A Day for the Dead?

Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead)-it’s a beautiful, odd and reflective holiday here in Mexico. Basically, you could call it a combination of conservative Catholic traditions with a raw Aztec attitude. Every year, families in Mexico make ofrendas or offerings for well, obviously the dead but specifically members of the family who have passed on. These offerings will include flowers, a portrait of the deceased, bread, fruit, chocolate skulls, food and drink the family member liked among other items. Offerings can be very simple or extremely fancy.

This was posted on the wall on a family’s home. In English, it reads: “For us, there was no death, you live in our hearts and our pain will not end until we re-unit forever.”

Bread, flowers and fruit-always in an ofrenda!

The ofrendas or offerings are meant to attract the spirit of the dead loved one and celebrate his or her life. At a certain time, family members will go out into the street and create a path with flowers leading into the house guiding the spirit of the deceased to enter the house. The family eats the food from the ofrenda and re-lives the memories they shared with the spirit of the deceased. When the time comes, the family bids the spirit of the muerto (or deceased person) farewell until next year.

I had the recent opportunity to visit the town of Huaquechula with some classmates and our professor to visit the homes of complete strangers to see their ofrendas. This is an official tour the town does every year for tourists. Entering the homes with beautiful ofrendas, I stood there taking in the life of a complete stranger. I realized that the love and dedication between families even when a member has passed on is forever strong. It sounds odd to invite the spirit of a dead family member into your home. I mean in my family, we just put flowers on my grandparents’ graves, say a prayer and call it good. Here, they go to great efforts to make these offerings.

This was a very beautiful ofrenda for a family member that has passed this year in Huaquechula.

Family members invite the spirit of the deceased family member to enter their home.

Going through the different homes and seeing the offerings that the family member’s had painstakingly made was somber, breathtaking and beautiful. It’s difficult to explain experiencing this day because it’s a mixture of emotions ranging from sadness for complete strangers that the loved one was not physically there. However, I felt a sense of peace because despite death, the families still had each other and most importantly, this opportunity to express the loss in a healthy and open manner. Stealing a phrase from Oprah Winfrey and Doctor Phil, in order to heal, you got to feel. Day of the Dead certainly does that.

However, it also goes to prove that no matter the occasion, Mexicans will always celebrate. Remembering loved ones that have passed on is sad and difficult for sure. Some family members laugh and some cry but why not celebrate and remember the life and memories you shared with them? It is a beautiful lesson that in life and death, there is always a reason to keep hoping in the face of death. Even though the body has been buried, their spirit will continue to live on.

Lydia