THE THREE DEATHS

ACCORDING TO A KNOWN
MEXICAN LEGEND TRADITION,
PEOPLE DIE THREE DEATHS.

The frst death is when the bodies cease
to function; when the hearts no longer beat
of their own accord, when the gaze no
longer has depth or weight, when the space
we occupy slowly loses its meaning.
The second death comes when the body
is lowered into the ground, returned to
mother earth, out of sight.
The third death, the most defnitive death, is
when there is no one left alive to remember us.
CONTENTS
First
Death
Second
Death
Third
Death
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MUERTE
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HAY MS TIEMPO
QUE VIDA!
There is more time
than life.
POPULAR SAYING
More than 500 years ago,
when the Spanish Conquis-
tadores landed in what is
now central Mexico, they
encountered native people
practicing an ancient ritual
that seemed to mock death.
It was a ritual the indigenous
people had been practicing
at least 3,000 years. A ritual
that the Spaniards would try
unsuccessfully to eradicate.
A ritual known today as Dia
de los Muertos, or Day of
the Dead.
El Dia de los Muertos is
celebrated in Mexico and
certain parts of the United
States and Central America.
Although the ritual has since
been merged with Catholic
theology, it still maintains the
basic principles of the Aztec
ritual, such as the use of
skulls and skeletons.
Today, people don wooden
skull masks called calacas
and dance in honor of their
deceased relatives. Calacas
are also placed on altars that
are dedicated to the dead.
In addition, sweet sugar
skulls, made with the dead
persons name written on
the forehead, are eaten by
a relative or friend.
The Aztecs along with other
Mesoamerican civilizations
kept skulls as trophies and
displayed them during the
ritual. The skulls were used
to symbolize death as well
as rebirth.
The skulls were used to
honor the dead, whom the
Aztecs and Mesoamerican
civilizations believed came
back for visitation during the
monthlong ritual.
Unlike the Spaniards, who
viewed death as the end of
life, native people viewed it
as the continuation of life.
Instead of fearing death,
they embraced it. To them,
life was a dream and only
in death did they become
truly awake.
The pre-Hispanic people
honored duality as being
dynamic. Natives did not
separate death from pain,
or wealth from poverty, like
they did in Western cultures.
ALTHOUGH THE DAY OF THE DEAD IN MEXICO
HAS A PUBLIC ASPECT, AT THE COMMUNITY
LEVEL IT IS ESSENTIALLY A PRIVATE OR FAMILY
FEAST. THE CORE OF THE CELEBRATION IS
WITHIN THE FAMILY HOME.
IN RURAL MEXICO, PEOPLE VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE THEIR
LOVED ONES ARE BURIED. THEY DECORATE GRAVE SITES WITH
MARIGOLD FLOWERS AND CANDLES. THEY BRING TOYS FOR DEAD
CHILDREN AND BOTTLES OF TEQUILA TO ADULTS.
However, the Spaniards
considered the ritual to be
sacrilegious. They perceived
the indigenous people to
be barbaric and pagan.
In their attempts to convert
natives to Catholicism, the
Spaniards tried to kill the
ritual; but like the old Aztec
spirits, the ritual refused to
die away.
To make the ritual more
Christian, the Spaniards
moved it so it coincided with
All Saints' Day and All Souls'
Day (Nov. 1 and 2), which
is when it is celebrated in
todays calendar.
Previously it fell on the ninth
month of the Aztec Solar
Calendar, approximately
the beginning of August, and
was celebrated for the entire
month. The festivities were
presided over by the Aztec
goddess Mictecacihuatl. The
goddess, known as Lady
of the Dead, was believed
to have died at birth.
Day of the dead celebrations
are different depending on
their geographical location.
In rural Mexico, people visit
the cemetery where their
loved ones are buried. They
decorate grave sites with
beautiful marigold fowers
and candles. They bring
toys for dead children and
bottles of tequila to adults.
