One of many pieces of art on display during the Day of the Dead weekend.
On Friday, Americans will scare one another by dressing as ghosts and ghouls and walking through spooky haunted houses with the morbid thought of death in mind. On Saturday and Sunday, people in Mexico and around the world will honor death with festive traditions for the Day of the Dead, or en Español, “Día de los Muertos.”
Día de los Muertos is an ancient Mexican holiday that has been integrated into the Americas and other parts of the world. It is a time when families set up their homes with offerings for loved ones who have passed away, visit and decorate cemeteries and enjoy special meals with family and friends.
Celebrated annually on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, Día de los Muertos is the time when spirits are said to visit their living families. University Spanish instructor Bryan Moore said Mexicans view death as a continuation of life, which makes the Day of the Dead a joyous holiday instead of a morbid one.
“It is the most spiritual family event in Mexico,” he said. “They put out a lot of effort to see family members and spend time with them. There are some solemn moments, but mostly joyous ones.”
Día de los Muertos dates back to the Aztecs, who would devote the ninth and tenth months of their calendar to honoring the dead. In 1521, during the Spanish Conquest, the Spanish integrated Aztec culture into the holiday.
Several weeks before the holiday, shops in Mexico fill with festival paraphernalia, including tissue paper cut-outs of skeletons (and other symbols of death) and wreaths and crosses adorned with paper and silk flowers. Families traditionally shop for these decorative items along with marigold flowers, candles and incense. They create altars covered with offerings to the returning spirit of a loved one. Such offerings can also include photos of the person and their favorite foods.
“Spirits like the scents of flowers and food,” Oak Hill School Spanish teacher Armando Morales said. “The incense is used to welcome them.”
Nov. 1 is dedicated to children and infants who passed away, and Nov. 2 is in remembrance of deceased adults. On the night of Oct. 31, the graves of children are adorned with brightly-colored flowers, toys and balloons. The following night, adult graves are spruced up with flowers, religious amulets and food offerings. Community members often spend all night at the cemetery having picnics, socializing and telling stories about the people buried there.
“It is a time when everybody comes together — the living and the dead,” Morales said.
Traditional foods are prepared and eaten during these two days, and most popular is the “pan de muerto” (bread of the dead), a rich coffee cake topped with bone-shaped meringue that sometimes holds a plastic skeleton inside, which is said to bring good luck to the person who bites into it. Other foods include spicy meat dishes, egg-batter bread, candies shaped into animals and skulls and a dessert made from pumpkin, cinnamon and dark sugar cones.
Morales grew up celebrating the Day of the Dead in Guanajuato, Mexico, and he has continued this tradition in Eugene. He is community advisor for the University student group MEChA, which will be hosting the 23rd annual Day of the Dead event on campus. A celebration with poetry, music and an exhibition of Hispanic ceramics with take place on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in the EMU Fir Room. Mexican ceramic artists Martine and Blas Guevara will show their work and speak. Both have taught free workshops on creating death-themed Hispanic pottery for the past two weeks.
The Maude Kerns Art Center, located at 1910 E. 15th Ave., is also exhibiting art for Día de los Muertos. The display will run until Nov. 14 and features a mix of traditional and contemporary pieces. Included in the show are eight locally created altars, photographs of Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, skeleton paintings and skeleton creations in papier-mâché and pottery. Maude Kerns coordinator Tina Schrager said the event is quite popular in town.
“It takes on it’s own character here,” she said. “It’s a blend of Eugene and Mexico.”
Nontraditional Día de los Muertos art dominates the show and includes a Japanese-themed altar displaying handguns and bullets. Schrager said the show highlights the festive spirit of the holiday.
“The show is light and playful,” she said. “The incorporation of nontraditional pieces expands and enriches it.”
The show is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
While Día de los Muertos is rooted in Mexico, its transition into other cultures has changed the methods of celebration. However, Moore said the holiday has remained a happy occasion throughout its integration.
“It honors family and loved ones,” he said. “It is a time of respect and joy.”
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