russian descent, was said to be as tough as she was maternal, and could supposedly make a mean mole (sauce). One of her poems is about a sickly chayote that was revived through her care: “que por mis cuidados/ hermoso ha brotado/ el pobre chayote/ vuelto a renacer.” (English translation: that from my care/ beautifully it has budded/ the poor chayote/ is now reborn.) My great-great grandmother, Herminia, was a poet. Images via Aidee Martinez/Eyepix Group/Shutterstock. The parade consist of thousands of participants including musicians, acrobatic dancers, and floats. The International Día de los Muertos at the Museum of Mexico City. Of course, because nothing and no one in this life is promised, I now have a handful of close family members to grieve.īut, it wasn’t until I started learning about my great-great paternal grandparents, Herminia and Cleto, as part of my recent journey to reconnect with my Mexican heritage, that I found myself yearning to more actively remember and honor my dearly departed. La Catrina’s elegant visage symbolizes the celebration of life rather than the fear of death. We didn’t know enough about our ancestors or even our distant recently-deceased relatives to really mourn them. Images via Belikova Oksana, ARTvektor, and AGCuesta.īut, my family didn’t have an altar, flowers, or even pictures of our ancestors, for that matter-save for two pencil portraits of my dad’s grandparents.įor the most part, we were far from and out of touch with our extended family in central Mexico. The many celebratory accents of Día de los Muertos. I’d learn about the celebration at school in Tijuana, where festivities would be on display through colorful cut-out paper banners (a craft known in Mexico as papel picado), altars with sugar skulls, and yellow-and- orange cempasúchil flowers that are believed to be bright enough to guide souls back to their loved ones on November 2nd. Image via Carlos Tischler/Shutterstock.įor us, the holiday didn’t go much further than its symbolic sweet bread. ![]() I knew the season was here when the round sweet bread, shimmering in a dusted coat of sugar crystals with a cross atop its plump surface, began to emerge at local panaderías. and San Diego, CA, I associated Día de los Muertos with one thing: pan de muerto. One writer reflects on the holiday, its rich history, and the many customs, symbols, and emotions behind it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |