Dia de los Muertos

Description

What is “Dia de Los Muertos”? It is a fiesta in the graveyard! On November 2, children romp around the tombs and leaning crucifixes, munching tiny sugar skulls as their parents sit near the grave of a departed loved one, eating sweet tamales, pan de los muertos (bread of the dead) and recalling fond memories of the difuntos (deceased). On this day the souls of the dead receive divine permission to visit their living loved ones, who light the way with candles to the altar laden with offerings of food and personal belongings they had been fond of when they still inhabited their bodies. The celebration is based on the common belief that the souls of the dead are able to visit their relatives in this world. In Mexico the people say “There can be no life without death before it, and there can be no death without life before it.”

My ideas for Dia de Los Muertos came to me originally after I read a poem in, oddly enough, a Mexican cookbook. It was about a child bringing tortillas and salt to the cemetery for a deceased loved one. After moving to Mexico I had the pleasure of seeing the “ritual” of the “Dia de Los Muertos” first hand. In the small villages the towns people parade to the cemetery with lit candles, tortillas and salt. All the way singing and talking about their departed loved ones. It is a ceremony that is both “dark” and “joyful” — I thought that this could be portrayed in music better than in any other art form.

Published by: RBC Publications