# Day of the Dead



## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

We are going to Oaxaca, does anyone have any plans?


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## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

The entire city of Oaxaca is celebrating Dia de Los Muertas. I'll post pictures later.


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## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

I would like to talk to the guy below, what tales he could tell. There is mescal, beer and cigarettes on his memorial altar.


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## sixcats (Aug 1, 2015)

It is the real deal here :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocotepec,_Cuernavaca,_Morelos


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

sixcats said:


> It is the real deal here :
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocotepec,_Cuernavaca,_Morelos


Día de muertos is "the real deal" in many parts of Mexico, even in Mexico City!


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## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Día de muertos is "the real deal" in many parts of Mexico, even in Mexico City!


All cities celebrate it in some way or another. Even tourist traps like Playa Del Carmen. But it's nice to be in Oaxaca.


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## sixcats (Aug 1, 2015)

Isla Verde said:


> Día de muertos is "the real deal" in many parts of Mexico, even in Mexico City!


We do not live in Ocotepec - but we do drive through it several times a week. Given my limited knowledge of Mexican history - this 'festival' may have originated in Ocotepec ? At the very least - here they lay flower petals from the street into the shrines inside the houses to invite people in. Now I LOVE Mexico City - but I doubt that sort of thing would be found there. ??


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

sixcats said:


> We do not live in Ocotepec - but we do drive through it several times a week. Given my limited knowledge of Mexican history - this 'festival' may have originated in Ocotepec ? At the very least - here they lay flower petals from the street into the shrines inside the houses to invite people in. Now I LOVE Mexico City - but I doubt that sort of thing would be found there. ??


I doubt that Día de muertos originated in just one small town, though it does sound like Ocotepec has maintained many lovely customs associated with the festival. And no doubt there are traditional neighborhoods in Mexico City where the old customs have also been maintained.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

We celebrate All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead in France too..so it was part of a Catholic tradition that no doubt originated from a pagan one back in Europe. The Aztecs celebrated a Day of the Dead as well but at a different season.The Mexican tradition is a blend of the indigenous tradition and the catholic one. It would be interesting to find out when the two festivals were made into one in Mexico.
In France we go clean the graves and put flowers on the 2 days as well but I have no idea how it all started and if the Celts or the Romans had a similar tradition. 
Checking around it seems that the indigenous festival in Mexico was in the spring and that the Catholic church changed it to November. In France it seems that it started in the 8th century in November but that the orthodox church was celebrating it in May..so like all the holidays it seems to have been connected to a season. either rebirth or end of the crop season and the beginning of the winter....


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Here's a decent article about Día de muertos from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead Among other things, it mentions why Americans are apt to (incorrectly) call it Día de los muertos.


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## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Here's a decent article about Día de muertos from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead Among other things, it mentions why Americans are apt to (incorrectly) call it Día de los muertos.


Excellent link, good information.


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## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

Well it was indeed a unique experience. The cemetery was crowded with people. All of the graves were decorated with flowers and things that the deceased liked in life. There were beers and shots of tequila and mezcal, mandarins, nuts and tamales. People played the guitar and sang serenading the dead. The mausoleum had candles burning in every vault door and there were hundreds, some dating back to 1864.
Outside the cemetery was literally a carnival, rides and food of every description. The main street was packed. People posed for pictures wearing elaborate costumes of the occasion. A parade went by and we walked until you simply could go no further because the crowd was stopped. I heard a lot of English and some German but they too were wearing makeup. 
We came to know Julian and his wife Veronica quite well, he built our house. His father was very old and blind and died recently so we attended the funeral. The body of the poor is not embalmed and the casket is very narrow. Without our traditional funeral preparations the body begins to give off gasses very soon so the coffin is nailed shut and there is a small viewing window over the face. A glass of holy water is there with a small cluster of flowers. The women come and hold the flowers by the stem, dip them in the water then sprinkle it over the glass and pray. They remain all night, singing, eating sweet breads and drinking coffee.
The coffin was moved to the local church. The man's dog came in and laid in the center aisle. They sang and the priest prayed. The coffin is then placed in a truck and the people walk behind it for two miles. Finally arriving at the cemetery, there is more singing. Everyone was pretty stoic until they took ropes and lowered the casket into the ground, then the kids broke down, they had no concept of death and grandpa was still with them, just in a box. Once he was lowered they began to cry loudly and this made the women and some men cry. 
Everyone remains as the cement is mixed on the ground. Boards were placed on top of the vault which was made from cinder blocks and a form was quickly built around it. The cement was carried in five gallon buckets, one at a time, then smoothed over. They then walked the two miles back home.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

The custom in Oaxaca in Chiapas , I do not know about other places is to bring sugar, coffee and bread for the wake. Bodies are not embalmed as a rule just like in France..and in cooler areas the coffin is not closed. 
Last week a friend of mine´s niece was murdered and thrown on the street. , I would have thought the body would have been at the morgue for at least a few hours but it was not, it was brought into the house and was lying on the floor dressed to the ninth. Her head was wrapped up into a cape as it had been bashed in with stones but the body stayed there until the coffin came in. she was put in there with all of her clothes and her favorite things and the rest was destroyed or burned, the coffin was oppen until she was carried out. People visited all night to pray for her and she was buried in the morning.
It was in a cool area so there was no need to close the casket. She had next to her her favorite caldo de pollo, a plate with money for people to leave their help for the funeral and a piece of ginger. Do not know why ginger. 
The women were on one side and took turn at wailing in a ritualistic manner, the men on the other side and the kids were everywhere including he 5 year old daughter.
In that village there is no mausoleum, people graves are made of dirt and have a simple wooden cross or stone cross for the richer ones and the graves get covered with pine needles , flowers and lots of candles and copal. No priest was present although there are catholic.I was told no need for a priest God knows the good ones from the bad ones...
It is customary there to bring sugar, coffee, bread for the wake and same in Oaxaca.


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## carminaaa (Nov 1, 2015)

Day of the Death is a Catholic tradition, as said above, it's just that the way it is celebrated in Mexico is particularly colorful. This is a very, very old tradition that is celebrated all over Europe as well in countries that are mainly Catholic and by Catholics in general all over the world.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

carminaaa said:


> Day of the Death is a Catholic tradition, as said above, it's just that the way it is celebrated in Mexico is particularly colorful. This is a very, very old tradition that is celebrated all over Europe as well in countries that are mainly Catholic and by Catholics in general all over the world.


A tiny correction to your post: _Día de muertos_ is best translated as _Day of the dead._


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

All kinds of cultures have ancestor worship, remembrance days , day of the Dead and so on. It is also an indigenous holiday and in Mexico it is a mixture of Catholic and indigenous celebration . It is more indigenous in some areas and more catholic in some others. The Catholic do not have the exclusivity.
By the way the Evangelist do not celebrate it at all indigenous or not.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Just found this interesting article on the UNESCO website: El retorno de lo querido: celebración del Día de Muertos en México | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization


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