These days, a carnival is organized, sweets in the form of skulls are prepared, special figurines of dressed female skeletons are made - Catrina, that is, a fashionista, a dandy (Spanish: La Calavera de la Catrina).

In 2004, students from the National Autonomous University of Mexico built a wall of 5,667 sugar, chocolate and caramel skulls, an increase of 2,667 skulls from the previous wall. The wall is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

For the Day of the Dead, cemeteries are decorated with ribbons and flowers, and the roads to the homes of the deceased are lined with candles by their relatives so that the deceased can find their way home.

The Day of the Dead began to be celebrated in the territory of modern Mexico by ancient peoples such as the Olmecs and Mayans. According to scientists, rituals associated with the veneration of the dead were celebrated 2500-3000 years ago. In the period before Spanish colonization, local residents often kept real skulls of the dead in their homes - as a kind of family heirloom, they were often displayed during various rituals, they were supposed to symbolize death and resurrection.

During the Aztec Empire, a holiday similar to the Day of the Dead was celebrated in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, which falls in modern August. The Aztecs celebrated this holiday for a whole month, during which the goddess Mictlancihuatl, the goddess of death, was revered. In modern mythology, this goddess corresponds to the symbol of Katrina. In many areas of Mexico, this holiday is celebrated over two days: on November 1, they honor dead children and babies, which is also called the Day of the Angels (Spanish: Día de los Angelitos). On November 2, the Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Difuntos), all adult dead people are honored.

Many of those who celebrate this holiday believe that on the Day of the Dead, the souls of the dead can visit living relatives and friends. On this day, people visit cemeteries to communicate with the souls of the dead, they build altars with photographs and relics on the graves, and bring the favorite drinks and food of the deceased. All this is done in order to encourage the soul of the deceased to visit the living. Sometimes celebrations take on a cheerful tone when relatives of the deceased remember funny or funny facts from the life of the deceased at the gravestone.

Celebration Day of the Dead has its own differences in different regions. As a rule, they prepare for the holiday throughout the whole year, when little by little they collect things that should be on the altar of the deceased. During the celebrations on November 1 and 2, relatives decorate the graves of the dead with flowers and fruits. Very often, special flowers are used in decorations on graves - orange marigolds, which, according to legend, attract the souls of the dead. In Mexico, these flowers are called “Flowers of the Dead” (Spanish: Flor de Muerto). On Angels Day they bring toys for children and sweets. For adults, they most often bring tequila, beer and other alcoholic drinks.

In Moscow, the Mexican Altar of the Dead can be seen during the holiday at the Cervantes Institute, where teachers from Mexico have been building it for two years in a row.

The Day of the Dead in modern Mexico is a colorful, mystical, parody, slightly nostalgic and childishly naive event. For the deceased returning to earth on this day, a variety of treats and things that they loved during life are laid out on a special home altar (according to pagan beliefs, spirits can admire them, as well as inhale the smells of dishes prepared for them). In addition, sugar figures in the form of skulls signed with the names of deceased loved ones, pan de muertos (bread of the dead) - a special pastry with the image of crossed bones and sprinkled with sugar - and bouquets of seasonal yellow marigolds flor del muerto (supposed to be the favorite) are often placed on the altar. flowers of the dead"). Families in which someone has died in the last 12 months prepare special foods such as tamales (a traditional Mexican dish made from cornmeal) and atole (a hot drink made from cornmeal).

It is curious that one bed is covered with an elegant bedspread - this is a bed on which the deceased can rest after a long journey. And in some Mexican villages there is a custom to line the path from the grave of the deceased with flower petals and burning candles to the house where a ceremonial reception awaits him. This eliminates the possibility that he will accidentally get lost along the way.

Mass visits to cemeteries mark the culmination of the holiday. Families not only tidy up the graves, but also have picnics and dances to live music, and participate in noisy and fun festivities until late at night.

Day of the Dead in Mexico - National holiday and a national holiday.

Difference from Halloween

It should be noted that although Day of the Dead and Halloween have similar origins and a number of related features, they are absolutely different holidays. Halloween is more about the fear of evil spirits, who managed to make her way from other worlds. The Day of the Dead is a hospitable invitation of friendly spirits to earth and honoring them at a common table. However, the infectious tradition of celebrating Halloween also reaches Mexico. Along with special Day of the Dead merchandise, sugar skulls, papier-mâché skeletons and pan de muertos, stores in large quantities pumpkin lanterns and vampire fangs are sold. And in large cities in the northwest, children have even adopted the trick-or-treat tradition, only boys and girls dressed in witch and Dracula costumes beg for the sweet symbol of the Day of the Dead - calaverita (chocolate or sugar skull).

IN holidays Crowds of tourists usually gather in San Andres Mishquik, a part of Mexico City where the only cemetery open to the public within the capital is located. In addition to the classic customs, there are funny Games, concerts and folk dances, as well as a very interesting procession with a cardboard coffin. At the end, the “dead man” suddenly jumps out of the coffin and runs away as fast as he can to the friendly laughter of the crowd.

Those who have strong nerves and want to see pagan rituals come to life should go to the Mayan city of Pomuch. Here, on the eve of the Day of the Dead, an eerie ceremony is held to exhume the remains of the deceased. Three years after burial, the human bones are removed from the coffin, cleaned, carefully placed in a beautifully decorated box, and placed on display in the cemetery for everyone to see. After the celebrations, the remains are placed in a special storage facility. On next year the ceremony is repeated. It is believed that this kind of blasphemous manipulation, in the understanding of many, is a sign of respect and a manifestation of care. If they are not carried out, the souls of the dead will disturb their living relatives and will not be able to visit home on the holiday.

Photo: Ivan Diaz / Unsplash

The cemetery was visible from afar, a couple of kilometers away. We left the Mexican town of San Luis Rio Colorado, located on the border with American Arizona, already dark, and all the way outside the windows only the harsh Sonoran Desert loomed black in complete silence. The lonely necropolis outside the city limits today, on the Day of the Dead, looked like a real island of life, illuminated by floodlights and surrounded by cars; From behind the fence came the sounds of non-funeral music, the screams of children, laughter, barking dogs, and even, it seemed, the clinking of beer bottles. (Actually, why be surprised if we also had a case of beer in our trunk?)

