Sunday, November 4, 2007

Day of the Dead






Tonight I met up with my friend Ashley,in the above picture, to watch her and hundreds of other people take part in the finale of the 3 day Celebration of the Dead in Tuscon, Az. The finale was called the All Souls Procession and consisted of drummers,dancers, floats, and community and they marched through 4th ave to the local stadium where a bon fire would close out the weekend. It was really fun to see all walks of life come out, paint their faces, and some get into costumes, to celebrate the loved ones who are no longer with us.
Below is a brief history of Dia de los Muertos. I would like to pay my respects to all of my friends and family who have since departed their bodies.
More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death.
It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate.
A ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
The ritual is celebrated in Mexico and certain parts of the United States, including the Valley.
Celebrations are held each year in Mesa, Chandler, Guadalupe and at Arizona State University. Although the ritual has since been merged with Catholic theology, it still maintains the basic principles of the Aztec ritual, such as the use of skulls.
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Today, people don wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. The wooden skulls are also placed on altars that are dedicated to the dead. Sugar skulls, made with the names of the dead person on the forehead, are eaten by a relative or friend, according to Mary J. Adrade, who has written three books on the ritual.
The Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth.
The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations believed came back to visit during the monthlong ritual.
Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.