Altars

Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead is a time for families to welcome the souls of their deceased loved ones back to the world. This traditional festival in Mexico—and elsewhere in Latin America—combines customs from Catholic Europe and indigenous America, involves family and community, relates to the Church and yet is outside the church, and differs in its rural and urban expressions.

It is difficult to separate European and indigenous influences in the Day of the Dead. The festival’s principal source is the Christian celebration of All Saints and All Souls (November 1 and 2). The origins of these holy days are obscure, but at least by the 13th century, they commemorated the faithful departed. Folk religious practices included making food offerings to and feasting with the dead. Along with official Catholicism, the Spanish brought these folk customs with them to the New World. Arriving in Mexico, the Spaniards found similar customs in Aztec festivals that involved feasting and offerings of food and drink to the dead. Such practices were reported by several 16th century missionary friars.

According to the custom, developed over the next several centuries and still practiced today in villages, the returning loved one is welcomed through an ofrenda (literally “offering”) or altar in the home. The family begins to construct the altar days before the actual feast. On or around the altar, which may be a simple table, are placed pictures of Christ or the Virgin Mary or saints, candles, plants, cut paper, and other decorations. Bright yellow cempasúchil (marigold) flowers—the Aztec flower of the dead—may be scattered on the altar or the floor. Above the altar, an arch of palm leaves is frequently constructed. Finally, and most importantly, the favorite foods of the returning loved one are left on the altar for the enjoyment of the deceased soul.

The dead are celebrated not only in the home, but also in cemeteries. As ofrendas are prepared in the home, so are graves tended to—perhaps repaired or repainted—just prior to the festival. Around sundown on November 1, families proceed to the cemetery for an all-night vigil as their loved ones journey back to the realm of the dead. Sometimes Mass is said in the adjacent church. Acquaintances meet, families share food, and old friends trade gossip and stories.

In large urban centers such as Mexico City, the Day of the Dead celebration differs somewhat from the rural festivity. It is less familial, more secular, and more commercial. The urban manner of celebration, which began perhaps in the 19th century but became prevalent in the 20th, includes a proliferation of sugar skulls and figures of frolicking death-skeletons. It is more public, with civic buildings and art galleries setting up altars.

The Day of the Dead is celebrated elsewhere in Latin America, sometimes under other names, and perhaps without the wild exuberance as in Mexico. The traditional practice of bringing food to the graves of the ancestors persists in Guatemala, Peru, and Bolivia. In the United States, urban celebrations of the Day of the Dead have become common.

Thus, the 21st century Day of the Dead, with its roots in Europe and indigenous America, satisfies both religious and secular needs, finding its place not only in the homes and cemeteries of the rural village but in the streets of the modern metropolis as well. Yet despite its modern changes, the festival still answers the needs of families and communities for continuity with their loved ones on the other side of life