November 2 found me visiting Mexican friends in a completely non-tourist place. In the north of Mexico, which is considered more Americanized than the south and center, there are no urban carnivals on the occasion of the Day of the Dead. But traditions are observed: on November 1, “Day of the Angels,” when deceased children are remembered, all the children of San Luis lined up outside my friends’ house, it seems, the family arranged tricky-tricky, the ritual of treating children to sweets, which Mexicans borrowed from Halloween, slightly adjusting its original, difficult-to-pronounce name treat-or-trick. The women appeared in the traditional image of Katrina, the symbol of death, for the Day of the Dead - in black dresses and hats with a veil, with faces painted to look like skulls (it should be noted that special makeup for this occasion in Mexico is made of very high quality - it was possible to wipe off the “death mask” only in the morning ).

The next day, a friend suggested we go together to the cemetery - her friend’s father died a month ago, and he was going to celebrate the Day of the Dead there. My friend and I knew each other only casually; he didn’t speak English at all, and I spoke Spanish very poorly, but it was stupid to refer to terrible internal awkwardness on such a holiday. Despite the fact that the thought of dancing on graves still gave me a stupor, I wanted to pass this test of openness to foreign cultures.

Photo: Maria Zhelikhovskaya

The tradition of celebrating the Day of the Dead in Mexico is rooted in the pre-Columbian past and is closely connected with the culture of the peoples of Mesoamerica - the Olmecs, Toltecs, Aztecs, and Mayans. All of them were united by a peculiar cult around death: there were no cemeteries in the usual sense, and the dead were buried directly under residential buildings. This practice literally brought the living and the dead closer together: the graves were not walled up, relatives regularly “visited” the dead and brought them offerings. The deceased were perceived as intermediaries between the world of life and death.

The Aztecs believed that these two hypostases were natural forces that set the world in motion, necessary components of regeneration. After all, in order to get food, it was necessary to kill an animal or plant - which means that death gave life.

The Indians believed that a person had three souls, each of which could go to the afterlife, turn into a divine force, or remain between two worlds to give strength to surviving loved ones and loved ones.

Many of the Aztec rituals honor the dead, such as the veneration of the death goddess Mictlancihuatl, who was depicted as a woman with a skull for a head, the burning of incense, and offerings of food and gifts to the deceased ofrendas— have become an important part of Day of the Dead celebrations. But, of course, in its modern form, this holiday took shape as a result of a mixture of pre-Columbian and Spanish Catholic practices, which, paradoxically, harmoniously complemented each other. For example, the Indian image of death in the form of a skull was perfectly superimposed on the popular theme of religious Spanish painting Danza Macabra(“Dance of Death”), in which death was depicted dancing with the living. The Spaniards encouraged Indians to perform rituals to honor the dead on Catholic holidays - All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, which were celebrated on November 1 and 2 (before that, Indian celebrations in honor of the dead took place in August).

At the beginning of 1900 the authorities of already independent Mexico declared the Day of the Dead official holiday to unite the nation amid the prevailing political divisions. So the fiesta, traditional for the south of the country, spread throughout its territory and eventually began to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists to the country. Ten years ago, in 2008, the Day of the Dead was inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Photo: Maria Zhelikhovskaya

Trying to mentally put all the known Spanish words of sympathy into more or less coherent phrases as we walked out of the parking lot, I experienced a strange mixture of fear of other people’s grief and my own hypocrisy. Eight years ago, my own father suddenly died, and the memories of the depression that did not leave me for a whole year after that did not fit well with the thoughts that in such a state it was possible to communicate with curious people and see a holiday around. The San Luis cemetery was really fun: before we found our friend, we had to make our way through armfuls of flowers, whole norteño orchestras and a lot of people at the graves - they were talking loudly, eating, drinking. Our friend was sitting in a large company of relatives and was in every sense tipsy. They began to hug us tightly, immediately poured us beer and put tamales on our plates.

Photo: Maria Zhelikhovskaya

“If you don’t light a candle for a dead man, he’ll have to set his own finger on fire to find his way home,” says a popular belief among the Indians of southern Mexico. Dia de Muertos- this is not just a reason to remember the dead. It is believed that on this day the deceased come home to visit their relatives - and they, in turn, should take proper care to ensure that the return, albeit temporary, becomes easy and pleasant. For this purpose, altars with photographs of deceased relatives are built in homes, and in some cities in squares and cemeteries. They are decorated with great imagination, decorated with flowers - pink celosia, white gypsophila, red carnations and bright orange marigolds inherited from the Aztecs. cempasúchil. Their petals are used to make a path to the altar from the threshold of a house or yard, which will show the right path for the deceased. Offerings are placed on the altar - ofrendas.

Traditionally, the altar should contain four elements: water, to quench the thirst of the deceased during the long journey from the kingdom of the dead of Mictlan; fire (candles) to illuminate the path to earth; the wind, which is symbolized by garlands of colored carved paper papel picado, to create coolness, and uniting the dead with the living, the earth that food represents. Usually this is a sweet yeast "bread of the dead" pan de muerto, tamales - Mexican “dumplings” stuffed with meat and corn flour, boiled in corn or banana leaves, atoll hot corn drink, fruit, mole chocolate sauce, and sweets in the form of sugar skulls. However, on the altar you can find almost everything that the deceased loved, including Coca-Cola cans, cigarettes and baseball T-shirts! Incense is also part of the tradition, and since the time of the Aztecs, copal, a resin secreted by tropical legume trees, has been used for this purpose.

Photo: Maria Zhelikhovskaya

But still, the main and most replicated symbols of the Day of the Dead are an artistic depiction of a skull, which is called a calavera, and Katrina, a skeleton in women's dress and a hat. These images, considered folk, actually have an author - Mexican cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada. It was he who turned the image of the skeleton into a work of art, drawing calaveras in the images of people, including politicians, for magazines and newspapers. In 1910 Posada printed a lithograph entitled La Calavera Garbancera- "Elegant skeleton." The drawing showed a lady ashamed of her Indian roots, dressed in French fashion and with heavy makeup to appear whiter.

In 1948, Diego Rivera, who considered Posada his inspiration, painted his famous fresco “The Dream of Sunday evening in Alameda Park", dedicated to the colonial history of Mexico, which quoted a satirical drawing by Posada, giving his heroine the name La Catrina(in the slang of that time - the name of an expensively dressed rich man). Since then, Catrina and the calavera have become one of the most popular images of Mexican identity.

