• Culture • 2010-10
Dia de Los Muertos is not just another spooky, get the sheets out, rip the two holes and say “boo!” kind of holiday, this is very serious stuff to us Latinos, and yes it is a “Holy Day”, let me explain.
Halloween is not what is celebrated by the the ancient peoples of South and Central America in old rituals. Our day is Dia De Los Muertos or The Day of The Dead. The ritual, Dia De Los Muertos, dates back thousands of years and has since been adapted by the Catholic Church and celebrated in almost every South and Central American Countries. Skulls are prominently used to celebrate and honor the dead.
Dia de Los Muertos, like the day of the hollowed eve to the Celtic, or Feralia to the Roman it has its roots in the belief that the dead continuing to live in another plain. It also adopts the belief that during a certain times of the year communication is more favorable between the living and the dead.
More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they met with Aztecs who practiced a ritual that seemed to mock the death. It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years back. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. This ritual known today as Día De los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This was a celebration to honor and celebrate the family members who has passed onto the other side of existence.
Today, Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and in certain parts of the United States and Central America. People wear wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. These wooden skulls are also placed on altars that are dedicated to the dead. Sugar skulls, made with the names of the dead person on the forehead, are eaten by a relative or friend.
In rural Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate grave sites with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to grave sites and eat the favorite food of their beloved. Laughing, joking and sometime crying, friends and family gather to say “I love and miss you” one more time and reminisce.
As time has gone by and commercialism has set in, this day now marks the evening of fun, costume and yes… tricks and treats. For Tijuana, since the beginning has been characterized for being a very peculiar city and with its proximity to the boarder, the trans-cultural acceptance of something between Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos is inevitable. During the first half of the 20th century, communication with the Capital was very difficult, so Tijuana met its needs through its relationship with the United States. There a kind of union emerged. In spite of the economic, political, and social changes and differences that were once and have risen now and again between the two towns and two countries, there is unique kind of brotherhood that has been created in both San Diego and Tijuana. An example of this is that now, here in Tijuana, we follow many of the Anglo-American festivities, including Halloween, or “night of witches” as we call it. We plan the day and its activities around the children and their costumes. In October, we share about the shopping centers scenes in San Diego, the upcoming scary movies and most especially about the costumes we will buy and wear. Trans-cultural ”ism” is a reality that cannot be ignored. It is a celebration and in the purest form, a demonstration that two countries, of two apparently different races and ways of thinking, can be united by a few regional customs. With or without the “boo!”.
Dia de Los Muertos is not just another spooky, get the sheets out, rip the two holes and say “boo!” kind of holiday, this is very serious stuff to us Latinos, and yes it is a “Holy Day”, let me explain.
Halloween is not what is celebrated by the the ancient peoples of South and Central America in old rituals. Our day is Dia De Los Muertos or The Day of The Dead. The ritual, Dia De Los Muertos, dates back thousands of years and has since been adapted by the Catholic Church and celebrated in almost every South and Central American Countries. Skulls are prominently used to celebrate and honor the dead.
Dia de Los Muertos, like the day of the hollowed eve to the Celtic, or Feralia to the Roman it has its roots in the belief that the dead continuing to live in another plain. It also adopts the belief that during a certain times of the year communication is more favorable between the living and the dead.
More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they met with Aztecs who practiced a ritual that seemed to mock the death. It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years back. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. This ritual known today as Día De los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This was a celebration to honor and celebrate the family members who has passed onto the other side of existence.
In rural Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate grave sites with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to grave sites and eat the favorite food of their beloved. Laughing, joking and sometime crying, friends and family gather to say “I love and miss you” one more time and reminisce.
As time has gone by and commercialism has set in, this day now marks the evening of fun, costume and yes… tricks and treats. For Tijuana, since the beginning has been characterized for being a very peculiar city and with its proximity to the boarder, the trans-cultural acceptance of something between Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos is inevitable. During the first half of the 20th century, communication with the Capital was very difficult, so Tijuana met its needs through its relationship with the United States. There a kind of union emerged. In spite of the economic, political, and social changes and differences that were once and have risen now and again between the two towns and two countries, there is unique kind of brotherhood that has been created in both San Diego and Tijuana. An example of this is that now, here in Tijuana, we follow many of the Anglo-American festivities, including Halloween, or “night of witches” as we call it. We plan the day and its activities around the children and their costumes. In October, we share about the shopping centers scenes in San Diego, the upcoming scary movies and most especially about the costumes we will buy and wear. Trans-cultural ”ism” is a reality that cannot be ignored. It is a celebration and in the purest form, a demonstration that two countries, of two apparently different races and ways of thinking, can be united by a few regional customs. With or without the “boo!”.
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