Dia de los Muertos: A day of Remembrance

Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of life and death that is deeply important to Latin people all around the world.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead in English, is a deeply spiritual two-day event in which people remember and reconnect with lost loved ones. The name can sound like it’s supposed to be a Halloween or scary type of holiday but it isn’t.

“It’s not necessarily like Halloween, it’s not a scary holiday it’s more of a festive celebration” said Erin Fernandez Mommer, a faculty adviser for the Latino Students Union (LSU).

The holiday got its start in Mexico with the Aztecs in the sixteenth century. In the ninth month of the Aztec calendar (August) a celebration dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl (Lady of the Dead) who watched over the bones of the dead and ancient festivals of the dead took place.

But with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, the holiday began to change becoming a mix of the two cultures. The Aztecan holidays aligned with the Catholic holidays All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Mictecacihuatl became Catrina and adopted Spanish colonial clothing. Creating what people celebrate as the modern “Day of the Dead”.

On November 1 and 2 every year people all across the Latin World, and in parts of America, honor and reconnect with their dead. They have festivals and parties where food and drink are served and lively celebrations are had. This is done because they believe to be somber, sad, and in mourning would be an insult to the dead. They wish to instead celebrate the life of the person by choosing to focus on how they lived and not that they are no longer with them.
To celebrate and be closer with the spirits of the dead they often do activities that their loved ones enjoyed in life. At night the celebrators will follow candlelit paths to visit their graves and decorate them to be closer with the spirits of their families. The celebrations are organized into two different focuses the first day is dedicated to the children and the second is dedicated to the adults.

In this time of celebration, they believe that the spirits of the lost can come back and join with their families for the duration of the holiday.  On the two days, different kinds of gifts are left for the dead.

On the first day, dedicated to the children, they leave toys and skull-shaped candies called a Calavera that is the symbol of the celebration. Then on the second they give their lost loved one’s food and alcohol and some possessions that the lost may have left behind. Other aspects of the celebration include building altars called Ofrenda that honor the spirits of the dead. People paint their faces or wear masks of skeletons to symbolize Catrina. They put up images to call the dead back and use skeletons as a joyful representation of the dead.

“In indigenous American tradition there are four sacred elements,” said Mommer. Dia de Los Muertos is also heavily aligned with the elements. Earth, wind, fire, and water are aspects of the Aztecan culture and are represented through things like the Papel Picado which is paper cut figures representing the holiday that are hung up to catch the wind. And La Vela or candles which embody the fire aspect and are often placed in remembrance of souls. Flores Cempasutchil which are flowers that are placed to attract the dead and embody the earth. And liquid placed on altars to represent water.

On the days of November 1, Green River College will be participating in the celebrations. The Latino Students Union and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion will be putting on an event in the Students Union buildings Emerald City Room from 1 to 3 p.m. that is free for anyone to come eat traditional food and drink and learn a little about Mexican heritage.

The name can be misunderstood but the intentions of this holiday are those of love, family and happiness. Steeped in Mexican tradition and they are days of joy not sadness, a celebration not mourning, and remembrance of a little bit of what can never be replaced.