Despite the fact that the main tradition of the Day of the Dead is visiting a cemetery, which turns into a party, different states Cities have their own customs. A carnival has recently been held in Mexico City, and the largest altar in the country is being built on the university campus and the local Indian saint, the child pilgrim, is being glorified Niño Pa. Oaxaca is famous for tradition calenda- a street procession with puppets, dancers and music. They dance in Michoacan La Danza de los Tecuanes- “Dance of the Jaguars”, depicting the hunt for these animals, and La Danza de los Viejitos— “Dance of the Little Old Men,” in which teenagers dressed as old men first walk with their backs bent, and then suddenly jump up and begin to move energetically. And the Purépecha Indians, who inhabit the north-west of this state, prepare for the holiday several weeks in advance: young guys, tatakers, they go, often illegally, to plantations to dig up marigolds or to the forest to cut down trees to build altars in village squares. The town of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, hosts a colorful four-day festival La Calaca, dedicated to skulls, and in Guadalajara there is a festival at the Belen cemetery and it seems that every single local resident dresses up as Catrina! In Chiapas, in the village of San Juan Chamula, where the Tzotzil Indians live, the least assimilated after the conquest, they organize a festival K'Anima, during which locals ring a church bell, believing that this will attract the souls of the dead, and then go to the cemetery to play harps and guitars. A festival is being held in San Sebastian, Yucatan state. Mucbipollo- this is the name for chicken cooked in an earthen oven in a sauce made from tomatoes and cornmeal.

But the most extravagant custom is practiced in the town of Pomuch in the state of Campeche, which is inhabited by Mayan Indians. Here, three to four years after the funeral, the dead are taken out of their graves, and on the eve of the holiday they literally wash their bones. This activity takes almost a day, then the remains are put into wooden boxes and taken to the cemetery, where there is a special place for their storage. On the Day of the Dead, they are taken out, placed on the altar, wrapped in napkins with beautifully embroidered designs and the names of the deceased, and offerings are placed next to them.

Photo: Maria Zhelikhovskaya

Midnight passed, but the fun in the cemetery did not subside. Still, Mexican syncretism works in an amazing way. The traditional Spanish stoic attitude towards death, the concept of the sadness of earthly existence and the benefits of suffering, never took root here. Mexicans even call their deceased loved ones diminutively - muertitos. In a country where the Inquisition has failed, it is not customary to challenge death to a duel; here they would rather pat her on the shoulder, drink tequila with her and go on to enjoy life.

Guests came and went, and the grave of our friend's father was overgrown with a hill plastic plates and cups. The slabs were separated from each other only by curb stones, and this created the impression of a large communal feast. Along the path, children roller-skated, screaming furiously, obscure Spanish speech blended with the music, and at some point I found myself tapping my feet to the beat. My father, who always joked under any circumstances, would probably have patted me on the neck and smiled. And in general it already seemed that both of them - both our friend’s father and my own - should be sitting somewhere nearby. At the next “table”. Drink beer, joke, laugh and not be afraid of the language barrier.

And my soul suddenly felt unexpectedly light.

Imagine: a guest comes to you and gives you a box. You open it - and in the box there is a skull. There is your name on the skull, and it itself is so cheerful, decorated with flowers and stars. And at this time, your kids are devouring sugar coffins and chocolate dead with all their might... There is nothing strange in this: your guest is probably Mexican or has recently returned from Mexico with a whole bunch of souvenirs.

Death tamed, death your own

A winged hourglass in a bony hand means that time flies too quickly. Here comes death

In Europe they don't joke with death. It is death that jokes with everyone, dances in graveyards, bares its teeth and waves its bony arms. Death in Europe is unkempt, walking around in a decayed shroud or, at best, in a black robe. She can ride around on a horse or in a cart, shooting people with a bow. She rules the show, she is a triumphant. Death holds a sword, a scythe, an hourglass, and sometimes a coffin in his hands.

Each country views death differently. Both traditions and language influence this. So, in England and Germany, the death of the masculine gender is the Grim Reaper, skeleton, horseman, winner. He is not averse to flirting with a beautiful maiden, but his jokes are rude and cold. And there is no need for a dead man to think about amorous affairs, he has other interests. He came from a country where there is no time, no love, no joy, no repentance - all this remains on earth. The Grim Reaper comes suddenly - and mows down people like ears of corn, tears them out of their usual life, drags them to dance with him, despite tears, pleas, despair.

In Russia, Spain, France and Italy, the death of the female gender. However, the essence is still the same: the shape of the skull does not soften at all, the bones do not become more attractive.

The horror of death did not always weigh on European culture. Death was once an integral part of life. Everyone who is born must grow up and die, this is as normal as winter after autumn. The man said goodbye to his family, laid down his responsibilities and fell asleep until he woke up at the end of time. The historian Philippe Ariès in his work “Man in the Face of Death” calls such a peaceful death “tamed death.”

Everything changes in the 12th century. Epitaphs appear on graves, funeral masses are ordered, and the dying person explains in detail how and where to bury him. Ariès calls this period “one’s own death.” The complacency of previous centuries has come to an end, sinful souls are in need of redemption. Man no longer rests in anticipation of the resurrection, when everyone except the notorious villains will go to heaven. From his deathbed he comes to the inevitable and fair judgment before God. There is something to panic about and beg for mercy in advance; there is something to ask for help from the living. Let relatives and friends pray more diligently for those who themselves will no longer be able to plead for mercy.

Mournful procession. However, the skeletons don't look sad

But Europe learned the real mortal horror in 1347, when plague-infected ships arrived from the East at Mediterranean ports. The epidemic spread with tremendous speed, people died in a matter of days. The plague began its victorious march across Europe, followed by famine, war and death - the horsemen of the Apocalypse do not ride alone. Exhausted people were powerless against the disease, and the scale of the disaster grew. Villages were burning, cities could not accommodate everyone in need of shelter. The corpses lay unburied for many days - there was no one to bury them.

In painting and literature of that time, one subject reigns: the dance of death. It was called Totentanz in Germany, danse macabre in France, danza de la muerte in Spain. The line of people is led by cheerful skeletons, some of them play musical instruments, and more and more creepy dancers in fluttering shrouds rise from their coffins. Death is followed by crying children, women, kings, lawyers, cardinals and the pope himself, street musicians, traveling merchants, noble ladies and knights - no one can escape participation in the gloomy carnival.

