Dancing With The Dead
by: BJ David2007-11-01
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Nostalgia, longing and depression are common emotions that surface whenever people talk about death. It is hard to suppress these emotions when we remember our dearly departed and the time they spent with us.
But death is inevitable. And when someone we know and love passes on, we pay our respects to them through celebrations that vary in every culture. These celebrations are mostly based on spiritual beliefs about the after life, or directly influenced by religion and faith.
Viva la muertos! (Long live the dead!)
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| LIVELY DEATH. The Calaveras are the quintessential mascots of El Dia de los Muertos. |
The citizens of Mexico celebrate death with joyful fervor during the El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). This holiday is celebrated on November 1 and 2. All Saints Day and All Souls Day, respectively, as Mexico was also a Christianized Spanish colony.
There are criticisms about this holiday being morbid and somewhat inappropriate, but those who celebrate it look more into the positive side of remembering how the departed lived, instead of how they died. This tradition has been celebrated by the indigenous Mexicans ever since the pre-Hispanic times and was for the entire ninth month of the Aztec Calendar. The modern dates of November 1 to 2 were, like in many Christianized countries, mandated by the Catholic church to overwrite the “pagan” holiday.
El Dia de los Muertos is never short of offerings for both living and dead. People offer many items to the graves of their departed relatives, most common of which are pan de muerto (bread of the dead) and flor de muerto (flowers of the dead). Another popular offering are the calaveras (directly translated, “skulls”), candy (or sugar) shaped into a cartoony image of a skull and is given to both children and adults, living and dead.
Equal visitation rights
The Chinese pay homage to their dead twice a year. Once during the Qingming Festival, commemorated on the 104th day after the Winter Solstice (usually falling on April 5) and again on the Chinese Ghost Festival, the 14th night of the seventh month of the Lunar Calendar (usually in August).
Qingming is known by many names, with Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear and Bright Day being the most common. On this day, the Chinese visit and clean their graves, offering prayers, food, tea and/or wine for they believe that the dead need food in their journey through the afterlife.
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| BURN IN HELL. Hell Bank Notes are burned as offerings in the Ghost Festival. |
The Ghost Festival is the Chinese equivalent of Halloween where the living do not visit the dead, but rather the spirits of the dead visit the living. It is believed that, on this day, the realms of the living and the dead merge and the souls of the departed will go to the ones they have left behind. Those in the world of the living prepare food offerings on empty seats at the dinner table to welcome their visiting ancestors. Joss paper, also known as hell money, is burned because it is believed that the spirit world also has some currency and burning hell money is a way for the living to offer financial aid to their dead.
Undas the way it is
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| WHERE'S THE PARTY? It's on the other side of town, apparently. But that doesn't mean that this grave is forgotten. |
Filipinos are known to be one of the happiest people in the world despite all the economic problems, social unrest and politics. So it is no surprise that celebrating Araw ng mga Patay (Day of the Dead), otherwise known as Undas, could end up as a sort-of party.
November 1 (All Saints’ Day) is the legal regular holiday of Undas and November 2 (All Souls’ Day) is declared as a special holiday. But the government often also declares October 31 (Halloween) as a special holiday to give people a day’s head start to travel to their provinces so they can prepare for November 1. Much like Mexico, the dates for Undas were mandated by the Catholic church.
People flock to the cemeteries on this day. Along with the usual candle, prayer, and floral offerings, they also bring along items of entertainment; from something as simple as playing cards and a guitar to the really over-the-top karaoke machine powered by automobile batteries. They usually stay and enjoy the company of their relatives, both dead and living, until the next day.
The more up-scale cemeteries take this as an opportunity to do business as well. Some allow part of the cemetery grounds to be rented by food establishments who wish to sell food to the hungry visitors.
Life, death and remembrance
As you can see, different cultures have different ways of paying reverence to the dead. But it doesn’t really matter if you burn hell money, give away sugar skulls or sing off-key in the grave-mounted karaoke contest.
Despite the differences in execution or ritual, there is only one reason why we give respect to the departed: It is because we love them and we treasure the moments we spent with them when they were alive.
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Related Topics: all saints day | all souls day |