Sunday, November 4, 2012 – El Dia de los Muertos
Gale and I skipped our Sunday evening Road Scholar orientation
session because we wanted to attend the annual Dios de los Muertos (Day of the
Dead) festivities. This holiday
has been celebrated in Mexico for centuries and has become a major event in
Tucson in recent years. It
combines Aztec traditions and rituals with the Christian religion imported by
the Spanish in the 16th century. At first, all the skulls and skeletons seem a bit morbid,
but it’s not a gloomy holiday at all.
It’s a time to remember loved ones who have passed away and to keep
their memories alive. Families set
up shrines with photos, flowers, and favorite foods of the departed. Children decorate sugar skulls with
bright colors. People of all ages
paint their faces white to resemble skulls and dress in death-related
costumes.
Around 5 p.m., we drove downtown and parked near the
end-point of the procession. While
we were waiting for the procession to begin, we joined the throng of
merry-makers packed into the nearby shopping plaza. We lined up at the taqueria to buy fish tacos, rice, and
beans, and treated ourselves to pastries from the Mexican bakery. Bands were playing, children were
dancing, and very soon darkness descended. The parade route was lined with families in folding
chairs. Around 7 p.m., a joyful,
noisy, chaotic group made its way down our stretch of Congress Street. When one of the participants handed us
a couple of dead roses, we decided to join in the march.
At the end point of the procession, everyone was herded into
a big open area where food trucks were serving a multicultural menu of fry
bread, crepes, and bratwurst. We
had no idea what was going on and no one was making any announcements. Somehow we ended up near the front of
the mob of people waiting for the actual Day of the Dead ceremony to
begin. Usually, I feel
uncomfortable in large crowds, but this time, I just felt like I was part of a
communal celebration.
It wasn’t easy to see what was going on but we could hear
music, loud and rhythmical, and we caught a glimpse of dancers in sparkling
costumes with enormous feathered headdresses. Some wordless chanting began and continued for several
minutes as the dancing continued.
At the top of a tall illuminated tower, a white-cloaked priest
appeared. His voice was deep and
guttural and his words unintelligible.
After a while, some fire dancers came out and performed while the priest
chanted. (That explained the
helicopters that were constantly circling overhead. They were loaded with water in case the fire got out of
control.)
As observers, Gale and I found it very difficult to
understand what was going on. We
waited, and waited, and waited for something dramatic to happen, and it finally
did.
The climax of the ceremony came when a crane lifted a large globe-shaped
container and placed it on the tower.
The priest set the container on fire, and flames shot up. The crowd cheered. The messages inside the container were
on their way up to the dead. (Gale
knew this because she had done some research.)
Thank you to Elliott, who stayed behind at the hotel and
took notes at the orientation meeting while Gale and I were out having fun.
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