The first pictures with lines of dancers came from the German city of Würzburg in 1350 and since then have circled around all countries. The popularity of this plot is associated with its universality and some sadistic justice: you could live richly or poorly, be handsome or ugly, but your end is inevitable. The pictures were eagerly bought up, manuscripts were decorated with them, and frescoes with lines of dancers were preserved on buildings. Sometimes the drawings were accompanied by poems: the dead complained that their hopes and dreams had gone to waste, they could no longer recover, death had cut them with a scythe, and only the Last Judgment lay ahead. And Death either blew the pipe and beat the drum, or calmly led the procession. Her skeletal messengers subdued those who resisted, drawing them into line.

It is not entirely clear where the word “macabre” came from. They trace it either to the Arabic maqabir (coffins), or to the Old Testament warriors the Maccabees. The crusaders brought the word or by what other routes it came to Europe - it doesn’t matter anymore. It took root - and a continuous “macabre dance” began. By the way, the word danse in the Middle Ages meant, in addition to dance, also a fight and slaughter.

So, death ceased to be pure and honest. The austere stone tombs and handsome statues were replaced by a disgusting mess of naked bodies, swollen, bursting, leaking ichor and pus, with gaping entrails infested with worms. This is death, which no one can escape.

It cannot be said that the Middle Ages had never seen corpses before. The cemeteries in those days were crowded, people lived here, walked, traded, including with their own bodies, and even baked bread. No one was embarrassed by the piles of bones from dug up graves, the heavy smell and the corpses awaiting burial. But it was during the time of plague pandemics that humanity saw in a new way the terrible picture of dancing and laughing death - and since then has never recovered from the shock. There is no time for laughter here - you are pitiful and powerless before the all-crushing steps of Death, and where it will lead sinners is its business.

Death inverted

This is how skeletons have fun

The wars and disasters of the twentieth century taught man a new attitude towards death. As Aries puts it, humanity has entered a new phase - “Inverted Death,” death that is hidden, as if ashamed. Even in the 19th century, death was a social, public matter, accompanied by carefully prescribed rituals such as visiting the dying person, funerals, wakes, and mourning. Now society is trying to hide the fact of death. As Ariès writes, “death no longer brings a pause to the rhythm of social life. The person disappears instantly. In cities, everything happens as if no one dies anymore.”

Society does not want to remember death; it - rough, dirty, ugly and physiological - is hidden. This manifests itself even at the linguistic level. It is interesting that in Russian the words “dead man” and “dead man” are classified as animate, but the newer word “corpse” is not. The language sets a clear boundary: a corpse is not a “who,” not even a “former who.” A corpse is a “what”, a thing. It has nothing to do with life. Death becomes an indecent topic, just like sex until the recent past. The Western world refuses to have before its eyes the intrusive evidence that everyone is mortal. If the death of a famous person somehow receives public attention, then the death of an ordinary person concerns only his relatives, colleagues and acquaintances, and the neighbors in the building may not even know that the tenant of apartment 25 has moved to another world. It is no longer customary to wear mourning, nor is it acceptable to indulge in grief excessively. Death in the 14th century was striking, grabbing people by the hem, reminding them of themselves. Death in the 20th and 21st centuries is decisively expelled from homes. More and more people are dying not in their own beds, but in hospitals and nursing homes.

At the same time, we live in a world where death is everywhere. In movies and games we meet its most terrible forms - where is the Middle Ages versus the modern “living dead”. A revived corpse is an enemy, he comes to kill you, or at least bring discord and chaos into normal course life. But real death seems to be invisible. It is hidden, erased, taboo. She was removed, driven out, just as they tried to drive her out of cities in the Middle Ages, burning an effigy of Death.

Even when remembering the tragic pages of history - for example, the Great Patriotic War - the exploits of heroes are brought to the fore. The victims of war are rarely talked about, among happy holiday Indulging in grief is somehow awkward. Death seems to remain behind the scenes. Its scale also contributes to this - a person simply cannot comprehend the enormity of the losses, and if so, then there is nothing to comprehend. This is not politics, but preventing death from entering your world. It is savored in films, games, books - anywhere, but outside of everyday life.

Our beloved dead

Poster for the Feast of the Dead. Not a hint that it will be sad

Mexico is not Europe. This is another spiritual space from a completely different world. And although Mexicans speak Spanish, Mexico's culture is not derived from Spanish roots. Europe seems to have nothing to do with it: before us is Mesoamerica. Is it any wonder that we are so different?

Everyone who has been to Mexico or knows Mexicans unanimously says: they are a very cheerful and open people. Somewhat unpunctual, noisy, bright. But at the same time, a Mexican can be very prim, especially with a foreigner. Mexicans are passionately devoted to family; a mother is sacred to a Mexican. Children are considered a privileged class in Mexico - from a European point of view, they are very spoiled here. There are many children in families - this is a Catholic country where abortion and hormonal contraception are prohibited. Life in Mexico is free and welcoming; in the International Happiness Index, Mexico is in 23rd place (for reference: Russia, alas, is in 172nd).

Moreover, death in Mexico is not a shameful family problem, not a disease that is hidden from prying eyes. Philologists have counted 20,000 words and expressions denoting death in Mexican Spanish. The Mexican has long gotten used to death, the idea of death is firmly written into the linguistic picture of his world, and he does not experience any discomfort about it.

Death is beautiful and varied (Larry Lamsa / Flickr | CC BY)

This is especially evident during the traditional Mexican holiday - Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos). On November 1 and 2, all of Mexico blooms and boils with countless processions, eerie and almost shocking to the taste of a visiting gringo. Beauties in fluffy dresses they peek coquettishly from under huge hats; bright orange flowers are scattered everywhere - marigolds (yes, they come from Mexico); sell treats; music is playing; Wonderful mounds of beans, colored sand, colored sawdust, peas and salt are created right on the pavements. The tables of street vendors are literally bursting with sweets, souvenirs and various holiday symbols. Everything you might need at a fun carnival is on sale. Candles are burning - whole rows of candles. Dressed ladies and dapper caballeros walk around. All this is dedicated to the dead. The faces of the beauties are made up: white, with black hollows around the eyes. Sweets are also very typical - sugar skulls, sweet coffins made of colored fondant and graves with marzipan flowers and worms, a special round “bread of the dead”. And the musicians are cheerful skeletons in national clothes. And everyone laughs, has fun, eats, dances. As for marigolds, these are recognized flowers of the dead: they are planted in cemeteries, and they are used to decorate memorial altars in honor of deceased family members. I wonder if our gardeners think about this when planting them anywhere?..

