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Good day, I'm just arriving from the street it has been snowing, it's very cold
we have just one extra hour and I think I have enough energy to do this.
This time I would like to talk to you about the Mexican day of the Dead.
If we go back 500 years ago, we will find in the actual Mexico
many cultures like the aztecs, mayans and many others.
Even whe those cultures were not sharing any language or traditions,
they were sharing something important: the cosmological view.
For them everything has a cycle.
When your body stops working you don't die, you're just transforming yourself,
you're becoming something else, you're becoming part of the universe.
If something stops working, like your body, you have to change it, to change your skin, like a snake.
Because for the Universe everything has a balance.
In this case Death exists to give life.
So Death is not that bad when you're next to the Gods, right?
But then, the Spaniards arrived to America, and they brought something new, a new religion.
In the Roman Catholic religion there are special days dedicated to the Saints,
but there are more than 365 Saints.
So they thought it would be nice to have one day
for all other Saints that don't have any special day for them.
That's why they created the day of all Saints, so you can celebrate to all other Saints in this day.
It is in November the 1st.
In this same religion there are 2 possibilities when you die.
Either you go to Heaven or to Hell.
But there's a third possibility, that, if you're not "good enough", you can go to the Purgatory,
and in the Purgatory you just wait your turn to go to Heaven.
So the church said "Ok, let's give one day to pray for those souls and help them to go to Heaven"
When should we pray for them?
November the 2nd. And it is known as All Souls' Day.
In Mexico, the idea of having souls around us was completely normal.
So the Mexicans had this new vision of how the Universe works.
So it became something new: The Day of the Dead.
It is thought that in November the 2nd the souls of the people that we loved and died
are coming back to the earth to share with us just this single day a year.
When the Mexicans adopted the Catholicism as a religion they took November the 2nd
to pray for all the beloved dead,
but then they realized that November the 1st was also a day to pray
To pray for whom? For the Saints
So, who are really behaving like Saints in the world?
The kids! Because they are full of innocence.
So, November the 1st is used in Mexico to conmemorate the children that unfortunately passed away.
And in November the 2nd Mexicans pray for the others.
That's why we have two days for the Day of the Dead.
November the 1st for the kids and November the 2nd for all others.
But how is it possible that Mexicans "celebrate"?
Well, Mexicans don't celebrate Death.
We are not celebrating that they died, we are celebrating that they are with us right now
and we can share everything with them.
You see, 'Death' is in another concept for Mexicans
It is not to be sad all the time.
What do we do if we have the opportunity once a year to be with our relatives?
Well, we're not gonna be sad. We're gonna celebrate!
Because we have the chance to celebrate life
But what else can you find in these traditions?
Well, first of all there's a lot of respect
and if you go to Mexico, everywhere in Mexico,
you can see in the cemeteries how the people are paying tribute to their beloved
decorating their graves with lots of flowers. One in special: 'Cempasúchitl'
also known in English as 'Marigold'
This flower is everywhere in Mexico in these days
and it is used to decorate everything since graves to offerings
Offerings?
Of course! The so-called 'Altar'
And in these 'Altares', or offerings,
we put the pictures of our beloved ones
and not only that, their favorite food, their favorite drinks,
everything that they liked when they were with us
but there is also something really special in this offerings: Skulls.
But these skulls are made of sugar or chocolate
or any other caramel if you want
and it is also a tradition that they put your name on the forehead
but don't get scared like 'Maximilian of Habsburg'
it doesn't mean that we wish you were dead. Of course not!
it is just a tradition to remember that we all are going to die,
but life is so sweet and so nice that we can eat it
The Death is not something horrible in Mexico
of course is something sad, but is necessary
we accept it as it is.
We all know that we're gonna die.
So, we enjoy life and we pay tribute to the people that passed away
I would like to tell you that
there is also a special bread in Mexico in these days: 'Bread of Dead'
No, it is not made of dead people
it is called like that just because it is in these days when it is sold.
It is made in the whole country just during this week.
It is rounded and with a big cross in the middle
you have to try it, because not only is sweet
it is really tasty.
And I was talking about skulls (calaveras)
'Calaveritas' are little poems that we used to write when we were kids
everyone in school learnt to write some 'calaveritas'
but in these 'calaveritas' Death is only one character more
it comes to life, it interacts with humans
and we can fool Death, we can play with Death,
we can do whatever we want, because now it becomes a person
You can find these 'calaveritas' in the offerings too
but, what else can you find in the offerings?
Well, lots of stuff, not only food, drinks, 'calaveritas', skulls and 'Cempasúchitl'
There is also traditional to find 'Papel Picado'
'Papel picado' is 'Cut paper'
We just cut shapes in this paper in different colors and tell different stories
In these days instead of using normal images of people we use skeletons
and if you didn't get scared with the skulls, then well done
because there will be a lot in Mexico
It is also really common to represent people (even living people) with skeletons
the most famous skeleton is 'La Catrina'
'Catrina' or 'Catrín' is a word that in Spanish-speaking countries
is used to name the rich people
and you can see the 'Catrina' everywhere in Mexico in these days
How can you recognize the 'Catrina'?
Well, because 'La Catrina' uses a big fancy hat
well, fancy for the beginning of the XXth century
And as everything is a mix of tradition and cultures
also there is a new religion, which is the religion of
'The Saint Death'
and it is based in the Roman Catholic religion
but in this case they took the imaginary of the Death and transformed it into something saint
and in the end they only pay tribute to Death in a different way
they still believe in Saints, in God, in Jesus Christ, but they just put Death there
as the most powerful Saint
Before I forget. Some books to read about it?
Well, there is a novel, or short novel: Pedro Páramo
That's the story of a guy that arrives to a town and, suddenly, he realizes that the people there are
quite of special.
Another second book that I highly recommend is: 'The labyrinth of Solitude'
It is my favorite book and in the 3rd Chapter talks about Death
and how the Mexicans see Death
It is the most beautiful and complete writting about the Mexican society
I highly recommend to read the whole book
But I have to warn you
This book is really hard to read.
It is the most beautiful and complete analisys about the Mexican culture but is hard
And in Movies, there is a movie called 'El río y la muerte'
It tells the story of a town that has an special feeling regards Death.
'The other Conquest' is a film about the fight between the ancient traditions
of the Mesoamerican cultures and the new traditions of the Spaniards
You will find it interesting and you will see how this mix of traditions
was done in Mexico.
And finally 'Macario'
The story is not Mexican, but the Mexicans made a really good adaptation of it
Here you can see the story of a poor Mexican, who has an strange friendship with Death
Well, there's a lot to tell about this
but I hope that this basic information is really useful for you.
Please, have doubts, go to the internet, look for it and you will see how beautiful
and amazing this tradition is
You will find some links here if you wanna read a little bit more about this tradition
And before I forget, thank you for all your feedback, it was really nice
and I am taking notes of it, of course
Ah! Before I go let me tell you that every time that I talk about Mexicans
I'm not referring that all Mexicans are the same
that's not my meaning, it's not true,
is not the general way to think of all of us
just for you to know, ok?
So, if you wanna leave your comments, your questions, your suggestions, requests, everything,
and if you're a Mexican and you know that something is missing, please write it down here
I know I missed a lot of stuff, but please help me to share this with the world
Well, thank you very much, that was all for today
I hope to see you next time
No, I hope you to see me next time
Peace to the Dead and
Happy Day of the Dead