There were nine levels in the afterlife, and the manner
of one's death determined one's place in these levels, or the return
to the dream-time of the living. Thus, warriors killed in combat, sacrificial
victims, and women who died at childbirth would become companions of
the Sun. Those who drowned would join Tlaloc, the rain God. The dead
were buried with the artifacts of daily life and offerings of food and
drink.
During the Colonial era, the Catholic religion introduced
a fear of death and Hell. Death was represented as a skeleton with a
scythe in hand. By the 19th century, Death was represented as a friendly
ballet-like figure and a familiar friend.
Today the Dias De Los Muertos are celebrated each year
on November 1st and 2nd. On these days, it is believed the dead come
from the beyond to visit with the living. Rather than being macabre
or frightening, it is a festive time of reunion. The first day of the
festival is for the spirit of infants and the second for the adult spirits.
Special foods are prepared, breads are baked, and flowers
of the season collected. In some villages, the men prepare tables laden
with offerings of food and drink for the spirits of the dead. Flowers
are used to decorate arches and walkways, and wax candles are prepared
and lit. Processions are made to the cemeteries, where family graves
are cleaned up, and a trail of marigold petals is left for the spirits
to follow home. A feast is held, accompanied by prayers. Families keep
an all-night, candlelight vigil in cemeteries until dawn, when the spirits
arrive and are escorted home.
The souls of the dead are said to return from the afterlife,
to visit the living. They consume the food from the offering tables
and enjoy for a few brief hours of the pleasures they once knew in life.
The living, receive the dead with merriment, music, and all that the
dead enjoyed while living.
After the 2nd of November, friends and relatives are invited for the
"raising of the dead," where the offerings are consumed. Small
children fill up a basket with food and drink, cover it with a freshly
cleaned and pressed napkin and take it to their godparents.
Today, the Days of the Dead are not only celebrated in
Mexico but also in certain parts of the United States and Central America.
They are celebrated differently depending on the region. However, the
ritual is celebrated much like it is in rural Mexico. In the United
States and in Mexico's larger cities, families build altars in their
homes, dedicating them to the dead. They surround these altars with
flowers, food and pictures of the deceased. They also light candles
and place them next to the altar. The rooms themselves become altars.
