The direct Spanish translation of Day of the Dead is Dia de los Muertos, but in Mexico it is more commonly known as Dia de Muertos. The holiday falls on November 1st and 2nd.
The concept of honoring the dead can be found in cultures throughout the world for thousands of years.
While the tradition in Mexico can be traced back to the Aztecs and other indigenous cultures, in its present day form, Dia de Muertos was popularized in the late 1930’s by Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas.
Càrdenas in an effort to create a united national identity, sought to promote Dia de Muertos that would encompass the indigenous interpretation of the Roman Catholic holidays of All Saint’s Day (All Hallow’s) and All Soul’s Days.
All Saints’ Day is celebrated on November 1st to remember all saints and martyrs during Christian history. It is followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2nd to commemorate those who have passed within the faith.
Some scholars trace the origin of All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day back to the Roman Catholic practice of replacing pagan holidays with religious holidays. In this case the pagan holiday was known as Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival, where it was believed the veil between the dead and the living was the thinnest.
Halloween and Dia de Muertos are in many ways related in their origin.
While Halloween focuses on the dark and grim aspects of death, Dia de Muertos is a celebration of the connection between the living and the dead, as well as life after death.
In both Halloween and Dia de Muertos, the Catholic religious iconisms have been replaced. With Halloween much of its practices come from Irish and Scottish traditions. With Dia de Muertos, the symbolism and beliefs are indigenous in nature.
For many Mexican children both holidays are observed, making for a three day celebration.
Dia de Muertos is a time for families across Mexico to be closer to their loved ones who have passed.
In some ways, it is like an annual family reunion.
In many Mexican homes and the gravesites of the deceased, families create 𝘰𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘴 (Offerings), altars to the dead and as a meeting place between the living and those who have passed.
Upon the altar are images of the deceased and items associated with them. Food and drink are also placed on the ofrenda to be shared with the dead. The most common food is tamales and a sweet bread known as Pan de Muertos, Bread of the Dead.
For the deceased adults, their vices are not forgotten, mezcal and cigarettes can be found on their ofrendas.
Some historians connect the offering to the ancient Mexica (Aztec) practice of burying the dead with food to ease their journey into the underworld. The practice of burying the dead with items that would be useful in the afterlife can be found in numerous cultures around the world.
An important element of the ofrendas are Marigold flowers. The bright and fragrant Aztec or Mexican Marigold, known as cempazúchitl in the indigenous Nahuatl language, is said to attract the dead. Paths made from the flower are placed directing the dead to the ofrenda. Historians are able to trace the use of the cempazúchitl in Mexica religious festivals.
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The following photos were taken last year in Huequechula, Puebla during Dia de Muertos. The town invites outsiders to view ofrendas at homes throughout the community. You are encouraged to donate a small amount. This money is used to offset the costs of the ofrendas.
The economic impact from tourists during Dia de Muertos is enormous. It was estimated to be $1.8 billion in 2022.
Another common element of the Dia de Muertos is the calaveras (skull).
The skull has been used by cultures throughout the world as a symbol of death.
In a crypt in Rome, underneath thousands of stacked skulls is an inscription that translates; “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.”
This use of skulls was a type of symbolism, which would been known by the Spanish conquistadors as Memento Mori — (Latin: remember you will die)– an ancient practice of reflection on our mortality that goes back to Socrates.
In pre-Columbian times in Mesoamerica, skulls and skeletons symbolize rebirth into the next stage of life.
The indigenous population of Mexico such as the Mexica and Purépecha would make ofrendas with real skulls to represent and celebrate those who have passed.
This practice of real skulls was replaced by the Spaniards with ones made from sugar paste (as well as clay). Making sculptures from sugar was widely used in Spain, this type of confectionery art is known as alfeñiques.
The sugar skulls are not only used in the ofrendas but became a popular edible treat available for purchase.
Artistic renderings of the sugar skull is not only iconic for Dia de Muertos but has become an internationally recognized symbol of Mexican culture.
The calaveras de azucar is now widely used in marketing and merchandise year round.
The Dia de Muertos tradition has continued to evolve through introduction of new cultural elements that seamlessly incorporate into the theme. One such element is the a Calavera Catrina – the ‘elegant skull’ – often simply La Catrina.
La Catrina can be traced back to a Mexican printmaker and lithographer, Jose Guadalupe Posada, whose use of skeletons in satirical cartoons was widely published in Mexico City tabloids at the turn of 20th century.