So what? Our cockerels on a stick may also seem strange (Razi Marysol Machay / Flickr / CC BY)

The first day of this holiday, November 1, is Angels Day. Dead children are remembered. For us, the phrase “dead child” literally screams, it is something blasphemous, wrong, an impossible tragedy. And in Mexico, on this day, cities and villages are filled with toys, sweets, clothes, shoes - everything that can please a child (we remember: in Mexico they know how to please children). Angels Day is truly a holiday for children, and it is not so important whether they are in this world or this world. So what if these children died? They are also entitled to goodies and little children's joys. And the next day it’s the adults’ turn - and then the carnival rages with might and main.

It must be said that in Mexico the attitude towards death is not just everyday. The Mexican is friends with her. You can understand him - he has encountered it too often in the past, he is made of a different cloth, he is not afraid of the skeleton knocking on the window. Mexicans, a friendly and polite people, will most likely ask how they can help the respected, bony caballero. Well, or they will send the guest home if he turns out to be too annoying.

A typical picture for Mexico. That is, for Mexico at the very beginning of November Miguel Tejada-Flores / Flickr / CC BY)

In the city of Guanajuato, for example, there is a museum of mummies. Entry is inexpensive - about 50 pesos. The history of this museum is indicative: in the 19th century, the city authorities introduced a tax on burials. The authorities can understand: at that time there was a fierce civil war in Mexico, the rebels were shot en masse. People died from hunger and disease. Cemetery space was expensive, and old abandoned graves upset city leaders. The relatives of the deceased, of course, significantly replenished the city’s treasury during these times, but, as always, there were malicious defaulters. Some of the dead were not in demand, and for some the relatives did not want to pay. So the city fathers ordered to clear the cemetery of debtors and transfer their graves to the solvent dead. And then an interesting detail emerged. Instead of ashes, remains of bones and hair, almost incorruptible remains were raised to the surface from the graves. The townspeople could not believe that all these people were saints during their lifetime. But no one dared to destroy the perfectly preserved corpses. They were simply placed in a room at the cemetery, and the curious flocked there, having learned about this miracle. For a few pesos, onlookers were allowed to view the collection and enjoy the unusual spectacle. Thus was born the Museum of Mummies, one of the city's prominent attractions.

Photo may seem shocking

Guanajuata Museum of Mummies. The peace of these people was short-lived (Russ Bowling / Flickr / CC BY)

The solution to the miracle turned out to be simple: chemical composition The soils of Guanajuato and the peculiarities of the local climate contributed to the mummification of the dead. Even clothes and shoes did not decompose. The funeral tax was in effect for almost 100 years, from 1865 to 1958, and during this time the museum's collection included 111 mummies. There are children here, people who died violent deaths, there is even one woman buried alive during a lethargic sleep, and one pregnant woman. She died on later, and her unborn child became the smallest mummy in the world - he is exhibited in the same display case as his mother. The children are dressed in their best clothes, according to the fashion of the sentimental 19th century: girls in white dresses, boys in suits. They are also called “Angels”, and Mexicans believe that the babies look very touching. There are also photographs hung on the walls: family members took pictures with their dead. In the pictures, the brothers and sisters surround the dead baby. What to do, life is like that. No one faints before entering this museum. Well, mummies, well, the dead... We'll all be there.

You should not look for hardness of the soul, cynicism, or disdain for death in this. The uniqueness of the Mexican approach is that, despite the bitterness of separation from a dear and beloved being, despite the grief that every person experiences, death is not considered something final, forever cutting off the deceased from the living. The family loves their dead brother, son, father just as they loved him alive. Surprisingly, for Mexicans, the horror and shame of “inverted death” does not exist. The deceased remains a relative, and not an enemy, not a nightmare from the other world.

Candles, marigolds, fruit, sugar skulls and a photograph of a deceased relative - a typically Mexican still life. Our traditional funeral glass of vodka, covered with bread, seems especially ascetic against the backdrop of this riot of colors (Ute / Flickr / CC BY)

So how can you not arrange a holiday for your loved ones, how can you not please them with delicious food, flowers and gifts, an altar on which their carefully preserved favorite things lie? How not to draw a path of candles from the cemetery to the house so that they don’t get lost? Mexicans also honor those of whom they are rightfully proud. The great Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are guests of honor at the celebration of the dead. And not only them. Sometimes you can meet the most unexpected guests here.

Queen of the ball

The most chic and charming lady at the Mexican Carnival of the Dead is Katrina Calavera. Katrina is not at all a derivative of Catherine. Translated from Spanish, her name means "Skull-dandy". Katrina is the hostess of the ball of the dead, her images are so widespread that they have become one of the hallmarks of Mexico.

A cheerful beauty in an intricate hat is the embodiment of the holiday of death

The origin of Katrina is the most mundane: in 1913, the engraver and artist José Guadalupe Posada carved an engraving of a cheerful, elegant skeleton lady. The simple picture drove Mexico crazy; the image of the dandy Calavera hit the nail on the head. Later, the great Diego Rivera (the most famous artist in Mexico after Frida Kahlo) immortalized Katrina in his canvas “A Dream of a Sunday in Alameda Park.” And in Guillermo Del Toro’s recent cartoon “The Book of Life,” it is the elegant Catrina Calavera who rules the land of the dead.

Sacrifices to the great sun

This is, of course, an imitation. But in the Middle Ages the heads were real

If we look more closely, we will see: the beginning of November in almost the entire Catholic world is a time of remembrance of the dead, and here Catholic Mexico does not stand out among other countries. But it is Mexico that remembers its dead in such a unique way that in 2003 UNESCO included it in the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This is not turned into children's party Halloween with its traditional witches and pumpkins. But this is not Celtic Samhain - when, on the eve of winter, the world of the dead sweeps through the world of the living, and God forbid you get in its way. In fact, this day has nothing to do with Christianity - it is much older than the first missionary on Mexican soil - and with European mythology (really, why would it?). Only under the influence of the church was the Day of the Dead moved to November 1, as throughout the Catholic world.