They sit on picnic blankets
next to grave sites and eat
the favorite food of their
loved ones.
In Mesa, the ritual has been
evolving to include other
cultures, such as Native
and African Americans doing
their own dances. It is also
their opportunity to honor
their dead.
In the United States as well
as in Mexico's larger cities,
families build altars in their
homes, dedicating them to
the dead. They surround
these altars with fowers,
food, and pictures of the
deceased, and they light
candles and place them next
to the altar.
The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico
can be traced back to a preColumbian past.
Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors
had been observed by these civilizations
perhaps for as long as 2,5003,000 years.
In the preHispanic era skulls were commonly
kept as trophies and displayed during the
rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.
The festival that became the modern Day
of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec
calendar, about the beginning of August,
and was celebrated for an entire month.
The festivities were dedicated to the goddess
known as the Lady of the Dead, correspond-
ing to the modern Catrina.
In most regions of Mexico, the 1st of Novem-
ber is to honor children and infants, whereas
deceased adults are honored on November
2nd. This is indicated by generally referring
to November 1st mainly as Da de los Inocen-
tes (Day of the Innocents) but also as Da de
los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels) and
November 2nd as Da de los Muertos or Da
de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead).
DEATH
DOES NOT
MEAN
THE END
OF ONES
LIFE BUT
RATHER
THROUGH
DEATH,
NEW LIFE IS
CREATED.
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AL VIVO
TODO LE FALTA
Y AL MUERTO
TODO LE SOBRA.
The ones alive
need everything,
the dead ones
need nothing.
POPULAR SAYING
Tracing their origins from
Aztec imagery, calacas are
frequently presented with
marigold fowers and foliage.
As with other aspects of the
Day of the Dead festival,
calacas are generally depict-
ed as joyous rather than
mournful fgures.
Calacas are often shown
wearing festive clothing,
dancing, and joyfully playing
bright musical instruments
to indicate a happy afterlife.
This draws on the Mexican
belief that no dead soul likes
to be thought of sadly, and
that death should always be
a joyous occasion.
A calaca, a known colloquial
Mexican Spanish name for
skeleton, is a fgure of a skull
or skeleton (usually human)
commonly used for decora-
tion during the Mexican Day
of the Dead festival, although
they are made all year round.
Calacas used in the festival
are carved skull masks worn
by revelers; small fgures
made out of carved wood
or fred clay. They also have
sweet treats in the form of
skulls or skeletons. Calacas
can be made out of wood,
stone, paper, or even candy.
A popular phrase used
among Mexicans, Latinos,
and various people that
celebrate the day of the
dead, after someone has
died, is: Se lo (la) llev la
calaca, literally meaning
the calaca (death) took
him or her.
MUERTE:
POR QU A M
TODOS ME ODIAN
Y A TI TODOS
TE AMAN?
Death:
Why does everybody
hate me but everybody
loves you?
VIDA:
PORQUE YO SOY
UNA BELLA MENTIRA
Y T UNA TRISTE
REALIDAD.
Life:
Because you are the
sad reality, and I am
the beautiful lie!
POPULAR SAYING
The welcoming of the spirits back is seen in
the home with the creation of an ofrenda (altar
or literally an offering). On the ofrenda, many
signifcant objects are placed as gifts to the
deceased loved ones. Of these many objects,
the altar holds four important elements: water,
wind, fre, and earth.
Water is given to quench the spirits thirst
from their long journey and is usually put in
a clay pitcher or a glass. Fire is signifed by
the candles and wind is signifed by papel
picado (punched paper). The earth element
is represented by food, usually pan de muerto
(bread of the dead).
Other food and drinks are left on the altar like
mole (sauce with many spices and herbs),
fruit, chocolate, atole (corn based drink), and
whatever the deceased person liked. Copal
incense is commonly seen on the ofrendas.
Copal was used in ancient rituals to transmit
praises and prayers.
