Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum here. November first marks the Mexican holiday Elvia
Speaker 1: de los Mortos, or the Day of the Dead. Although
Speaker 1: it's celebrated around the same time of the year as Halloween,
Speaker 1: and the two holidays share in affinity for skulls and sweets,
Speaker 1: they're really very different. Halloween started as a pre Christian
Speaker 1: Celtic festival called Sowen. The Celts had an idea that
Speaker 1: the veil between the living and the dead grew thin
Speaker 1: around the fall harvest, also the Celtic New Year, allowing
Speaker 1: ghosts and ghouls to slip in. The Celts dressed up
Speaker 1: as monsters and goblins to scare off evil spirits and
Speaker 1: have a little fun in the process. A Weden Saint
Speaker 1: Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. The
Speaker 1: Church incorporated some of the pagan traditions of Sowyn into
Speaker 1: All Hallows Eve, observed October thirty first. The modern holiday
Speaker 1: of Halloween was first popularized in America by Irish immigrants,
Speaker 1: and developed from there into the spookfest we know and
Speaker 1: love today. Meanwhile, a version of the Day of Dead
Speaker 1: existed in pre Hispanic Mexico as far back as three
Speaker 1: thousand years ago. By the fifteen hundred CE and the
Speaker 1: reign of the Aztec Empire, this had become a massive
Speaker 1: festival dedicated to the dead that was held during the
Speaker 1: entire ninth month of the Aztec calendar, corresponding roughly to
Speaker 1: late July early August. In as Tech mythology, the underworld
Speaker 1: is ruled by mctec asoulat, the Lady of the Dead.
Speaker 1: Her duty was to watch over the bones of past lives,
Speaker 1: which were also the source of new lives on Earth.
Speaker 1: Once a year, she would leave the underworld to check
Speaker 1: on her living bones. The Aztecs welcomed the Lady of
Speaker 1: the Dead and her husband with this month long death festival,
Speaker 1: filled with offerings and dance, as sculptures of the couple
Speaker 1: portray them with skeletal faces and necklaces, dangling with skulls
Speaker 1: and severed hands. O. When the Spanish colonizers arrived in
Speaker 1: the fifteen hundreds, they brought priests who converted indigenous peoples
Speaker 1: by the sword. Some of the old traditions surrounding the
Speaker 1: Day of the Dead got folded into Catholic observances of
Speaker 1: All Saints Day on November first and All Souls Day
Speaker 1: on November tecond. It's called religious syncretism when existing religious
Speaker 1: customs and even deities are folded into a new belief system. O.
Speaker 1: When the Aztecs and other indigenous Mexican groups fell to
Speaker 1: the Spanish, they were forced to destroy their temples and
Speaker 1: pagan idols and replace them with cathedrals and the Saints.
Speaker 1: But the missionaries knew that a conquered people would have
Speaker 1: an easier time accepting a new God and new traditions
Speaker 1: if they fit into an existing religious worldview and ritual calendar.
Speaker 1: And they saw that the locals venerated the dead, so
Speaker 1: the Church looked for existing Christian holidays that emphasized communion
Speaker 1: between the living and those beyond. All Saints Day and
Speaker 1: November first is a time for Christians to remember and
Speaker 1: honor fallen saints and now in heaven, and All Souls
Speaker 1: Day November two marks the time to pray for the
Speaker 1: souls of departed loved ones who may be trapped in
Speaker 1: purgatory waiting for admission to Heaven. Still, some peoples held
Speaker 1: tight to pre Hispanic symbols like Mctechasua and her skull necklace,
Speaker 1: which endure today as the skeleton Sheik Katrina and brightly
Speaker 1: painted sugar skulls. American concepts of death tend to be fearful,
Speaker 1: and Halloween is a scary time. The spirits of the
Speaker 1: dead are more likely to return as creepy ghosts than
Speaker 1: friendly visitors. But Eldiya dels Mortos is a celebration of life,
Speaker 1: both here and beyond, when the souls of the departed
Speaker 1: come home for feasting and fun. The holiday's traditions help
Speaker 1: us remember, respect and celebrate loved ones who have passed,
Speaker 1: and they let us laugh at death while poking fun
Speaker 1: at the living. The Mexican poet and author Octavial Pus
Speaker 1: described this attitude, writing that a Mexican person quote is
Speaker 1: familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it,
Speaker 1: celebrates it. It is one of his favorite toys and
Speaker 1: his steadfast love. Even the cemetery, a place that Westerners
Speaker 1: tend to associate with mourning and fear, is tinged with laughter, music,
Speaker 1: and colorful decorations on the Day of the Dead. A death,
Speaker 1: after all, is part of the human experience. We'll get
Speaker 1: back to the cemetery in a moment, but Day of
Speaker 1: the Dead really starts in the home with the building
Speaker 1: of afrandas, a type of festive altar dedicated to deceased
Speaker 1: love ones. An afranda can be small or large, humble
Speaker 1: or ornate, but ite's sure to include a picture of
Speaker 1: the person who has passed a plus some of their
Speaker 1: favorite foods and drinks to help them refuel after the
Speaker 1: long journey from the spirit world. The path home is
Speaker 1: marked by flower petals scattered on and around the altar,
Speaker 1: a smoky incense candles, and papel piccato, a multicolored sheets
Speaker 1: of tissue paper with elaborate designs cut into them. The
Speaker 1: dominant color of afrendas is the rich orange yellow of
Speaker 1: Mexican marigolds. In the days approaching Day of the Dead,
Speaker 1: a flower market sell mounds of fragrant marigolds for decorating offrendas,
Speaker 1: along with white baby's breadth and purple red cock's comb.