The holiday was originally celebrated in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, from July 24 to August 12. Death accompanied the Aztecs constantly, so it was necessary to deal with it a good relationship. The holidays lasted the whole month, accompanied by games, many rituals and, of course, sacrifices. Blood was necessary for the gods to move on; thus the sacrifice kept the universe alive. Animals, birds, and insects were sacrificed. Sometimes an Aztec voluntarily donated his blood to the gods, inflicting wounds on himself, or his suffering, pricking his body with thorns.

But the highest form of sacrifice was human. The victim's skin was painted with blue chalk. On the top platform of the huge pyramid there was a stone slab on which the victim was laid, and the ritual began. The victim's belly was cut with a ritual obsidian knife ( chest difficult to open with a stone knife, but soft fabrics stomach - completely), after which the priest plunged his hands inside the still living person, took out his heart and showed it to the Sun. The heart was placed in a special stone vessel, and the body was thrown onto the stairs. The skull, polished to a shine, took its place in the tzompantla - “tower of skulls.”

They could sacrifice in other ways: torture to death, drowning, shooting. It all depended on which of the gods the energy assistance was intended for. True, scientists cannot believe the declared scale of these rituals: obviously, the number of victims was inflated for the sake of propaganda. But even if there were not hundreds of thousands, but thousands, the bloody rituals do not become less nightmarish.

Prisoners of war were usually sacrificed, but it happened that an Aztec offered himself as a sacrifice voluntarily. How to explain this? The best afterlife in the harsh world of the Aztecs awaited the warrior who fell on the battlefield, and the man who ended his life on the altar under the knife of the priest. Of course, the gods were fed with his blood! Even an enemy who was sacrificed entered this military brotherhood on equal terms.

In the Eastern Paradise, in the House of the Sun, these lucky ones lived in gardens filled with flowers, competing with each other in strength and dexterity. They were entrusted with an honorable duty: they accompanied the Sun on his journey across the sky, from dawn to the middle of the journey, carrying him on a stretcher made of precious feathers of the quetzal bird. At the zenith they were met by women who died in childbirth. They were treated with no less respect than victims and warriors. These women lived in the Western Paradise, in the House of Grain, and accompanied the Sun from the middle of the path to the horizon. There the Sun went to the underworld, and the next day everything was repeated. Such women were called siuapipiltin. They were depicted with a skull instead of a head and with claws on their hands and feet. A lock of hair and the middle finger of the left hand of a woman who died during childbirth made the warrior invincible - it was enough to attach them to the shield.

Southern Paradise was under the jurisdiction of the god of rain, thunder, water and agriculture. The god's name was Tlaloc, and his country was Tlalocan. He took in those killed by lightning, drowned, suicides, as well as those who died from dropsy, rheumatism or leprosy. Slaves and children were sacrificed to him and drowned for this purpose. Southern Paradise was a land of eternal spring. Flowers always bloomed there, you could always eat to your heart's content, which not everyone was able to do during their lifetime. Judging by the surviving codes, the souls in Tlalocan had fun and indulged in entertainment: they swam in the river, caught butterflies and sang songs.

At a Mexican carnival, the goddess Mictlancihuatl could easily pass for one of her own.

Souls returned to earth after four years. They could become hummingbirds or colorful butterflies. Those who did not die a heroic death and did not fall into the hands of Tlaloc were doomed to go to the North, to Mictlan, where Mictlantecuhtli (Master of Mictlan) and his wife Mictlancihuatl with a skull face and a skirt made of rattlesnakes were waiting for them. The road to Mictlan took four days, was difficult and dangerous, and living in the Northern Underworld was not nearly as fun and honorable as in the Houses of the Sun and Grain and in Tlalocan. The souls in Mictlan spent their days in despair, boredom, cold and hunger. For four years, on the Feast of the Dead Souls, gifts were brought to the souls: tobacco, partridges, incense, cakes - everything that could please and support them. After four years, the soul was supposed to finally rest in Mictlan - and the sacrifices stopped.

When the Spanish soldiers of Cortes saw the statues of gods and realized exactly how these monsters were worshiped, they recognized them as devils, which deeply offended the Aztec ruler Montezuma. In 2006, during excavations in the village of Tecuac, near Mexico City, the bones of one of the last Aztec mass sacrifices were found - 550 people from Cortez's caravan. The caravan included both the conquistadors and their friendly Indians, including women and children. They were sacrificed by ripping open the chest and tearing out the heart (at least, these were the injuries found on the skeletons found). At the same time, the remaining bones have traces of teeth and knives. These finds are further confirmation that the Aztecs practiced ritual cannibalism.

Death didn't stop luchador Juan from Guacamelee! - he himself laid to rest many of the living dead to save El Presidente’s daughter

Yes, to white people who came from across the sea, bringing with them terrible, unprecedented animals - dogs and horses - much in the measured and orderly life of the Aztecs could seem unbearable and disgusting. The two worlds turned out to be so dissimilar that it was impossible to count on an amicable agreement. On the side of the conquistadors there were guns, bullets, cannons and unprecedented passion. Victory was theirs. But after a few centuries, in a huge melting pot called Mexico, a new culture formed, uniting the Aztecs and Europeans.

Saint Death always finds his fans

The cult of Saint Death (Santa Muerte) has recently been gaining popularity both in Mexico and abroad. This image combines the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, the patroness of Mexico and all of Latin America, and the ancient Aztec deities of the dead - the personification of Death, helping the living. The Catholic Church does not approve of this cult: fans of Santa Muerte are accused of black magic or considered Satanists. They themselves consider themselves good Christians: how can Holy Death violate the will of the Lord who created it?

The cult originated in the mid-twentieth century in the darkest depths of society. People turn to Saint Death with those requests that you wouldn’t go to church with. In fact, it is awkward to ask the Virgin Mary for the elimination of a competitor, the successful sale of a drug shipment, or success in working on a panel. And Holy Death will help: she is no stranger to this, for her everyone is equal - a prostitute, a drug lord, and a ragged teenager who ran away from home. Holy Death will not ask why you are not ashamed to ask for such bad things. Holy Death will not set any conditions, will not demand that you correct yourself. Saint Death has many names - from the Skinny to the Bride. You can give her anything - an apple, candy, a bullet, money or cigars. Any sacrifice will be graciously accepted. Throughout Latin America you can find a skeletal figurine in a loose robe. The skeleton is holding a globe, an hourglass or a braid. Saint Death's outfit may be the most different colors- depending on what you ask.