One of his subjects was La Calavera de la Catrina, a female skeleton adorned with fancy Parisian hat with feathers. This image from around 1910, was mocking the women who were part of aristocratic “elite” under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz.
These “dandies” would have been viewed by Posada walking the streets and parks of Mexico City in the latest Parisian attire, with their heavy make-up in an attempt to hide any sign of their indigenous features. For Posada, using the skeleton was a representation that no matter what airs we put on in life, in death we are all the same.
Ironically Posada died in obscurity, it was not until the famous artist and muralist Diego Rivera revived La Catrina in one of his most famous works, Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central (“Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Central Alameda”) created in 1947. Within this massive mural, amid Rivera’s vision of the iconic moments in Mexican history, he places La Catrina. Rivera’s version of the Calaveras wears a similar Parsian hat with feathers depicted in Posada’s original and also has wrapped around her neck a feather boa with a snake’s head, symbolizing the feathered Mesoamerican serpent god Quetzalcóatl.
In the mural, a caricature of Diego Rivera as a child is holding the hand of La Catrina, behind them stands his wife Frida Kahlo and next to her is Posada himself.
It is unclear when La Catrina became embedded in the Dia de Muertos celebration, but its underlining meaning plays into the modern idealism surrounding the holiday; the equity of death.
In the Dia de Muertos fiestas and parades across Mexico, a predominant feature are faces painted as Catrina or the male counterpart Catrin.
While La Catrina has a different origin than the sugar skull, both have became universally recognized cultural icons of Mexico, especially with the increasing popularity of Dia de Muertos.
Within the past decade, Dia de Muertos tourism has grown exponentially because of mass media influences.
Case in point is the 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘔𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘴 (The Great Day of the Dead Parade) in Mexico City.
The opening sequence of the 2015 James Bond movie “Spectre” features Bond (Daniel Craig) wearing a Catrin costume as he escorts a Catrina through the crowd of spectators at a spectacular Dia de Muertos parade in Mexico City.
The surprising fact is the parade was fictional, made up by the screenwriters, there had never been an annual Dia de Muertos parade in CDMX.
The tourism board quickly realized that many of the millions of the movie’s worldwide audience might want to experience Dia de Muertos in Mexico City for themselves. They would also be expecting a parade.
So in 2016, the very first 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘔𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘴 happened.
The parade is now a major attraction, drawing over 2 million spectators along the 3.5 mile route.
I can attest to the crowd size having attended the parade in 2021 and 2022.
Unfortunately it has become a victim of its own success, it is nearly impossible to view the parade for most.
In 2021, I used a folding step stool to video the parade while leaning against one of the 8 foot tall sugar skull sculptures that line part of the parade route.
In 2022, I left the parade route after 15 minutes.
Fortunately there are a few lesser parades well worth viewing during the days leading up to the Gran parade.
Here is the opening of “Spectre”:
Mass media has always been a major factor in creating cultural awareness and has in many cases influenced growth of tourism throughout the world. One of the biggest influencers has been Disney.
After Disney’s release of the movie “Frozen”, the country of Norway saw a 170% increase in tourism through 2018.
Both Disney movies “Encanto” and “Rio” have brought a greater worldwide interest and recognition of Colombia and Brazil, respectively.
For Colombia, “Encanto” hopefully countered some of the negative effects the popular Netflix’s series “Narcos” had on its reputation. For Mexico, its reputation was sullied, (some deserved) by the follow-up “Narcos: Mexico”.
Thankfully for Mexico, no movie has had more impact on cultural awareness and tourism than the Disney/Pixar movie “Coco”.
The movie has seen increased marketing by federal and local tourism officials in Mexico to successfully cash in on this billion dollar “event tourism” industry. Especially in the regions that influenced the movie’s portrayal of Dia de Muertos.
Pixar has acknowledged Guanajuato, Oaxaca and Michoacán as some of the locations they used to inspire the movie.
In Michoacán, the Pueblo Magicos town of Patzcuaro and the nearby island of Janitzio, around 40 minutes from the capital Morelia, has for decades been considered the destination where you could experience the most “authentic” Dia de Muertos holiday drawing 10’s of thousands of tourist each year. The movie “Coco” has only increased the tourist trade.
This authentic feel is partly due to the area’s indigenous Purhépecha’s use of rituals and traditions in celebrating the holiday.
The movie Coco has been beneficial financially through not only an increase in tourism in Michoacán but in commerce as well.
