The colorful designs represent the vitality of life and individual personality. Sugar skulls: Elaborately decorated skulls are crafted from pure sugar and given to friends as gifts. Of course, many people who celebrate this holiday will pick and choose from among these symbolic items: "This day is a joyous occasion it's a time to gather with everyone in your family, those alive and those dead," he says.ĭuring the Spanish conquest, Catholic leaders exerted their influence on the tradition, and the resulting mash-up created the Day of the Dead celebration as we now know it.Įverything on an altar has special meaning, and if you want to try this at home, we've decoded the elaborate altar created for the Smithsonian. Hayes Lavis, cultural arts curator for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, says that mourning was not allowed because it was believed the tears would make the spirit's path treacherous and slippery. These altarcitos, or little altars, are not only created to help us remember, but also to learn about and celebrate the lives of our family, friends, and. That's where the food, drink and music offerings come in. Instead, the Aztecs celebrated their lives and welcomed the return of their spirits to the land of the living once a year. The Aztecs developed the ritual some 3,000 years ago because they believed one should not grieve the loss of a beloved ancestor who passed. It is also practice to visit the ancestral burial ground to celebrate with picnics and music. And read our story below to learn more about the food and drink of the Day of the Dead.Īltar: Altars are used to welcome the ancestors' spirits into the home. The altars, built in homes and around tombstones, are for Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, a tradition originating in central Mexico on Nov. Watch our NPR Live video above to see Jinich's full cooking technique, part of our live cooking show, Passport Kitchen. To help us celebrate, we asked Mexican chef Pati Jinich to show us how to cook her favorite kind: chicken tamales in green salsa. There are hundreds and hundreds of types of tamales, which can come with sweet or savory fillings such as beef, pork, chicken or cheese. And food and drink are a big part of the festivities - they are ofrendas, or offerings, put on altars to entice deceased loved ones to come back for a visit.Īmong the most popular food offerings are tamales - delicious little packages of masa, or dough made from corn flour, wrapped in aromatic leaves, usually corn husks or banana leaves, and steam cooked. Additional candles are added for forgotten souls.In Mexico, celebrations for el Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, are already in full swing. Fire: Visiting souls are illuminated from the shadow of death by candles.Common edibles include fruit, mole, chocolate, and atole. They are taken down and the perishable items are consumed or disposed of. Earth: The soul is nourished by favorite family dishes that represent the crops of the earth. They often contain bread, fruit, prepared food, flowers, and other perishable items.Wind: The papel picado also lets loved one know when the spirits have arrived.The deceased's favorite knickknacks, tools, or toys (for children) create a familiar setting for their return.įour main elements of nature are found on an altar:.Christian iconography such as a Virgin Mary and Holy Cross reveal the holiday's European roots.Salt, a symbol of purification, is for the dead to season the food you've offered them.Its a time when families get together and build altars to honor family members. Candles represent the cardinal directions and provide a lighted path to this world. El Dia de Los Muertos (Spanish for Day of the Dead) is on November 1st and 2nd.Found at most panaderias, the round loaf is topped with a skull and crossbones. Tamales are made from corn-based dough, wrapped in cornhusk, then steamed. Pan de muerto or "bread of the dead" is a sweet treat. The offerings are made up of seasonal fruits, drinks and favorite foods of the dead, images of saints and photos of the dead, candles and candles, marigold. Food: The ancestor's favorite meals are placed on the altar as offerings.Photograph(s) of the person(s) the altar is dedicated to help loved ones to remember them while they were in the prime of their lives.Cempasuchitl, the Aztec term for "marigolds" is the traditional flower used to honor the dead.
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