(Maurice Marcellin / Wikimedia | CC BY)

Holy Death is unpretentious. Just don't quarrel with her - and everything will be fine

The traditional color of the cape is white, because the most popular names of Saint Death are the White Girl and the White Sister. But the cape can be red, gold, or green - depending on the request the admirer came with. Medallions with the image of the Holy Death, pictures, special leaves with prayers and most importantly - colored votive candles - are sold everywhere. Votive candles are especially popular: they come in any size, they can have a request written on them to the Godmother (another name for the Holy Death), or they can be decorated with skulls. The most common candle is white, it is a pleasing sacrifice to the White Girl, it means purity, promise, protection and patronage. White candles are most often used in public rituals. Well, for everyone specific case use special candles. The symbolism of flowers is usually clear, but an experienced seller will always give a hint to a novice adept. If you need to help in matters of the heart, candles for Santissima (as she is also called) are chosen in the color of blood - the redder the better. Purple (lavender) candles help to heal, coffee-colored candles are used to gain new knowledge (they are used by students who want to succeed during an exam). Green will settle problems with the law, restore justice, gold or yellow will bring financial well-being, and black will help in difficult life situations, especially those related to the “dark side” of the cult. Santissima in a rainbow cape - also called “Santa Muerte of the Seven Kingdoms” - means “I want everything at once.” The rainbow candle reflects all aspects - love, justice, healing, and wealth. But the seven-color candle, in addition, is often called “To the destruction of my enemies” - and this is a very powerful witchcraft. During the World Cup, Saint Death is dressed in green, white and red - the colors of the Mexican flag, and a soccer ball is placed in her hands: let the White Girl bring good luck to the team.

The altar for the Holy Death is made very simply: a figurine of Santa Muerte is placed in the middle, gifts for it are laid out around it, candles of the desired colors are lit - and that’s it, you can begin. However, it is worth remembering: Santa Muerte is jealous, no one’s images except her own should be nearby. Well, perhaps the icon of the Apostle Judas Thaddeus, to whom they pray in all difficult cases - he is also extremely popular in Mexico.

Santa Muerte figurines - from tiny ones, the size of a palm, to huge ones that you can’t even lift - are sold in “unkind” neighborhoods almost everywhere. After all, the worse life is, the more hope is needed. And Holy Death willingly helps out his admirers.

* * *

It was not for nothing that the poet, writer, Nobel laureate Octavio Paz wrote: “The word “death” is unpronounceable in New York, Paris, London; it burns your lips. And the Mexican is intimately familiar with death; he jokes about her, caresses her, glorifies her, sleeps with her; it is one of his favorite toys and strongest attachments.” Modern Mexicans are the heirs of the Spanish conquistadors and Indians. Their attitude towards death, which shocked Europeans, was largely due to the fusion of the views of the Aztecs and Catholics. Fun party the dead with his special bread and paths of candles, “skeletal saints” who help the living from behind an invisible line in all matters, not distinguishing between good and bad, votive candles on the altar and prayers to the Holy Death, directly repeating the forms of Catholic novena (prayers, read for nine days in a row) - all this is very similar to the ritual side of Catholic Christianity, at least to its “folk” variety. But here too, when visiting the dead on the appointed days of Radonitsa, Orthodox Christians leave not only flowers on the graves, but also colored eggs, sweets, and various foods to pamper their dead. In Russia, the memory of pre-Christian gods has been forgotten, erased, but in Mexico it is alive. And the Aztec gods still no, no, and will flash at the general celebration of life, that is, death.

Needless to say, death for Mexicans is truly theirs. Not tamed, not hidden behind seven bolts, not the end of all paths - but dear, familiar, like the threshold of your own home. Where we say “I am a grated roll,” the Mexican will smile: “I have already died and now I know what eternity is.”

Mexican poet and cultural critic Octavio Paz once remarked: “The Mexican, instead of fearing death, seeks its company, teases it, flirts with it. This is his favorite toy and enduring love.” The connection between the locals and this lady is truly special - and can best be understood by attending the annual holiday called “Day of the Dead”.

Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead (or rather, two days) is celebrated on November 1-2. Despite such a sad name, in Mexico this is perhaps the most joyful and family celebration when the living remember kind words their deceased relatives, invite their souls to visit, are not afraid to make fun of death - and even kiss it. After all, Mexican death is, after all, a woman.

Mexicans affectionately call death La Catrina. In their imagination, La Katrina does not at all look like an ugly old woman with a braid, but, on the contrary, her appearance resembles a dandy woman dressed to the nines, a graceful girlish skeleton, smiling cordially at her fellow countrymen.

Baptism of Mictlancihuatl

Day of the Dead is a holiday that dates back hundreds of years. It is amazingly woven together Christian traditions with the rituals of pre-Columbian America, preserved from the time when the two greatest Indian civilizations, namely the Aztecs and the Mayans, inhabited the territory of modern Mexico.

The ancient Aztecs celebrated the goddess of death on a special scale. Mictlancihuatl, which is what her name sounded like in those days, was portrayed as a very pretty young lady, albeit with a skull instead of a face. She was always dressed in a skirt made of rattlesnakes, which, according to Indian beliefs, acted as guides to the afterlife.

After the Spanish conquistadors, who suddenly descended on Yucatan, began to root the faith of Christ among the aborigines with fire and sword, pagan holiday was likened to the Catholic All Saints Day and moved in the calendar from mid-summer to the first days of November. Mictlancihuatl herself took the name La Catrina in baptism and changed her “explosive” skirt to the colorful outfit of a rich Mexican duenna. However, the essence of the holiday has not changed - Mexicans on this day, like hundreds of years ago, remember their deceased relatives, and not saints.

Sweet sacrifices

The first day of the holiday, which is called Día de los Angelitos (“Day of the Angels”), is dedicated to the remembrance of deceased children, and the second day is dedicated to all other deceased. The main attribute of the holiday is the altar, built by the relatives of the deceased. The altar is certainly decorated with flowers - white, lilac or fiery red marigolds. Each family tries to outdo its neighbors in decorating the altar. Among Mexicans who love to show off, there are even competitions to determine the best “funeral flowerbed.”