In the movie, the main character Miguel finds a white guitar that is pivotal in the story. The guitar was inspired by Los Angeles guitar maker German Vazquez, who was originally from the town of Paracho in Michoacán.
In the mid 16th century, the first bishop of Michoacán, Vasco de Quiroga, assigned crafts to different Purhépecha pueblos in the area surrounding Patzcuaro lake. The people of Paracho have been crafting guitars for generations.
With the popularity of the movie, the town has seen a huge jump in sales of white guitars. It is estimated that 90% of the people who work in Paracho make guitars or guitar parts (the population is about 35,000), producing some one million instruments per year.
The town has embraced the movie Coco by painting one side of a giant bronze guitar, located in the town center, white.
The Purhépecha people of Santa Fe de la Laguna, where pottery is their main trade, claimed a woman Maria Salud Ramirez Caballero was the model for Miguel’s grandma, “Mama Coco”. While Caballero did look like the cartoon abuela, Disney has never acknowledged that she was the model. Tourists still flock to Santa Fe de la Laguna in the hopes of meeting “Mama Coco”, unfortunately she passed away last year at the age of 109 years old.
The Purhépecha town of Capula, where pottery trade has also been passed down for generations, cashed in on Dia de Muertos celebration many years before the movie by becoming the capital of clay Catrinas. This product was first produced in the 1980’s and is now widely sold throughout the world. The Pueblo now has a 20 foot Catrina at the entrance to the town.
The Ministry of Tourism of Michoacán has created Ruta de Coco for tourists that passes through Pátzcuaro, Janitzio Island, Santa Fé de la Laguna, Paracho and other nearby towns.
In a side note, Patzcuaro was also where President Lazaro Cardenas retired after he left office. A native of Michoacán, I wonder if he was influenced by the traditions of Purhépecha’s Dia de Muertos rituals and symbolism or did Cardenas influence the Purhépecha to adopt the symbols and rituals promoted during his Presidency to create some national identity?
Some of Dia de Muertos cultural icons have been introduced within the past 90 years and the holiday still continues to evolve.
Many aspects of the current holiday would not be recognizable to someone from the turn of the 20th century.
La Catrina is one case in point, its origin can be traced back to a 1910 engraving by Jose Guadalupe Posada, which was later popularized in a mural by Diego Rivera in 1947 and was then added to the Dia de Muertos tradition.
When incorporated into Day of the Dead, “experts” attempt to loosely connect La Catrina with the pre-Columbian cultures.
Now Disney has had a hand in the murky evolution of Dia de Muertos with the introduction of the Alebrijes.
The Alebrijes is a brightly colored spirit animal, usually made up of various animal parts.
In the 2017, Disney movie Coco, these fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures help guide the departed in the afterlife. In the movie, the primary Alebrijes is known as Pepita, a mixture of a ram, tiger, lizard, and an eagle.
“Experts” speak of the belief of several pre-Hispanic cultures, especially the Mayan, Toltec, and Mixtec, that everyone has a spirit animal from the moment of birth. This conveniently tying in the Alebrijes into ancient symbolism.
In fact the Alebrijes origin can be traced to the fever induced dreams of Mexico City artist Pedro Linares López in 1936.
In Linares’ dream, animals “transformed into these strange creatures like donkeys with wings, roosters with bull horns”.
“These animals apparently made noises and howled; but they also shouted: “Alebrijes, alebrijes!” Although this word means nothing, it served to give names to the beings he had dreamed of.”
He took his fantasy and began creating paperboard sculptures of these “mythical” creatures.
Once again, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo enter the story, when finding the Alebrijes in a gallery, they commission the production of additional pieces.
With the new found popularity, Linares and his extended family would concentrate on creating Alebrijes art, an industry that continues to this day.
Yet the Alebrijes shown in the movie Coco are based not on the Linares’ somewhat nightmarish sculptures, but a more recent alteration of his vision.
In the 1980’s, Oaxacan wood carvers began creating their own concept of Alebrijes to sell to tourists in the region.
With the popularity of these Alebrijes, the economies of several pueblos in Oaxaca became almost entirely based on their production.
San Martín Tilcajete is the most widely known pueblo for their beautiful wood carved Alebrijes, some being sold for thousands of dollars.
Disney screenwriter’s interpretation of Oaxacan artisan’s Alebrijes, and their addition to Coco, mixed in with the movie’s Dia de Muertos theme, has now sealed these “mythical creatures” into the Day of the Dead lore.
Alebrijes can now be found incorporated into Dia de Muertos festivals and parades throughout Mexico.