Day of the Dead November 2

Mexicans make altars for their deceased at home. These are composed of several levels, symbolizing the different places crossed by the soul of the deceased. Various offerings are placed there, the most common of which are the portrait of the deceased and his personal objects, calaveras, candles, flowers, a crucifix, papel picado, incense, copal and food.

The portrait(s) of the deceased grace the upper part of the altar. It is placed in front of a mirror, positioned so that the deceased can only see the reflection of his loved ones. Personal items are used to please the deceased as well as to remind him that he is loved and has not been forgotten.

Calaveras are sugar, chocolate or plastic skulls on which the name of the deceased is sometimes written and which are used for decoration. The candles represent the path that the deceased must follow to reach their altar. 1^er At November 2, families often clean and decorate graves with flowers. The cross is placed on top of the altar, to one side of the image of the deceased.

Papel picado is a Mexican craft made with paper (and also plastic sheets) cut into figures of skeletons and skulls or all sorts of geometric patterns. Incense and copal symbolize the passage from life to death. Finally, food is placed on the altar, including bread of the dead ("pan de muerto"), sugar skulls ("calaveras de alfeñique") or amaranth seeds, and sometimes offerings appreciated by the deceased.

Rites dedicated to ancestors in Mesoamerican civilizations date back approximately three thousand years.

Shortly before the arrival of the Spanish, in the Postclassic period, in what is now central Mexico, the Aztecs practiced two major festivals of the dead: one for children (Miccaihuitontli), and one for adults (Hueymiccalhuitl). The small festival was celebrated twenty days before the big one, in August, coinciding with the end of the agricultural cycle of corn, squash, peas and beans.. It began with the cutting of the xocotl, a tree from which the bark was removed and decorated with flowers. Everyone participated and made offerings to the tree for twenty days.

These festivities were dedicated to deceased relatives. They were celebrated between the ninth and tenth months of the Mexica solar calendar corresponding to the months of July and August, and were presided over by the goddess Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of Death, wife of the Lord of the land of the dead, Mictlantecuhtli.

In pre-Hispanic times it was also common to preserve the skulls of victims of human sacrifice and display them during certain rituals, especially on a tzompantli.

Shortly after the Spanish colonization, Diego Durán noted that these festivals were no longer celebrated in August but on All Saints' Day: offerings of money, cocoa, wax, birds, fruits, large quantities of seeds and food in general were dedicated on the first day to the dead children and the next day to the adults, to, according to him, perpetuate the indigenous rituals and beliefs while pretending to respect Christian traditions..