Sparkler Snapshots

XXXII | Sugar Skulls

"For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity." – William Penn

Date: November 2nd, 2017

Occasion:
Day of the Dead
Día de los Muertos
Día de los Difuntos

Country: Mexico

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XXXII | Sugar Skulls

Spooky Skeletons
By Chase Navarro

Ooh, look, I see squirrels over there. Do I have enough time to pet them before we go live? Wait, what? Are we live already? Why didn't you tell me?

So, ahem, hello. I should put on my announcer's voice for this. I'm Chase Navarro, coming live to you from Mexico City. Wait, can I redo that? I think I should've deepened my voice. You think it sounded fine? Well, if you say so.

So, I'm probably speaking for everyone when I say that today is the best day of the year. Colorful parades everywhere, people dressed as skeletons, singing and dancing and parades and parties through the night, that kind of thing is straight up my alley.

Let me backtrack a bit before I start getting into the nitty gritty observations. Today may be an ordinary day for most of you, but for us Mexicans, it's a treat. We call this the day of the dead, which is just as awesome as it sounds.

At first sight, it seems to just be the Mexican version of Halloween, but let me tell you, that's dead wrong. Haha, dead wrong. Get it? I love me a good pun.

While Halloween is packed with spooktacular activities that scare the living daylights out of you, the day of the dead is all about color. It celebrates both life and death, and demonstrates respect for deceased family members. So, shout out to my ancestors making sure I exist. I owe them a couple of beers when I float up to Heaven.

Wow, my sister just told me I would never make it to Heaven. Well, screw you, Jess. Hell sounds like a blast, so jokes on you. What was I saying? Oh yes, the point of Día de los Muertos. While some are freaked out about ghosts, we throw parties with them. We live on the wild side.

Oh, speaking of wild, I see that a parade is about to begin! People have begun marching down the street in their dope skeleton costumes. I should put mine on and join in soon. Jess will talk you through the history and whatnot, while I'm taking part in the fun.

The point of the skeletons is to symbolize the Calavera Catrina. In English? That means elegant skull, and boy, are our skulls elegant. We go all out for this occasion. Sugar skulls? Heard of those? They look awesome. They're basically a form of art, where you make skulls out of sugar. Meringue powder, to be specific. I have to restrain myself from eating them.

To elaborate on the history of the Calavera Catrina, so my sister gets to talk about some interesting stuff for a change, an artsy dude named José Guadalupe Posada carved an engraving to accompany a skull, or Calavera, written about in a book. This carving ended up being a personification of death, per se. Jess, get over yourself. Why are you so surprised that I know what per se means?

Anyhow, Posada gave his skeleton carving a makeover, dressing it up in a fancy French outfit, which represented the Mexican interpretation of European sophistication. Whoa, that rhymed! That was awesome. So, later on, another dude named Diego Rivera gave his skeleton bust a fancier makeover with richer garments, and thus, Calavera Catrina was born.