Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos) in Guanajuato, México, by Emily M. (guest blogger)

Last year, I was in Guanajuato for one of México’s most famous Fall traditions, the Day of the Dead. It is certainly an interesting holiday. The Day of the Dead actually lasts two days. The first day, November 1, is el Día de los Angelitos, which means that it is the day in which tribute is given to those who died as children or infants. The larger celebrations begin on the night of November 1, and continue into November 2, which is the day in which most people celebrate, and in which classes are cancelled (wooo! Holiday!).

I did not go to the night celebrations, but I had friends who went to the Panteón (Cemetery) the night of the 1^st. They said that there were huge crowds of people there decorating the graves/tombs, carrying candles, and that there were some mariachis playing over the deceased person’s grave. My host mother told me that it is common for more affluent families to hire a mariachi that plays the deceased person’s favorite song over his or her burial site.

Although I did not go to the nighttime celebrations, it was impossible for me to miss the daytime celebration! Once I got into the Centro (the town-centerish area), there were indications of the holiday everywhere: Pan de los Muertos (bread of the dead) in all of the bakery windows; flowers being sold in every street corner; altars in several public buildings, built for important deceased persons (these normally have the picture of the deceased, and then are decorated with colored cloth, sugar skulls, flowers, and items that show what the deceased person liked or enjoyed doing, like several apples if his/her favorite food was apples); artistic creations in the streets depicting  images of the dead in the Mexican  point of view, all made of natural objects (rice, flower petals, painted stones, etc.). I have provided some pictures as examples under this paragraph:

Some of my friends and I went to see these amazing creations, and then we went to the Pantéon to see the graves. It was AMAZING. I observed all of the traditional customs: the family members wash the deceased member’s grave or tomb (all over the place there are people carrying buckets of water). Then they bring flowers such as the cempasúchitl (a popular flower with the Aztecs). I will note here that the Día de los Muertos is a tradition formed by the amalgamation of Spanish and indigenous traditions), which are marigolds, and other types. They use these to decorate the graves, since it is believed that the appealing color and smell is welcoming to the dead souls. They also decorate the graves with candles and with things that represent what the person enjoyed when he or she was alive. For example, I saw a child’s grave that had toy racecars and candy on it, meaning that he enjoyed these things. Family members or groups often congregated around the graves. There was also a Catholic mass right there in the Panteón. I did not see any mariachi there, but I was told that this usually occurs at night, and it is more calm during the day. I have some pictures from the Panteón below:

One important thing that I learned through the Día de los Muertos is that Mexicans do not fear death – they honor it, and see it as a natural process. While Americans tend to shy away from topics about death, Mexicans embrace it with the knowledge that we are all going to die someday. The colorful flowers and relics left on a person’s tomb show explicitly that they are CELEBRATING, NOT MOURNING, the death of a loved one. They celebrate the life that the person lived, and the life that they now have in the afterlife. I think that this tradition and belief is very cool, and I really enjoyed my experience!