Highly decorated, very large cartonería (cardboard) skull for Noche de Muertos. One of these might be placed on a home ofrenda (altar) dedicated to the person of one's choice.
Panteón Municipal (Municipal Cemetery), Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán. In recent years, grave decoration has included traditional flowers, candles, and modern plastic wreaths, all of which you see in this photo. The white flowers in cans are nube (babies' breath) and clavel (carnations); the gold flowers are cempasúchil, and the wine-colored flowers are pata de león (cockscomb), all traditional. The wreaths are plastic flowers.
Mexico Cooks! will be touring Morelia and surrounding areas again during this special time of year. We'll be attending one or another special Noche de Muertos event every day for an entire week. Traditional ofrendas (altars dedicated to the dead), spectacular crafts exhibits, concerts, and annual concursos (contests) will fill our days and nights. Known in most parts of Mexico as Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), here in Michoacán we call it Noche de los Muertos (Night of the Dead). By either name, the festival as it's celebrated in Mexico is unique in the world.
These four-inch-long skeletal figures, laid out on their petates (woven reed mats), are hooked up to intravenous bottles of either beer or tequila! They are given as gifts or added to a loved one's home ofrenda.
Tiny sugar footwear, in styles from baby booties to high-heeled pumps, are ready to be given as gifts to special friends or for placement on an ofrenda.
Mexico celebrates death as it celebrates life, with extreme enjoyment in the simplest things. Life and death are both honored and natural states.
The home ofrenda (altar) may memorialize a cherished relative, a political figure (either reviled or beloved), a pet, or a figure from the entertainment world. Traditional decorations include cempasúchil (marigold) and cordón del obispo (cockscomb) flowers, which are used in profusion in churches, cemeteries, and homes. Here in central Michoacán, wild orchids, blooming at this time of year, are also used to decorate graves, primarily in rural areas.
Sugar skulls are often inscribed in icing with a living friend's name and given to that person as a small token of admiration.
In October 2010, Chepo, my long-time cat companion, died. For Noche de Muertos, I created this ofrenda in his honor. It includes his favorite cat food (bottom left corner), his favorite toy (that little white pipe cleaner spring at the bottom right corner), candles, a sugar mouse, and a sugar fish, several photos of him, a big sugar cat between the photos, a large butterfly in remembrance of the many enormous dark-brown moths that he caught and delivered to me, and his ashes, in the wooden box at center. Click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view.
Relatives take favorite foods and beverages to the grave of a loved one gone before. It's said that the dead partake of the spirit of the food, while the living enjoy the physical treats at the cemetery. Mexican friends tell me, "In the morning, after our night-long vigil at the cemetery, we do eat the food that has been on the grave all night, waiting for our relatives to return from the más allá (the great beyond). The funny thing is that the food has no taste at all; our deceased relatives have eaten all the flavor--the flavor of home."
Pan de muertos (bread of the dead) is typically decorated with bone-shaped bread and sprinkled with sugar. The bread itself is flavored with orange and anise. In Michoacán, pan de muertos in the shape of human beings is often hung on ofrendas both in a private home or in a cemetery.
This miniature ofrenda (altar) is filled with tiny representations of treats that the deceased loved in life. Click on any photo for a larger view.
Several years ago, an article in the New York Times quoted Mexico Cooks! about the Noche de los Muertos: "There's a mutual nostalgia. The living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home." That nostalgia imbues the cities and villages of Michoacán at this time of year just as surely as do woodsmoke and the scent of toasting tortillas.
Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours. And be sure to book your Mexico Cooks! 2020 Dia/Noche de los Muertos tour as soon as possible! We'll reserve space for you and your group to make sure you don't miss anything!
I remember the wonderful displays of sugar skulls and other items for sale in Guadalajara. And one year when we lived in Ajijic, we visited a cemetery with many families enjoying tequila, cerveza and music as well as picnic meals at the gravesites.
Posted by: Bruce Taylor | October 19, 2019 at 12:20 PM