Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos
Halloween is not the ancient ritual celebrated by the ancient peoples of south and Central America. That is Dia De Los Muetros or The Day of The Dead. The ritual, Dia De Los Muertos, dates back thousands of years and has since been accommodated by the Catholic Church and celebrated by many South American Countries. In this ritual, skulls are prominently used to celebrate and honor the dead. Much like the day of the hollowed eve to the Celtic, or Feralia to the Roman it has it roots in the belief of the dead continuing to live on another plain. It also espouses the belief that during a certain season communication is more favorable between the living and the dead.
In Europe it was celebrated by the Celtics as a part of their fire celebrations. This season was known amongst the Druids as Samhain. It is believed that during this season the normal order of the universe is suspended. The barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily removed resulting in the portal through which we pass on during death lying open. Thus, the spirits of the dead move freely among the living.
It was believed that upon death the spirits went to a land of eternal youth and happiness called Tir nan Og. Ancient Celtics did not have the concept of heaven and hell that the Christian church later brought into the land.
Romans eventually conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In time two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. As is the common practice of the Catholic Church, the pope was attempting to replace the paganistic Celtic festival of the dead with a “church-sanctioned” holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Eventually to create an even larger divide amongst the two holidays, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they met with Aztecs who practiced a ritual that seemed to mock death. It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. This ritual known today as Día De los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This was a celebration to honor and celebrate the family members who has passed onto the other side of existence. The Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth. The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom the Meso-American civilizations believed came back to visit during the month long ritual.
Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake. They didn't separate death from pain, wealth from poverty like they did in Western cultures."
However, the Spaniards considered the ritual to be sacrilegious. They believed the indigenous people to be barbaric and pagan. In their attempts to convert them to Catholicism, the Spaniards tried to kill the ritual. Yet the old Aztec spirits and the ritual refused to die.
To make the ritual more Christian, the Spaniards moved it so it coincided with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (Nov. 1 and 2), which is when it is celebrated today. Following in the footsteps of incorporating beliefs of the races that refuse to be forgotten, the Catholic Church repeated in Meso-American history the same assimilation of El Dia De Los Muertos as was done with Samhain in the Celtic rituals. Previously it fell on the ninth month of the Aztec Solar Calendar, approximately the beginning of August, and was celebrated for the entire month. Festivities were presided over by the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The goddess, known as "Lady of the Dead," was believed to have died at birth.
Today, Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and in certain parts of the United States and Central America. People don wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. These wooden skulls are also placed on altars that are dedicated to the dead. Sugar skulls, made with the names of the dead person on the forehead, are eaten by a relative or friend.
In rural Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate grave sites with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to grave sites and eat the favorite food of their loved ones.
In Guadalupe, the ritual is celebrated much like it is in rural Mexico.
In Mesa, the ritual has evolved to include other cultures.
In the United States and in Mexico's larger cities, families build altars in their homes, dedicating them to the dead. They surround these altars with flowers, food and pictures of the deceased. They light candles and place them next to the altar. They honor them by transforming the room into an altar and offer incense, flowers, play their favorite music, make their favorite food.
What I find most interesting about this study is the way in which ancient civilizations embrace death as a natural part of existence. Through this acceptance and embracing of death it is easy to see why Hispanic Culture does not share the same worry over growing older and death as does the Anglo races with whom we share this continent. I also understanding in how we never loose out place in our family gives Hispanic Americans the ability to relax and enjoy life. By celebrating our ancient rituals, passed on from generation to generation, we are ensuring that our lineage will continue as well as we will live on genetically as well as in the memory of our children and children’s children.
Like so many of our forefathers, Hispanic Americans can learn much about who we are by educating ourselves on what our forefathers once believed and fought to retain. By fighting against the tide of modernism to retain our pride, culture and history we retain our identity in a world that is moving to obliterate any individualism to merge all humanity into conglomeration of existence absent of uniqueness. So this day I will share with you a small insight into where this day got it’s origin. I will share this history with my children and friends in hopes to keep the beauty of my culture alive and well. I will once again come face to face with the gift that my culture has given me and my family. The ability to love without the fear of loosing. The ability to live without the fear of dieing. The ability to remember predecessors without the fear of being forgotten. We will remember by celebrating El Dia De Los Muertos.
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Lamentations of the Caves By Rebecca Cuevas De Caissie
