Day of the Dead, a Bittersweet Tradition



This is a photo of the Ofrenda our YAGM group created.  It was important to the Aztecs that the elements: Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water were represented on the Ofrenda. The "papel picados" or brightly colored cut out papers you see tacked at the bottom of the table represent wind.  The candles, fire, a bottle or glass of water to represent that lively fluid, fruits and foods to represent earth and abundance.



Sweet treats are a big part of the Day of the Dead. The markets are filled with sugar and chocolate skulls, colorfuly decorated.  On the forehead of the skull is sometimes a small piece of paper where you can write the names of those who have died who you want to honor and remember.  The combination of sugar and bones is also found in the "Pan de Muertos" or "Bread of Death" which is a delicious sugary bread that kind of looks like bones.  This overabundance of sweets reminded me of Easter in the U.S., and the idea that  sometimes the taste of sweetness can slightly soften the bitter losses of life.  I wrote the name of a dear friend who I miss and wish was still here, Dayle Kitch, on a sugar skull, to keep her in my heart and memory.  I also put a little magnet with an image of a mountain on our YAGM Ofrenda, which reminded me of a story she told me once, of going up to Pike's Peak, and how she made me laugh with her story at a time when I needed to laugh.  Even with the colorful celebration and lively spirit of the Day of the Dead, death, especially when it happens to young people, is very hard to reckon with.  Shortly after Day of the Dead, I heard of the death of a young student I had known in the Upward Bound program.  As Pilar, the woman who is director at the center for women where I work said, "no matter how much we talk about death, and try to come to terms with it, we are never fully prepared to receive the news of it."









This is a photo of an Ofrenda I saw in Ocotepec, a municipality of Cuernavaca.  People in Ocotepec who have lost loved ones in the past year maintain a tradition of opening their homes to the public.  Dear friends, family, and perfect strangers wait in long lines carrying candles and flowers to offer to the family of the deceased.  Along with friends, I followed these long lines to see the Ofrenda, and share warm cidery punch and tamales that the family of the deceased prepares in surprising abundance.  On some Ofrendas such as this one, bags are stuffed to represent the body of the deceased, and the clothes of the deceased are laid out, carefully chosen and ironed and placed on top of the bags.  A large sugar skull often symbolically marks the skull of the deceased.  I remember this Ofrenda in particular because the two photos showed the double loss, and because there were three older men standing at the head of this Ofrenda, singing in clear rich harmonies with all of their hearts and playing guitars as we waited in the long line.  Their music seemed to be filling the space with warmth and life to give strength to the living.