In addition to decorations with flowers and scented candles, the altar is filled with objects associated with the deceased, those things that will be useful to him in the afterlife. In anticipation of a guest from the other world, caring relatives prepare gifts for him in the form of jewelry, memorable photographs, cigarettes and, of course, edible gifts. The living believe that on these holidays the souls of the departed visit those from whom they had to be separated. They are not averse to joining a cheerful family feast, which is why Mexicans try to treat their dear guests to the spirit of their favorite dishes.

If the first day of the holiday is usually spent in the family circle, then the second is dedicated to unbridled fun and carnival processions. Thousands of marigolds bloom in city squares, the central streets are filled with mummers - spirits, cheerful ghosts, skeletons, rattling bones to the beat of music. Mexican different ages with pleasure try on the image of La Catrina - the fatal beauty of death.

Shop windows are filled to the brim with miniature coffins, skulls and skeletons made from sugar, chocolate, paper, cardboard and clay, as well as other holiday attributes. These souvenirs are no less popular among tourists than among the Mexicans themselves. These days, in all of Mexico, you cannot find a house where the name of the noseless duenna is not mentioned.

The culmination of the holiday is a visit to the cemetery. Mexicans bring with them flowers and candles, photographs and memorabilia of the deceased, favorite foods and drinks, which instantly transform the cemetery from a place of sorrow into a cozy and “living” place. People have long conversations with their deceased relatives, have picnics, sing and dance right at the graves. The ringing of bells can be heard from everywhere, which helps the souls of the dead not to get lost and find their way home.

Día de los Muertos is a collective funeral service, when the deceased are remembered not on the day on which they passed away, but all together, publicly - with songs, jokes and dances. All this resembles a naive attempt to drown the pain of a particular person in collective fun.

Overcoming fear is the key idea of the holiday, and it is no coincidence that everyone takes part in it, from the elderly who are about to find themselves in the arms of La Catrina, to infants. Little Mexicans love to walk the streets dressed as dead people, eat sugar skulls and marzipan coffins on both cheeks, and literally hold death’s hand.

There is something completely right in this apparent “wildness”. Mexicans meet La Catrina at a very tender age, so they have no fear of death, but only friendly relations with her.

1 comment

A very strange holiday, I have never even heard of it. Also an amazing and, one might say, strange way of carrying it out. Thank you, I will remember this day now!

Festival of the Dead in Mexico. Historical excursion.

Do you want to have an enchanting and unforgettable vacation? Do you want to feel a surge of vigor and adrenaline? Then you should definitely visit Los Muertos or in Mexico - one of the most spectacular and enchanting celebrations in the country . This stunning event is held annually on the first two days of November and attracts many tourists who are hungry for grandiose spectacles. November 1 is dedicated to the memory of deceased babies and children - little angels, the 2nd - to adults.

It would seem quite It’s strange to celebrate such a holiday and rejoice at such an event, but if you delve into the historical traditions of the Mexican people, then cemetery parties will acquire their sacred meaning. About three thousand years ago, during the times of ancient peoples, the scalps of deceased relatives were kept in their homes as protective amulets, and the Day of the Dead was revered for a whole month.

For Mexicans death- this is just the end of earthly existence, which continues in another afterlife - Mictlan. That is why sadness, tears and grief cannot be seen on people’s faces on this day, because they are preparing to meet their deceased relatives. Indigenous peoples believe that the connection with deceased ancestors is inextricable throughout the entire existence of the clan and their souls always return to their homes to stay with their relatives.
Even church hierarchs allowed to celebrate annually Day of death, moving church celebrations.

Features of the celebration, main symbols and attributes.

TO celebration of death in mexico They prepare very carefully; on this day, the graves of relatives are decorated with photographs and symbolic things, their favorite dishes, fruits, sweets, ribbons, flowers and even alcoholic drinks are brought. There is a belief that the souls of the dead will definitely appear to the living at this time. At the same time, no one gets bored or cries near the tombstone, on the contrary: visitors rejoice and remember funny stories related to the deceased, stories from their lives.

There are two more mandatory attributes with which the dead must be greeted: water, which souls need after a long journey, and special bread, baked in a round shape, generously strewn with sugar and decorated with stripes that look like bones.

At the same time, you can appear at the grave only after sunset, and an unusual picnic can last all night. Mexico holidays photo testify to the luxurious feasts organized in honor of the deceased, with a predominance of national dishes, and the decoration of cemeteries with special flowers - orange marigolds. They are considered an attractive symbol of the deceased.

Distinctive features of the Merry Dead parade in various regions of the country

In some areas of the country, tape recorders and radios are even brought to graves to dilute the atmosphere with rainbow singing and give peace to the deceased.
Even remote villages are not left out in this grandiose fun: in some of them, original torchlight processions and original processions are organized, in others - folk singing, original dances and dances.
Altars are built in houses on which things collected throughout the year are placed that belonged to the ancestors and can motivate their soul to come to the meeting. Many families even prepare beds on which ghostly guests can rest after a long journey.

Festival of the Dead in Mexico officially included in the register UNESCO.
These days are personified by the huge carnival and various street festivals, on which special sweets are prepared in the form of skeletons and skulls similar to the goddess of death Katrina. This fun is not complete without special symbolic drinks, which make the atmosphere even more relaxed. Range holiday souvenirs The stores offer a huge selection of lanterns, dark and scary costumes, and skeleton figurines.
Another noteworthy fact is the involvement of children in the celebration. They are given all kinds of souvenirs and figurines in the form of mini-coffins, chocolate skeletons, and decorative skulls.

In some regions, children walk the streets on this day and beg adults for gifts in the form of skeletons or small skulls.
This celebration can be compared with European Halloween, because their integral attributes are extraordinary costumes, wild colors, special gastronomic preparations and traditional entertainment. But, if in the case of Halloween most of the characters are negative and the fun is based on fear, then the Day of Death personifies positive emotions, feelings of joy, love and worship before deceased relatives.

Every year after Feast of the Dead in Mexico photo decorate printed buildings and multiple Internet sites. Funny people dressed as zombies, skeletons and dead people, themed outfits with many faces, masks and souvenirs in the form of skulls, crosses, coffins - among the colorful and fascinating characters, no two are alike.