Spanish Club celebrates "Day of the Dead"

Posted by: Debbie Bowley on Tue, 31 October 2006 15:03:35

In celebration of the Mexican customs surrounding “The Day of the Dead,” Lauralton Hall’s Spanish Club created an “altar” commemorating Spaniard Pablo Picasso and Mexican Frieda Kahlo, since students of Spanish IV have been studying artists of the Spanish-speaking world. On the altar, which will be on display throughout the week of October 30 in the school’s foyer, are skeletons and little sugar skulls, as well as reproductions of some of the works of these artists. November 1 is when dead little ones, known as angelitos (little angels) are commemorated. On November 2, the day devoted to spiritual reunion with dead adults, some “bread of the dead” will be added to the altar.

Those lucky enough to be in Mexico on November 1 and 2 will see strange sights:  families “picnicking” at their relatives’ gravesites; children eating human skull-shaped candies; trails of marigold petals leading to people’s houses, so that the spirits of their dearly departed might find their way home. In the homes people have prepared family altars to honor their dead. At these altars is special bread, in the shape of a skull or topped crossbones of dough. Other foods are offered as well, so that the spirits of the departed might extract their essence. Also on the altar are more prosaic things, like candles, pictures of the dead, souvenirs or other reminders of the things they enjoyed during life.  In some regions of Mexico, the skulls of the dead ancestors themselves are actually brought out to be venerated on “The Day of the Dead.”

Before the Spaniards conquered Mexico, there was a cult of the dead, and the belief that the dead have substance and continue living. Many of the customs were tolerated by the Catholic Church as a way of easing the natives into the new religion. Coincidentally, this pre-Columbian holiday fell at about the time of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, so it was a perfect fit! Many of these customs continue to this day, with great elaboration and often in a spirit of playfulness. The famous artist José Guadalupe Posada, whose lithographs portray skeletons dancing, riding horseback, laughing hysterically, drinking and much more are a proud part of Mexican culture, as is the tradition of publishing obituaries of very-much-alive friends and celebrities.