Day of the Dead’s beauty
It is hard to of the Day of the dead celebration without recalling all of the art that is linked with this holiday. Day of the dead art can take many form of folk art for instance: sugar skulls and other candies are hand-crafted with colorful designs, Masks, toys, puppets, paintings, papel picado adorn with beautiful scene, ofrendas are also considered art as they are arrange as artistically as possible, performances of theater and dance, colorful day of the dead decorations etc. “Day of the dead art is alive with smiling skulls in kaleidoscope colors, doused in a deluge of decorative and detailed designs”. Ironically this type of artwork is often colorful and lively, and does not portray the dead as something people should be scared of. Many, who didn’t grow up in a Latin America culture, do not know that the day of the dead art rejuvenates our opinion of death by presenting us with a view of an afterlife that is full of energy and life, an afterlife that is not at all scary, but one worthy of a joyous celebration. It brings with it the hope that once we pass away there will still be another tomorrow. This colorful expression of art mocks death in a playful way, though some might say that mocking the dead is disrespectful it isn’t, in mocking the dead with Calacas and Calaveras, we accept it and honor it, instead of fearing it. Craftwork of skulls and skeletons are commonly seen in ofrendas and ground street festivals.
Skulls
The biggest cultural key symbol for Day of the Dead is the calavera. Calaveras reminds us that death is real, it is part of the circle of life, and it’s a point we will all have to reach. We will all eventually end up looking like a calavera after we pass away, merely bones. The ...
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...ns. He portrayed and illustrated the Politian’s and the contributors to the social and political problems that where taking place all throughout Mexico, as calaveras. In his posters, priests, politicians, farmers and street sweepers all shared the same destiny, death. When dead they will all end up being equal; money and power will not help then maneuver their way around things anymore. For one the rich and poor will be equal and same, an idea that during the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz was highly attractive. His drawing of “La Catrina” show cast exactly that; that even the rich die. Posadas drawing of skeletons all became attached to the dead of the dead celebration because as his drawing portrayed the dead in everyday lives something that is portrayed in the calacas and esenasas of Day of the Dead.
One of his famous poems was that of The Calavera Oaxaquena
The sugar skull is obviously referring to the Mexican tradition called dia de los muertos. Dia de los muertos takes place during the end of october and the first of November. This celebration is an important holiday as it is considered a vital part of Mexican identity, and identity in which is a combination of mesoamerican rituals, European beliefs, and Spanish culture. Mesoamerican culture shared many of the same traditions when celebrating their ancestors. Dia de los muertos isn’t about the final resting place of the dead, but instead the beginning of a new journey. A journey to the Machlin, a final resting place for the souls. Due to Spanish colonization, death rituals were influenced by new laws and lifestyles. Spain and the catholic church made an lasting influence on the cultures of mesoamerica. Many of these influences were a cause of mass war and the bubonic plague. Life and death balanced together like right and wrong, good versus evil, eventually creating a general understanding that life and death, itself, is a cyclical journey. Europeans brought the idea of cemeteries to the indigenous people. Today there is evidence of this with sugar skulls and celebrations in the cemetery and homes. According to The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity, Stanley Brandes
In digging the day of the dead a distinction between Dia de los Muertos and Halloween is made, the purpose, to highlight the differences and showing the importance and significance of Dia de los Muertos. This ethnography begins by loosely describing Halloween in American culture, it is described as a day where “children dress up as grotesque corpses” and a celebration empty of historic or cultural significance and knowledge. The author Juanita Garciagodoy, later goes on to describe Dia de los Muertos in a romanticized way, by statin that the dead “are not forgotten or excluded from recollections, prayer, or holidays because they are no longer visible” Garciagodoy then goes on to tell a heartfelt story about a couple one holding on to tradition,
The Day of the Dead celebrates life past and present and not just death alone. Revelers construct ofrendas, the offerings of food, drinks, cigarettes, toys, and candy, set out for returning souls. Revelers take joy in honoring the dead, usually with music, dancing, crafts and food. The children have many activities also including the decoration of pan de muerto. Kids can also try to throw beanbags into a skeleton's mouth, make cascarones (confetti-filled eggshell wands), or create clay whistles, paper flowers, pinatas or masks. Mexico and other Central American countries to include visits to graveyards, where families decorate the sites of deceased loved ones.
