DAY OF THE DEAD

I traveled to San Miguel de Allende in Central Mexico for the three-day festival of “Day of the Dead” created to honor deceased relatives and friends. San Miguel is a beautiful Spanish colonial city and much of the celebration there is centered on the central plaza.

Day of the Dead is about family and friendships and remembrances, with the major activities focused on decorating graves and construction of altars in homes and public spaces.

Both the graves and altars are decorated with flowers, the favorite food and beverage of the deceased, photos of the deceased, religious articles and decorative skulls, often fashioned from cast sugar.

The graves are cleaned and decorated on Nov. 1 and visited by family and friends on Nov. 2, when cemeteries are packed with family, musical groups and outdoor masses are celebrated. When the cleaning and decoration is finished, the families gather around the grave to remember and reminisce, sort of a reunion of the original funeral, often for hours, often with adult beverages. It is terribly moving to be in those cemeteries in the midst of so much heartfelt emotion and love. I interacted respectfully with several people as they prepared their loved one’s graves and was touched by their openness and warmth. I regret that we have no such community ritual in our society.

A social piece has developed, centered on the image of an upper class Mexican woman as a skeleton with fine fashion, “La Calavera Catrina” (The Elegant Skull), created by Jose Guadalupe Posada. Individuals, often Westerners, have their faces painted as a skull and don fancy dresses and coats and party and parade.

We also attended an outdoor performance ballet and I visited several churches to absorb the spiritual side of San Miguel.

It was a wonderful confluence of color, culture and human emotions, and I feel privileged to have been able to capture a bit of it to share with you, my friends.