Guadalajara Daily Photo
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Dia de Muertos (day of the dead)
The day of the Dead is very important in Mexico, as almost all cultures in the world have a ceremony to celebrate their ancestors, Mexico is not the exception and we also celebrate our people who has passed away. We have altars with flowers and candles, as many other countries, but additionally we also put the pics of the dead person and their favorite meals and beverages. The idea is that every November the 2nd the dead people is permitted to come to the world of the living persons and they want to eat their favorite dishes. How they eat them? They eat the smell of the food. Next day the family eat the dishes, we called "recalentado" or re-heated.
Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead) is also popular, and the recipe may change in different places of the country, it is sweet bread with some figures representing bones.
Perhaps the most famous celebration of the dead in Mexico are the skull candies, live the ones in the pic, made of sugar and they put your name in the skull. You can give them as a gift to your friends and relatives. It is nothing morbid, it is only a way to think that sooner or later we are going to die, so it is better to enjoy the life.
Also is common to give figures of skeletons having normal activities, like playing guitars, dancing, singing, cooking, professors, etc. Some of them are made of clay and others of papier mache.
Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead) is also popular, and the recipe may change in different places of the country, it is sweet bread with some figures representing bones.
Perhaps the most famous celebration of the dead in Mexico are the skull candies, live the ones in the pic, made of sugar and they put your name in the skull. You can give them as a gift to your friends and relatives. It is nothing morbid, it is only a way to think that sooner or later we are going to die, so it is better to enjoy the life.
Also is common to give figures of skeletons having normal activities, like playing guitars, dancing, singing, cooking, professors, etc. Some of them are made of clay and others of papier mache.
7 Comments:
I'm glad that you posted this with a wonderful explanation and photographs! Check mine at visualstpaul for a look at what the Hispanic community brought to our city from their countries.
I love those skeletons, they must have been the inspiration for Tim Burton.
Thanks for showing the skulls & skeletons. Do people make the skulls at home or do most people just buy them in the stores?
this is so interesting and so different from the celebrations here.
I love this celebration and all the decorations that go with it. I hope one day to experience it myself in Mexico!
we celebrate the day of the dead too...time for remembering those who has gone
In Guatemala this celebration goes by names of Día de Muertos and Día de los Difuntos. People eat a cold meal by the name of fiambre, a salad of cold cuts, meats, vegetables and pickled vegetables. No calacas here.
¡Feliz Día de Muertos!
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