Dia de los Muertos

Day of the Dead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUUAgEWeYeI

Dia de los Muertos

• More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in Mexico

• They encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death

• Day of the Dead is a celebration the indigenous groups of America (Maya & Aztec)have been practicing for at least 3,000 years.

Dia de los Muertos

• Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, the Mexicans embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.

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• What is it?– Los Dias de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is a traditional Mexico

holiday honoring the dead. Los Dias de los Muertos is not a sad time, but instead a time of remembering and rejoicing.

• When is it?– It is celebrated every year at the same time as the Christian holy days

of All Saints Day and All Souls Day (November 1st—Children’s day andthe 2nd—Adult’s day.)

• Where is it celebrated?– It is celebrated in Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, and other areas in

Central and South America populated with the Latino ethnic background. The Day of the Dead is also celebrated in areas of the United States, such as California, Texas, and many others, in which the Mexican/American heritage exists.

Traditions: Skeletons Skeletons and skulls are found everywhere.

Chocolate skulls, marzipan coffins, and white chocolate skeletons.

Handmade skeleton figurines, called calacas, are especially popular. Calacas usually show an active and joyful afterlife. Figures of musicians, generals on horseback, even skeletal brides, in their white bridal gowns marching down the aisles with their boney grooms.

Dia de los Muertos

• People wear wooden skull masks called calaveras and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. The wooden skulls are also placed on altars that are dedicated to the dead.

Dia de los Muertos

• Sugar skulls, made with the names of the dead person on the forehead, are eaten by a relative or friend

Traditions- Altars• In the homes families

arrange ofrenda's or "altars" with flowers, bread, fruit and candy.

• Pictures of the deceased family members are added.

• In the late afternoon special all night burning candles are lit - it is time to remember the departed -the old ones, their parents and grandparents.

Dia de los Muertos

• Altars should include:– A picture of the one

being remembered – Items they were

fond of – Something to snack

on – Candles – Flowers – Gifts

Traditions: Papel Picado

• Papel Picado is a traditional art used to decorate homes, businesses, markets and altars in preparation for the Day of the Dead.

• The thin tissue paper images are usually cut in large quantities and hung in repetitious patterns.

Dia de los Muertos

• People visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate gravesites with marigold flowers, or cempasuchiles, and candles

Traditions: Flowers

• During los Dias de los Muertos the yellow marigold symbolizes the short duration of life.

• Other flowers commonly seen during this celebration include the white amaryllis, wild orchids, baby's breath and ruby coxcombs are offered as adornment and enticement for the returning spirits.

• Wreaths made of flowers, both real and plastic, are often placed on the grave sites.

Dia de los Muertos

• The relatives play the dead’s favorite music and make their favorite food, drink and pan de muerto, or Bread of the Dead

Traditions: Food

• Pan de los Muertos– Special loaves of bread are

baked, called pan de muertos, and decorated with "bones.

Dia de los Muertos

• Bring skeleton, or calacas, toys for dead children and bottles of drinks for the adults.

Masks

Around the World

Mexico: Sugar Skull MaskA delightful piece of folk art from the Day Of The Dead, a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration takes place on November 1 and 2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saint’s Day (Nov 1) and All Soul’s Day (Nov 2).

Africa: Ngady a Mwaash Mask

Represents a founding royal female ancestor of the 17th century Bushoong Kuba dynasty. Appears at funeral celebrations and defines the political system with its social roles.

United States: Alaskan Native Mask

This mask is a Raven mask used for spiritual ceremonies and gatherings of the people.

China: Exerciser's MaskMasks served as a carrier of wishes. They were given the functions of communicating with gods, bringing blessings, driving away ghosts and warding off diseases and lots of sacrificial rituals involving masks were regularly held.

Caribbean: Diablico SucioLike most Caribbean art, it is derived from both the African and Roman Catholic traditions, practices dating back to Colonial times. Especially after the plague, the macabre and the devil were themes for many celebrations in Europe. In the case of the devil dances in Panama, they all serve a religious purpose. They came to be a vivid image of the battle between good and evil that promoted conversion.

Egypt: Mummy Mask

Funerary masks and other facial coverings of mummies point to the strong Egyptian beliefs on death and afterlife. There were both death masks and ritual masks.

Europe: Transylvania Folk MaskRomanians used masks in rituals concerned with fertility, rainfall, hunting, and for initiations in ancient times. Today they are still used to represent characters from folk mythology at special holidays such as Christmas and New Years, or for an important life events like a wedding or a death. Only men wear them. It is forbidden to say the name of the person under the mask.

Halloween: Darth Vader Movie MaskCategorized as a Halloween mask, this is more accurately described as a movie mask. This mask is identical to the one worn by that famous movie villain, Darth Vader, in the 20th Century Fox movie "Star Wars." It had protective goggles and a special breathing apparatus without which it was assumed he could not survive. In "Return of the Jedi" we learn that this mask concealed a horribly scarred face.

India: Goddess Durga Dance Mask

The traditions of Indian dance, Durga is considered extremely powerful iconic masks. The three-eyed 'shakti', in the form of Durga, is very common in the eastern belt of India.

Italy: Carnival of Venice MaskCarnival is an ancient tradition occurring the immediate period before Lent. In Italy, it is celebrated in many different ways, depending from region to region and from city to city. Carnival in Italy usually involves a parade or is characterized by traditional celebrations. The most popular Carnival in Italy is the Carnival of Venice, which is popular for its masks. . The Carnival of Venice has its origins in 10th century, when everyone was allowed to mask and every social or gender difference was removed.

Japan: Kyogen mask

Japanese actors perform wearing masks. Kyogen offers comic relief and satirical humor performed between the acts of Noh performances. The Noh drama centers around themes such as spirituality, love and revenge.

Korea: White Pyeolsandae MaskThe Yangju Pyeolsandae Nori is a very popular folk dance in Korean history. There are over 20 characters. There is a cloth hood which pulls over the dancer’s head and helps to secure the mask. Red, black, white help to identify the character, many of which appear to have deformed features. Most of them are meant to ridicule various professionals and other members of the upper class.

United States: Cherokee Booger MaskThe Cherokee Booger makes fun of outsiders, showing them as crude and inferior. The masks depicting Europeans were frequently shown with the neck of a gourd as a nose with possum fur around it to aid in the burlesque (if the black part of the long nose mask was glue, this would suggest fir on the eyebrows and around the nose).

Puerto Rico: Coconut maskContaining one of the highest percentages of African descendants of all island towns, Loiza is a center for African-inspired traditions. Its week-long festival, in July, is so loaded with traditional color that it has become an island-wide drawing card. Its coconut masks are famous.

Protective Mask: Catcher’s maskThe mask is worn to protect the catcher from fast balls that get away, usually because of a foul tip from the bat. Being protected this way gives the catcher confidence. It may also help him intimidate a runner trying to score from third.

South America: Tamoko maskThe Tamoko (Northern Amazon) mask is used during the hut dedication ceremony, and their pointed chins duplicate the pointed base of the central house post. The mantle of the woven cane mask is made of long tendrils of palm-fronds which would have highly exaggerated the movement of the dancer.

Tibet: Qiang Mu Buddhist Mask

Qiang Mu masks represent the images of certain divine beings in the world. There are masks exclusively designed to hang in temples and others are used in dances.

Student Work

Day of the Dead Links

• Día de los Muertos: Puzzle, Vocabulary, and color sheets

– http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/teachers/

• Common misconceptions about the Day of the Dead

– http://www.inside-mexico.com/noes.htm

• History, Traditions, and Significance

– http://www.nacnet.org/assunta/dead.htm