Day of the Dead at A Texas High School

The Day of the Dead In Texas

The Day of the Dead in Texas

Faces painted, skeletons dancing, candles, altars, and midnight picnics and celebrations at the graveyard. The Day of the Dead is perhaps the most colorful and festive holiday in Mexico and throughout much of Central America. The tradition has been carried into Mexican and Central American communities in the United States and is now being observed by many Americans of non-Hispanic heritage as well. This is especially true in Southwest Texas, home of the Ramos and Haquez families, both second generation immigrants from Mexico.

The tradition of the Day of the Dead began with the Aztecs and Mayans who inhabited the mountainous regions of what is now Mexico, establishing their civilization before the 13th Century. These groups, which are part of what anthropologists now call the Nahua people, did not see death as the end of life, but the beginning of a new cycle. When a person died they were said to go to Chicunamictlan, the Land of the Dead. In Aztec and Nahua culture, there was a traditional ceremony, held at the peak of the sun, in July or August, honoring the dead. In this ceremony, family members provided food and water, and sometimes precious metals or stones that would aid the dead in their journey. But life in Chicunamictlan was not the easy resting place filled with angels and glowing light that Christians see as heaven. It was the land of the dead, filled with lost souls, looking for a home, seeking rest for a wandering spirit. Sometimes these spirits turned angry and malevolent. This is because each soul has to get through nine levels of challenge. Many souls did not advance, spending eternity in a state of semi-purgatory. In America and much of Europe, this state of purgatory or half-life is seen in a much different light. Americans "celebrate" Halloween. To them the dead represent not the warm souls of loved ones, but evil spirits in the form of ghosts, goblins, and later "monsters" and other harmful creatures. The "Jack-o- Lantern," derived from a combination of Germanic and Celtic lore, is carved in a scary or hideous form to scare off the evil spirit. "treats" are given to appease the evil ghosts or visitors, in the hopes that they would not bring evil or settle in the home, but continue their journey, perhaps haunting the next house. In Mexican and Central American culture, The Day of the Dead and All Souls' Day take a much different approach. Long before the day itself, altars or ofrendas are erected to honor dead friends and relatives in a special room in the home or even at the gravesite. The most important element is a photo or image of a lost loved one. This is then surrounded by candles, Pan de Muerto, or special breads made on the Day of the Dead. Also added are the person's favorite foods such as tamales, drinks, such as a glass of cana or rum, or other treats put out to welcome the lost soul, hoping that it will return home. Every ofrenda also includes the four elements: water, wind, earth, and fire. Water is left in a pitcher so the spirits can quench their thirst. Papel picado, or traditional paper banners, represent the wind. One more important element of the Dia de Los Muertos is the placement of bright yellow Marigold Flowers throughout the home, and especially on and around the gravesite.

Another important symbol of the Day of the Dead are the images of the Calaveras or skulls and skeletons. These largely blank ink, wood cut drawings were the creation of artist Jose Guadelupe Posada. In his illustrations Posada depicted the skulls and skeletons as living ghosts. These were the people that Posada called the "Bourgeoisie" or Mexicans who turned their back on their people and culture to amass riches and fortunes, imitating through dress and behavior, and idolizing the wealthy Spanish, European and even Americans who came to Mexico to seek and build fortunes largely on the backs of the Mexican people. Concentration of large amounts of wealth in the hands of the very few angered the Mexican people. Posada's drawings depict these people as having the trappings of wealth-tables full of fruit and wine, fine clothes and hats, and musical instruments. Like in life, they were in a perpetual state of fiesta, drinking, dancing, and cavorting. But these Calaveras were not human. They were skeletal spirits, trapped inside purgatory, living in a land of a perpetual party that they could not escape. Keeping these spirits at bay is another reason why, when celebrating the Day of the Dead and All Souls Day, treats such as rum and cigars are left at the cemetery. Like many, the Ramos and Haquez families planned a small feast, prayers, and a trip to the graves of their past loved ones as part of their annual Day of The Dead. But the two youngest daughters, Sandy Ramos, and her wild partying friend, Veronica Haquez, were more interested in texting and their social life than the ancient tradition of the Calaveras.