For deceased children, toys and calaveritas
de azcar (sugar skulls) are also placed on
the altar. In addition, fowers placed on the
altar as well as pictures of the deceased and
religious items. These offerings ensure that
the dead will have everything they need for
their journey back.
FLOWERS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY IMPORTANT ON THIS DAY. THE TRADI-
TIONAL FLOWER, THE CEMPASUCHIL (YELLOW MARIGOLD) WAS WIDELY
USED BY THE PRE-COLUMBIAN PEOPLE ON GRAVE SITES AND IS STILL
OFFERED TODAY AS THE FLOWER OF THE DEAD. BABYS BREATH,
COXCOMBS, WHITE AMARYLLIS AND WILD PURPLE ORCHIDS CALLED
FLOWERS OF THE SOULS ARE ALSO PREVALENT ON ALTARS.
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AL DIABLO
LA MUERTE,
MIENTRAS
LA VIDA
NOS DURE.
To hell with death,
while we are still
very much alive.
POPULAR SAYING
Cuando un amigo se va
queda un espacio vaco
que no lo puede llenar
la llegada de otro amigo.
Cuando un amigo se va
queda un tizn encendido
que no se puede apagar
ni con las aguas de un ro.
Cuando un amigo se va
una estrella se ha perdido
la que ilumina el lugar
donde hay un nio dormido.
Cuando un amigo se va
se detienen los caminos
y se empieza a revelar
el duende manso del vino.
Cuando un amigo se va
queda un terreno baldo
que quiere el tiempo llenar
con las piedras del hasto.
Cuando un amigo se va
se queda un rbol cado
que ya no vuelve a brotar
porque el viento lo ha vencido.
Cuando un amigo se va
queda un espacio vaco
que no lo puede llenar
la llegada de otro amigo.
When a friend is gone
there is an empty space
that it cannot be flled
with another friend.
When a friend is gone
there is a burning coal left
that cannot be put out
not with the waters of a river.
When a friend is gone
a star is lost forever
the one illuminating the place
where a child is sleeping.
When a friend is gone
all paths come to a close
and you begin to revel
with the wine gods.
When a friend is gone
there is an empty land
that time wants fll
with stones of boredoom.
When a friend is gone
there is a fallen tree
that will never bloom again
because the wind has beat it.
When a friend is gone
there is an empty space
that cannot be flled
with another friend.
ALBERTO CRTEZ
Poet
La Calavera Catrina (translated as Dapper Skeleton or Elegant
Skull) is a 1910 1913 zinc etching by famous Mexican printmaker,
cartoon illustrator and lithographer Jos Guadalupe Posada. The
image depicts a female skeleton dressed only in a hat beftting
the upper class outft of a European of her time. She is offered as
a satirical portrait of those Mexican natives who, Posada felt, were
aspiring to adopt high European aristocratic traditions during the
pre-revolutionary era. La Calavera Catrina has become an icon of
the Mexican Da de Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
IT WAS THROUGH JOS GUADALUPE POSADAS ART
THAT THE CATRINA (LATER THE CALACA) WAS BORN.
La Catrina has become the referential image
of Death in Mexico, and it is common to see
her embodied as part of the celebrations
of Day of the Dead throughout the country.
She has become a motive for the creation
of handcrafts made from clay or many other
materials. La Catrina can also be found
coupled with male skeletons.
IT IS NOT TRUE,
IT IS NOT TRUE
THAT WE COME
TO LIVE HERE
WE CAME
ONLY TO SLEEP,
ONLY TO DREAM.
NAHUA PEOPLE SAYING
According to the beliefs of the Nahua people
(Aztecas, Chichimecas, Tlaxcaltecas, and
Toltecas) life was seen as a dream. Only in
dying did a human being truly awake.
latino.si.edu/dayofthedead/
archive.azcentral.com/ent/dead/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Calavera_Catrina
learnnc.org/lp/editions/chngmexico/210
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INSTRUCTOR
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THE THREE DEATHS