Speaker 1: But in parts of Mexico where a Day of the
Speaker 1: Dead is still traditionally observed, much of the celebration centers
Speaker 1: around the local cemetery. In the days leading up to
Speaker 1: November first, families will clean up the grave site of
Speaker 1: a loved one. They'll pull out weeds, put a fresh
Speaker 1: coat of paint on iron fences or white down headstones.
Speaker 1: In humbler cemeteries, where a grave might only be marked
Speaker 1: with a simple wooden cross, families might bring shovels and
Speaker 1: mound up fresh soil over the grave. Then it's time
Speaker 1: to decorate a graveside off brendas include lots of marigolds, candles,
Speaker 1: and offerings of food and drink for the famished souls
Speaker 1: of the departed. On the night of November First, families
Speaker 1: gather around the graves. They bring food and drinks for
Speaker 1: themselves as well as for their spirit guests. A musicians
Speaker 1: take requests for loved one's favorite tunes. Families stay in
Speaker 1: the cemetery all night, visiting with neighbors, telling stories and jokes,
Speaker 1: and keeping the candles lit and the plates of food
Speaker 1: full for the unseen guests of honor. A Spanish word
Speaker 1: for skeleton is calivera, and calaveras play a large role
Speaker 1: in Day of the Dead imagery, costumes, and art. Although
Speaker 1: skeleton motifs go back to the Aztec Lady of the Dead,
Speaker 1: a modern calivera imagery is deeply influenced by Mexican printmaker
Speaker 1: Jose Guadalupe Posada, who gained fame in the late eighteen
Speaker 1: hundreds drawing satirical cartoons of Mexico's wealthy elite and corrupt politicians,
Speaker 1: all portrayed as comical skeletons. His most enduring image is
Speaker 1: La Calavera Katrina from around nineteen ten. It portrays a
Speaker 1: skeleton wearing a beautiful posh lady's hat decorated with flowers
Speaker 1: and feathers and pretty tassels in her not hair. It's
Speaker 1: a commentary on vanity, youth, beauty, money. You can't take
Speaker 1: any of it with you. Today you'll find ornate clay
Speaker 1: statues of colorfully painted Katrinas and her male counterpart Katrine
Speaker 1: for sale at Day of the Dead markets, alongside smaller
Speaker 1: figurines of Calaveras at work and play Calivera dentists, Caliverra bartenders,
Speaker 1: Calovera footballers, etc. But there's also a second type of
Speaker 1: Day of the Dead Calovera owen. Posado was making his
Speaker 1: prints in turn of the twentieth century Mexico. Many of
Speaker 1: his drawings adorned satirical poems called calaveras literarius literary calaveras.
Speaker 1: These short, rhyming verses poked fun at all classes of
Speaker 1: Mexican society and writing original colorvedos is still part of
Speaker 1: Day of the Dead festivities for kids and grown ups. Alike.
Speaker 1: Skeletons also appear as sugar skulls, bright white skulls made
Speaker 1: of a type of sugarpaste called alfa yike. Those craft
Speaker 1: markets have them in all sizes from tiny to life sized,
Speaker 1: iced with colorful designs. However, though technically edible, they're meant
Speaker 1: to be decorative, placed on afrendas or given as gifts.
Speaker 1: The markets have plenty of skulls meant for snacking, though,
Speaker 1: including chocolate skulls, lollipop skulls, and marshmallow skulls. Another holiday
Speaker 1: treat is Pandemorthos, the bread of the Dead, available mostly
Speaker 1: only around late October. Pandamorthos is made with a rich,
Speaker 1: eggy dough flavored with a dash of orange blossom extract.
Speaker 1: It's shaped into a round and topped with bulbous ropes
Speaker 1: of dough shaped like crossper before being dusted with sugar
Speaker 1: and baked. Today's episode is based on the article ten
Speaker 1: Lively facts about the Day of the Dead on how
Speaker 1: stuffworks dot com, written by Dave Ruse. Brain Stuff is
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot com and
Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my
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