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Celebrating the dead

Published Nov 08, 2022 00:05 am  |  Updated Nov 08, 2022 00:05 am
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo When it comes to celebrating All Saints/Souls Day, Filipinos don’t hold a candle to the Mexicans. Even the American Halloween capers come across as mere child’s play. Come Nov. 1, the entire country of Mexico erupts into a fiesta atmosphere in celebrating Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead). While we trek to cemeteries and memorial parks to visit and commune with our dear departed, Mexicans have parades, parties, and programs complete with towering, beautifully decorated figures of skeletons called Calaveras Catrinas, in traditional Mexican costumes and more. It is an acknowledgment of death as a fact of life that we return to dust in the end. This I witnessed, fortunately being in Mexico City during this important holiday. This celebration goes back to Mexico’s oldest civilizations including the Olmec, Zapotec, Maya and Purepecha. The Aztecs celebrate it in an earlier month, August, in the current calendar. Unlike other cultures that just mourn their dead, Dia de Muertos emphasizes the continuity of life and remembrance of past lives. This concept somehow jibes with Christian teachings of resurrection though not just in the end of times but rather on an annual basis. This probably made it more acceptable to the Spanish conquistadors who let the practices continue. The celebration is observed on two days. The first day of November is dedicated for children who left this world early. The next day is for adults. Recently, however, the two have blended into a continuous two-day affair. In central plazas, the different towns compete with each other to set up the most artistic ofrendas, altars with colorful frames showcasing their handicrafts and specialities amid a profusion of orange marigold flowers (flor de muertos)  lining the path toward the altars. Marigold petals are scattered on the lanes leading to the center where a table is crammed full of food and drink offerings. This is replicated in the individual homes of families but on a more modest scale. Photographs of the dearly departed serve as the centerpieces. Ofrendas are also put up in the cemeteries where they hold vigil with their dead, as we do in the Philippines. The belief is when the souls come from the afterlife on the appointed days; they are guided toward the ofrendas by the bright color of the marigolds to partake of the offerings from their families. Having had their fill of food and drink, the souls then commingle with their relatives during the festivities before returning to the afterlife, which is neither heaven or hell but just a continuum of life after death. This practice calls to mind my Chinese ancestors’ practices of sending off their dead with money in the form of gold and silver-colored paper, food, drinks, and miniature paper houses, cars, and furniture for use in the afterlife. These are burned during the funeral of the loved ones so they can bring these with them on their journey. It is amazing how different cultures come up with the same concepts of the dead and the afterlife. The Calavera Catrinas are actually a more recent addition to the holiday, having been created as a caricature of the rich and powerful, reminding them that, as with everyone else, they will also die and become skeletons. Now they are a reminder of everyone’s mortality, which has to be embraced as a fact of life. These colorful figures in all shapes and sizes are seen all over Mexico during the days leading up to the holidays and are very popular with locals and tourists alike as figurines in clay and papier mache, on t-shirts, artworks, and almost everywhere else. I just had to have one or two as a souvenir of my short stay in Mexico City, just like so many other tourists who came during this week. During the International Congress on Dog Health and Welfare (more on this later), our hosts generously hosted lunches and dinners where entertainers with skulls-painted faces went around our tables posing with the guests and performing in tableaus around the venue. We were given hats and headpieces decorated with skulls and flowers for photo sessions. Singers and dancers in colorful Mexican costumes regaled us with their beautiful voices and lively steps. Mariachi bands added to the excitement. I was so mesmerized by the entire spectacle that for a brief moment, I forgot what it was all about. The souls of the departed do come back not just to commune with their families. Those who died of unnatural causes also return to ask for justice, for they will never rest in peace as long as their killers are not meted their just punishment. Only then will they be at peace, perhaps to come back to their loved ones in happier times. It may take a long time, but it will be done. What goes round comes round.
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