![]() They are inscribed with the name of a deceased relative and placed on altars. Sugar skulls, known as calaveras de azúcar, also celebrate the dead. Adults receive libations of their favourite alcoholic beverages, their preferred dishes and possibly cigarettes. Children typically receive toys, candy, sweet tamales, fruit, and other such victuals. These altars consist of a photo of the dead surrounded by their favourite objects which are given as ofrendas, offerings, to welcome them and show these souls that they have not been forgotten. They signify the undying bond between living and dead. Indeed, a tangible manifestation appears that symbolises the dead when altars are fabricated for them.Īltars constructed to honour the deceased are symbolic expressions or representations of the departed and the love that the living still have for them. Time, money and energy is invested in the deceased, despite their lack of a physical presence. This belief substantiates the social force of the deceased in Mexico and the effect they continue to have on the living long past their demise. The dead, if not honoured correctly, according to some Mexicans, in particular in rural locales, may even pose a threat to the living by bringing them bad luck, potentially cursing them and their ventures. Mexicans do not let go of the deceased but rather recall them. The dearly departed in Mexico play an active part every year in the lives of the living on the Day of the Dead. However, the Day of the Dead contradicts Hertz’s theory and attests to a starkly different stance in Mexico towards the deceased when compared to the Western attitude. For Westerners, the funeral is a mortuary rite of transition to accept this dramatic transformation in status. Still today in the Western world, when we lose a family or friend, the idea is to grieve and let go. The famous French sociologist and contemporary of Durkheim, Hertz postulated that through mortuary rites, such as funerals, people come to accept the new status of the deceased as a departed member of society, someone who will no longer participate in the activities of the living someone who no longer has any social effect. This is a time when Mexicans reminisce about their ancestors, honouring the deceased and in many ways keeping them alive through memories and altars that they build to commemorate them. But these are distinct from one another, although often conflated by outsiders.ĭay of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on the 1 st and 2nd November. After all, there is the Day of the Dead, La Catrina and Santa Muerte. In Mexico, it may appear to outsiders that there is a trifecta of death.
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