Candy Skulls

The Day of the Dead is a holiday that is celebrated all throughout the Catholic world, but the United States is particularly enamored with the colorful celebration in Mexico. There could be many explanations as to why America is so obsessed with this cultural holiday, but I believe the main reason is that our society likes to take things it doesn’t understand, mystify it, and fetishize it. It is extremely unfortunate that our society does this as this is a very important holiday and we only see the shallowest view of it. So in order to try and alleviate the appropriation that surrounds this holiday, I would like to share a brief history lesson of this holiday and its traditions. (Side note: I am not Mexican nor Latinx. If any of this is incorrect, seemingly biased, or misinterpreted, PLEASE let me know in the comments.)

The Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead is a mixture of ideas and traditions from the New World and the Aztec Empire. Originally, Dia de Muertos (the actual name of the Holiday) was celebrated at the beginning of summer before the Spanish colonization. It was dedicated to Mictecachihuatl, a goddess in Aztec religion, often romanticized to the “Lady of the Dead.” During this time, Aztecs would take time to remember the deceased and create alters in their honor. After Spanish colonization, this holiday was shifted to fit the three day celebration of Allhallowtide (All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day) and the traditions were morphed to include the traditional practices of the Catholic holidays.

Today, the holiday is highly respected and enjoyable celebration that involves alter creation, visits to cemeteries, and offerings of food and flowers to the dead in hopes that they will visit. The entire holiday has a humorous tones which stems from the Aztecs’ ability to laugh at death. While I would love to go into all the details of the holiday, I don’t believe I have the authority to truly discuss every important aspect of the holiday. Instead, I will be focusing on three important aspects: ofrendas, calaveras, and La Calavera Catrina.

Ofrendas are alters made to honor the deceased. They are often made for an individual and the most common format is three tiers. They almost always contain orange and yellow marigolds as they are believed to attract the spirits of the dead and are called Flor de Muerto (Flower of Dead). The tiers then often contain different items that are specified to the individual. The bottom alter contains candles, a mirror, and washing items so that the spirit can refresh themselves. The second tier contains items that were important to the individual and let them feel comfortable. These include favorite foods, toys for children, tequila or mezcal for adults, and especially pan de muerto, a sweetbread. The top tier identifies the person the alter is for and may contain religious iconography. These ofrendas may be within one’s house or at the grave of the deceased. They are also highly variable and the one I described in this paragraph is only one of the forms. In addition, they are also created in schools and government buildings (without the religious icons) because of the high respect for the holiday.

Calaveras are probably the most recognizable aspect of Dia de Muertos. They are the sugar skulls that appear everywhere during the month of October. Calaveras did not come about until the 17^th century when the Italian art of sugar sculpture made its way to Mexico. In addition to sugar, they can also be made of clay in order to be solely decorative. Before the colonization, icons of skeletons were used to represent rebirth, whereas now, the popularity is often attributed to Jose Guadalupe Posada and his political caricatures. While some of the sugar skulls are edible, aesthetics are much more important and the skulls are not meant to be consumed. These skulls are placed on the ofrendas as well.

La Calavera Catrina is the caricature by Posada that popularized the heavily aestheticized sugar skulls. She was created to mock the Mexican people who ignored their heritage and emulated Western Europe. Created in the 1910’s, it is an etching of a skeleton dressed in European fineries. She has become an embodiment of death and she is now revered during Dia de Muertos like Mictecachihuatl was in the original Aztec holiday. She is often matched with a male skeleton, but they are not as popular as La Calavera Catrina. This icon heavily influenced the artistry of the calaveras.

As you can see, there is a lot of tradition and importance placed on this holiday. It is incredibly important that we are sensitive to this holiday and do not appropriate the traditions. It is great to want to learn more about the holiday and to appreciate it, nut our society to often mystifies it and we don’t take the celebration as seriously as we should.