Why do people celebrate death? Many people including myself have wondered this, and when I first heard of the mexican holiday Dia De Los Muertos. Translated in english, day of the dead is a holiday where instead of mourning lost ones they remember their lost ones by making alters, decorating their graves with things they used to like or their favourite food and celebrate their life. This mexican tradition is now celebrated throughout the united states aswell and this year we decided to dedicate alters to people we lost in the battle against police brutality. We have lost so many souls in the past decade that a black lives matter movement was created. Its sad that it even had to get to this point but all we can do now is fight for change and
Society’s fascination with death increased as shown in John Lydgate’s “Dance of Death”. The poem personifies Death who has relations with a physician. Some historians such as Heinrich of Herford paralleled death to a chess game piece. The game symbolized the Black Death because each “piece” or person attempted to survive. Another artistic movement, the transi tomb movement, portrayed carcasses with worms and toads. Francois de la Sarra’s tomb at La Sarraz, Switzerland displays a male body with worms covering its limbs and face. Another tomb depiction, A Disputacion betyx the Body and Wormes, illustrates a female corpse accompanied by worms. Clearly, the worms exemplify the morbid theme of death and decomposition, body and soul, during the Black
Not many consider death and the fear it conjures something to celebrate, but the sole purpose of El Dia de Los Muertos and Halloween is to cheerfully confront these themes. One might view a skull or skeleton as a symbol of death, but for many Latin Americans, these things are looked upon in a positive light. They exhibit a unique stance concerning the dead, and death in general, by facing these things with fun and humor instead of horror and fear (Halloween and Festivals of the Dead” 195-209). Likewise, the Ancient Celtic viewed death and darkness much differently than many modern societies. The Celtic tradition believed that darkness could bring forth life just as much as it could bring evil and death. In celebrating Samhain, people were comforted by the thought that their souls could never truly be gone (Trevarthen 6). During Samhain,
In The Day of The Dead, people use el calacas, (skeletons) in remembrance of their deceased friends and family. They hang skeletons doing whatever actions, paint skulls onto their faces, or even eat them as sugar skulls, they are everywhere on The Day of The Dead as a symbol of the dead. People who celebrate Halloween and go all out to decorate their houses most likely hang plastic skeletons outside or maybe even inside their house. They use skeletons to represent the brevity of human mortality, the fear of death, or a danger that can result in death. But Halloween is usually to be thought of as scary and skeletons are scary to some people because they are something that was a part of a human.
In the Hispanic culture such as Guatemala and Mexico, the Dia de Los Mortos is celebrate on November 1st and 2nd. Families’ getter to go to the cemeteries together; they clean the graveyard and bring flowers to their loved ones. They also decorate skulls with the name of the departed written on the forehead. Many
In my opinion, I find this holiday really interesting. For one reason, this celebration dated way back to pre-Hispanic cultures of Mesoamerica, in the region of Nahu more than 3,000 years ago. It all started after the Spaniards and it lasted for almost 5 centuries later. In the Nahu region, there are the Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecas, Tlaxcaltecs, ChiChimecs, and Tecpanec. For the Aztecs they celebrate the death of each king or ruler. They also honor or dedicate Dia de Los Muertos to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. After centuries of long celebration and unchange trad...
Mexicans and Venezuelans celebrate Halloween very differently; to the extent, some Venezuelans do not even celebrate the holiday. Mexicans celebrates Day of the Dead instead of Halloween. During Day of the Dead, Mexicans build altars and fill it with desserts, tamales and candy for their passed loved ones, and decorate and clean their graves. These altars are made specifically as a welcoming to the loved ones who passed away. People are sometimes welcomed to visit other’s families’ altars and take part in any of the goodies or stories involved. Some Pueblos or communities, they gathered food from different altars and enjoy the food at their loved one’s grave. Day of the Dead is much similar to Halloween, but contain much more meaning and spirit. We celebrate this holiday to remember our loved ones; not in a weeping sense, more over into a joyous sense. We only talk about the good and special times we had with that individual. People tell each other’s stories and thoughts of the dead to let them know we still remember their presence. On the other hand, in some communities in Venezuelans celebrate Halloween exactly how Americans do, but...
The calavera, or skeleton, is an important symbol during dia de muertos. Skeletons decorate the inside of ...
Different cultures have different holiday traditions. At this time of year different cultures are preparing to celebrate Halloween or the Día de los Muertos.These two holidays occur around the same time of year. October 31st is Halloween and the Day of the Dead begins on November 1st and ends on November 2nd. Halloween is an American tradition and the Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico, and other Latin American countries. Both holidays share some similarities but also have some differences.Some common themes between the two holidays are food and religion. For example, Pumpkin is associated with both holidays. And Christianity is the religion associated with both holidays. The symbols for these holidays share some similarities , for example skulls. While Halloween also is associated with ghosts and witches. A big
Common rituals in Hispanic communities are the celebration of birthdays and the breaking of the piñata. The celebration of the girls’ 15 years, which is believed to be the age at which girls become women, with a big party, dance, food, etc. The Day of the Dead (celebrated in November) is a day to remember friends and family members that have passed away. That day people make a big party as well. Hispanics usually celebrate Christmas’ Eve and New Year’s Eve with lots of food, friends and family. The Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos) is in January (similar to Santa Claus), and they are supposed to bring toys to the
The biblical references throughout the Chronicle of a Death Foretold help identify the characters, Bayardo San Roman, Maria Cervantes, Divina Flor, and the Vicario children, and add depth to the death of Santiago. Without the many religious symbols such as, the Divine Face, the murder of Santiago, the cocks crowing, and the characters, there would be little weight placed on the reactions of the townspeople towards the knowledge of Santiago’s impending death. The religious symbols solidify the idea that Christ has come again in many different forms and ideas, yet dies to renew the people’s covenant with the Lord. “Give me prejudice and I will move the world” (Márquez 100).
Although a scene of a funeral home might come to mind when a reader first hears a short story aptly named “The Dead,” the tale actually takes place in the festive setting of a winter dance at the home of the two aunts of the main character, Gabriel Conroy. James Joyce’s short story “The Dead” has a literal title, because its main concept is death – both physical death and spiritual death.