Mexico-The Day of the Dead
52 images Created 13 Sep 2012
THE DAY OF THE DEAD
The Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), recently declared by UNESCO as an "oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity," is one of Mexico's most cherished traditions, celebrated in cities and villages countrywide, especially in Michoacàn. During Dia de Muertos the souls of the departed return to earth to visit their earth-bound family and friends. At night in the small graveyard on Janitzio Island, in the middle of Patzcuaro's lake, illuminated only by a sea of candles Purepecha women speak quietly with beloved departed souls at graves adorned with offerings of food, candies, liquor, cigarettes, evertything their dead enjoyed while alive. Far away from well-traveled tourist routes, in the Sierra Madre mountain village of Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca, Mazatec Indians still meet their long-gone friends and family in the graveyard, celebrating along with Huehuetones, mysterious masked figures representing the visiting souls from the Underworld.“For those living in New York, Paris or London, death is the word you must never say around”, wrote The Mexican Nobel Prize Octavio Paz in his novel, El Labirinto de la Soledad. “Mexicans, on the other hand, say it, and often; they make fun of it, caress it, sleep with it, celebrate it. It’s one of their favorite playthings and their eternal love. They stare it in the face with impatience, irony, or disdain.”
The Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), recently declared by UNESCO as an “oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” is one of Mexico’s most cherished traditions, celebrated in any city and village but nowhere more than in the traditional indigenous communities, where the cultural influence of Halloween every year increasingly threatens the souls returning from the Pre-Columbian Underworld. During prehispanic times, Patzcuaro’s lake was thought to be a main entrance to the “Inframundo” – the Precolombian Underworld. During El Dia de Los Muertos, the Inframundo’s doors open, and the souls of the departed go back to visit their earth-bound family and friends. At night in the small graveyard on Janitzio Island, illuminated only by a sea of candles, Purepecha women speak quietly with beloved departed souls at graves adorned with offerings of food, candies, liquor, cigarettes -- everything their dead enjoyed while alive. Far away from more well-traveled tourist routes, a Sierra Madre mountain village near Oaxaca was the home of the legendary shaman Maria Sabina. She in the 1970s, revealed to the outside world the psychedelic power of hallucinogenic mushrooms used by the local Mazatec people. Today all the village still meet their long-gone friends and family in the graveyard, celebrating along with Huehuetones, mysterious masked figures representing the visiting souls from the Underworld.
The Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), recently declared by UNESCO as an "oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity," is one of Mexico's most cherished traditions, celebrated in cities and villages countrywide, especially in Michoacàn. During Dia de Muertos the souls of the departed return to earth to visit their earth-bound family and friends. At night in the small graveyard on Janitzio Island, in the middle of Patzcuaro's lake, illuminated only by a sea of candles Purepecha women speak quietly with beloved departed souls at graves adorned with offerings of food, candies, liquor, cigarettes, evertything their dead enjoyed while alive. Far away from well-traveled tourist routes, in the Sierra Madre mountain village of Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca, Mazatec Indians still meet their long-gone friends and family in the graveyard, celebrating along with Huehuetones, mysterious masked figures representing the visiting souls from the Underworld.“For those living in New York, Paris or London, death is the word you must never say around”, wrote The Mexican Nobel Prize Octavio Paz in his novel, El Labirinto de la Soledad. “Mexicans, on the other hand, say it, and often; they make fun of it, caress it, sleep with it, celebrate it. It’s one of their favorite playthings and their eternal love. They stare it in the face with impatience, irony, or disdain.”
The Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), recently declared by UNESCO as an “oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” is one of Mexico’s most cherished traditions, celebrated in any city and village but nowhere more than in the traditional indigenous communities, where the cultural influence of Halloween every year increasingly threatens the souls returning from the Pre-Columbian Underworld. During prehispanic times, Patzcuaro’s lake was thought to be a main entrance to the “Inframundo” – the Precolombian Underworld. During El Dia de Los Muertos, the Inframundo’s doors open, and the souls of the departed go back to visit their earth-bound family and friends. At night in the small graveyard on Janitzio Island, illuminated only by a sea of candles, Purepecha women speak quietly with beloved departed souls at graves adorned with offerings of food, candies, liquor, cigarettes -- everything their dead enjoyed while alive. Far away from more well-traveled tourist routes, a Sierra Madre mountain village near Oaxaca was the home of the legendary shaman Maria Sabina. She in the 1970s, revealed to the outside world the psychedelic power of hallucinogenic mushrooms used by the local Mazatec people. Today all the village still meet their long-gone friends and family in the graveyard, celebrating along with Huehuetones, mysterious masked figures representing the visiting souls from the Underworld.
