Copal , the Mexican incense, scares away the evil spirits and allows our beloved deceased to enter the house safely on the Dia de Muertos.Ī glass of Water quenches the thirst after the long way from the afterlife – well placed and freshly filled every day on the home altar, it will strengthen the dead for their way back. The candles are traditionally placed on all four corners of the altar, forming a solemn frame for the Ofrenda while helping the departed souls to find their bearings at the place of return. At home, the flowers unfold their real magic on the Dia de Muertos Altar, displaying the altar gifts in a bright orange light, thus receiving warmly the souls of our dear departed.Ĭandlelight also provides warmth, but above all it represents light and hope. For this reason, marigolds are scattered everywhere - at the cemetery and even on the way from the grave site back home. Yellow and orange Cempasuchil flowers , also known as the sun of the underworld, lead the guests from the realm of the dead into our world. First of all, the Ofrenda should definetly display a Photo of the deceased person. The Day of the Dead Home Altarīeneath the lovingly decorated grave itself, the so-called Ofrenda, the home altar for the Dia de Muertos in Mexico, marks the centerpiece of the family celebrations. But it was only a sheer coincidence that led us to the home altar in a Mexican living room, where we began to understand the big picture of the Day of the Dead which had us irrevocably falling for it. Witnessing a whole country turning into an orange and fragrant sea of flowers left us deeply impressed and electrified. Here at Superskull, it is our emotional drive and the main reason that we decided to take on this risky business project focusing on the Day of the Dead back in 2007, when we shipped our first products across the Atlantic. Without a doubt, this Mexican way of mourning works all over this planet. There is no question that death will always mean mourning but beneath the grief and the sense of loss that evolve around the wonderful tradition of the Day of the Dead, there’s also a very beautiful point: knowing, that all loved ones live in our hearts and memories - just in another world. This sums up pretty well the essence of the Day of the Dead and the difference from Halloween: the Dia de Muertos stands for the memory and the close family cohesion, even beyond death. With the Day of the Dead being a part of their primary education, Mexican children learn very early that death is just another part of life to which one should always pay respect but never fear, always mindful that death is not final because one returns to the circle of family once a year on the Dia de Muertos. With pride and creative enthusiasm, they spend weeks preparing for the Day of the Dead, while trying to defy the tasteless flood of cheap orange Halloween pumpkin junk, which has streamed over their land every October for quite some time now. The Dia de Muertos is rather an unique event, which is so important to the spiritual and cultural heritage of humanity, that it has been protected by Unesco for decades.Īnd, while north of the Rio Grande, not too many care about institutions like Unesco, traditional Mexican patriots still take the protection of their unique festivity very seriously. At this point, we would like to clear up with an unfortunate misbelief that is circulating outside of Mexico: The Dia de Muertos is neither a crazy party at the cemetery, nor some sort of Mexican Halloween! If you’re one of those who associate this overly commercialized, horror orgy of our rampant fun society with the real Day of the Dead, you completely ignore its cultural and spiritual depth. But while over here, one encounters the dead on All Saints' Day and All Souls in all quietness, the Day of the Dead is one of the largest and most important Mexican holidays, celebrated in a lively and life-affirming way. Similar to Europe, Mexico remembers its deceased on the first two days of November.
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