[natural sounds: match strike]
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[music: Buenos Dias Amor] Chavela Vargas – Buenos Dias Amor
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AS HALLOWEEN COMES TO AN END, THE IMAGES OF DEATH AND SKULLS TRANSFORM FROM SYMBOLS OF HORROR INTO ADORNMENTS FOR A CELEBRATORY HOLIDAY: DAY OF THE DEAD. DIA DE LOS MUERTOS, AS IT’S KNOWN IN ITS COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, MEXICO, CELEBRATES THE REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE WHO’VE PASSED FROM OUR WORLD.
Carrillo: Although it is called the Day of the Dead, it is a celebration of life: an opportunity in the sort of Mexican and Latin-american iconography for the living to reestablish connection with the ones who have departed this life.
YOU JUST HEARD FROM PROFESSOR HÉCTOR CARRILLO: A NORTHWESTERN SOCIOLOGY AND GENDER STUDIES PROFESSOR WITH AFFILIATION TO LATINA AND LATINO STUDIES. DURING OUR INTERVIEW, HE CONSTRUCTED A PORTRAIT OF THE CELEBRATION.
Carrillo: Let me start by saying that it’s a very syncretic celebration that brings together beliefs and ways of thinking about life and death that are indigenous to the Mexican indigenous cultures and that became combined and linked to Spanish catholic traditions.
DURING MY DISCUSSION WITH CARRILLO, THERE SEEMED TO BE A RECURRING ELEMENT OF BRIDGES AND LINKS. THE HOLIDAY APPEARS TO MANIFEST ITSELF THROUGH A SERIES OF SPIRITUAL AND OR PHYSICAL BONDS.
Carrillo: During the colonial period in the last in the last four-hundred years, the sort of ways of thinking about life and death of the indigenous cultures became linked to celebrations that the spanish had around what they called Day of All Saints’ and bringing together of those two for the celebrations of November first and November second.
FOLLOWING THIS, I INQUIRED ON EXACTLY WHAT IS BELIEVED TO OCCUR DURING THIS PERIOD OF TIME
Carrillo: Well the notion is, the belief is, that during the celebration, the dead have an opportunity to come back to the world to partake with the living, with their relatives, with their friends. But in order to do that the living have to create a pathway.
ONCE AGAIN, THERE’S THE MENTION OF LINKS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE HOLIDAY’S TRADITION, THESE COME TO BE SYMBOLIZED THROUGH VARIOUS IMAGES AND PRACTICES. CARRILLO THEN FURTHER ILLUMINATES ON THE MATTER.
Carrillo: Light, and the light of candles becomes very important, food and drink become very important because it’s a celebration, and then the pathway is created by the marigold, or what in Spanish we call the flór de cempazúchitl, to use a native term, which is this bright orange color that combined with the light of the candles creates the notion of the pathway that allows the spirits of the dead to return and partake.
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[music: “La Llorona”] Chavela Vargas – La Llorona
TO HELP BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN ACADEMIC UNDERSTANDING AND LIVED EXPERIENCES, I ASKED FRESHMEN ALEXANDER GONZALES-HERNANDEZ FOR HIS PERSPECTIVE.
Hernandez-Gonzalez: For me, my identity pretty much lies well within the Day of the Dead because I’m obviously Mexican and I grew up in a Mexican household and we always celebrated Day of the Dead whether it was in Denver, or when I was living in Zacatecas.
BECAUSE HERNANDEZ-GONZALEZ IS FROM ZACATECAS, A CITY IN MEXICO, AS WELL AS DENVER, COLORADO HE IS ABLE TO OFFER A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THE WAYS IN WHICH THE CELEBRATION IS EMBODIED.
[music: La Llorona] Chavela Vargas – La Llorona
IN THE 1970’s, A PURELY MEXICAN TRADITION FOUND ITS WAY TO THE UNITED STATES. AS CARRILLO EXPLAINS,
Carrillo: At some point, the American imagination began to pay attention to the iconography of the Day of the Dead. Mexican American and Latin American immigrant communities in the U.S. began to organize events. You can think for instance going back 30 years about a parade, a Day of the Dead parade that Latnix, Latino, Latina communities organized in San Francisco. That began to bring the iconography.
AS THIS TRADITION SAW AN EMERGENCE IN AMERICA, HALLOWEEN SIMILARLY FOUND ITS FOOTING IN MEXICO.
Carrillo: There’s also some parallels because in the iconography of the Day of the Dead there are a lot of skulls that are used, people make candy skulls etc. and of course this coincides with Halloween which also has a lot of skulls etc. and so you begin to see this back and forth where Halloween made it into Mexico in the 60’s and the 70’s you began to see all the pumpkins and the Halloween icons, but here in the U.S. you also began to see the Day of the Dead.
OUTSIDE OF THE HISTORY AND TRADITIONAL MEANINGS BEHIND DIA DE LO MUERTOS, FOR BOTH HERNANDEZ-GONZALEZ AND CARRILLO, THE HOLIDAY IS ESSENTIALLY ABOUT MEMORIES, ABOUT NOSTALGIA AND CELEBRATING WITH LOVED ONES.
Hernandez-Gonzalez: My family is kind of, in general, busy all the time. And we’re not in touch as much as we used to be before. But with Day of the Dead we just come together and we have good times we celebrate and yeah.
Carrillo: I set an ofrenda every year. And the ofrenda involves the process of thinking about what foods your ancestors like and getting those, putting them on the offering, having the flowers, and taking out the photos of your deceased relatives. What I like to do personally is that once the ofrenda is set, is sit down with my partner and talk about the things that we remember and then of course the candle stay on all night and the next day you know that the non-perishable foods that you put on the ofrenda can be eaten by the living. The notion is that overnight because the dead came, that the foods have been infused by their essence and then they become part of you.
IN ESSENCE, THE DAY IS SIMPLY A LONG REMEMBERANCE. AS IT’S COME TO EXIST TODAY, DAY OF THE DEAD OFFERS THOSE WHO PRACTICE ITS CUSTOMS A RETROSPECTIVE ON LIVING AS WELL AS LOVING THOSE WE ONCE KNEW.
FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M ALEX HUERTA
[music: Buenos Dias Amor] Chavela Vargas – Buenos Dias Amor
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Chavela Vargas – Buenos Dias Amor Chavela Vargas – Buenos Dias Amor
Chavela Vargas – La Llorona Chavela Vargas – La Llorona
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[natural sounds: setting plates] Victoria Boche-Mus152-Foley.Setting plates | Royalty-free Music – Pixabay
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[natural sounds: fire crackle] Fire in the stove | Royalty-free Music – Pixabay
