WEBVTT - How Does el Día de los Muertos Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum here. November first marks the Mexican holiday Elvia

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<v Speaker 1>de los Mortos, or the Day of the Dead. Although

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<v Speaker 1>it's celebrated around the same time of the year as Halloween,

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<v Speaker 1>and the two holidays share in affinity for skulls and sweets,

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<v Speaker 1>they're really very different. Halloween started as a pre Christian

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<v Speaker 1>Celtic festival called Sowen. The Celts had an idea that

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<v Speaker 1>the veil between the living and the dead grew thin

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<v Speaker 1>around the fall harvest, also the Celtic New Year, allowing

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<v Speaker 1>ghosts and ghouls to slip in. The Celts dressed up

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<v Speaker 1>as monsters and goblins to scare off evil spirits and

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<v Speaker 1>have a little fun in the process. A Weden Saint

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<v Speaker 1>Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. The

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<v Speaker 1>Church incorporated some of the pagan traditions of Sowyn into

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<v Speaker 1>All Hallows Eve, observed October thirty first. The modern holiday

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<v Speaker 1>of Halloween was first popularized in America by Irish immigrants,

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<v Speaker 1>and developed from there into the spookfest we know and

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<v Speaker 1>love today. Meanwhile, a version of the Day of Dead

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<v Speaker 1>existed in pre Hispanic Mexico as far back as three

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years ago. By the fifteen hundred CE and the

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<v Speaker 1>reign of the Aztec Empire, this had become a massive

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<v Speaker 1>festival dedicated to the dead that was held during the

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<v Speaker 1>entire ninth month of the Aztec calendar, corresponding roughly to

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<v Speaker 1>late July early August. In as Tech mythology, the underworld

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<v Speaker 1>is ruled by mctec asoulat, the Lady of the Dead.

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<v Speaker 1>Her duty was to watch over the bones of past lives,

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<v Speaker 1>which were also the source of new lives on Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>Once a year, she would leave the underworld to check

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<v Speaker 1>on her living bones. The Aztecs welcomed the Lady of

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<v Speaker 1>the Dead and her husband with this month long death festival,

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<v Speaker 1>filled with offerings and dance, as sculptures of the couple

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<v Speaker 1>portray them with skeletal faces and necklaces, dangling with skulls

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<v Speaker 1>and severed hands. O. When the Spanish colonizers arrived in

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<v Speaker 1>the fifteen hundreds, they brought priests who converted indigenous peoples

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<v Speaker 1>by the sword. Some of the old traditions surrounding the

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<v Speaker 1>Day of the Dead got folded into Catholic observances of

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<v Speaker 1>All Saints Day on November first and All Souls Day

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<v Speaker 1>on November tecond. It's called religious syncretism when existing religious

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<v Speaker 1>customs and even deities are folded into a new belief system. O.

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<v Speaker 1>When the Aztecs and other indigenous Mexican groups fell to

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<v Speaker 1>the Spanish, they were forced to destroy their temples and

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<v Speaker 1>pagan idols and replace them with cathedrals and the Saints.

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<v Speaker 1>But the missionaries knew that a conquered people would have

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<v Speaker 1>an easier time accepting a new God and new traditions

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<v Speaker 1>if they fit into an existing religious worldview and ritual calendar.

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<v Speaker 1>And they saw that the locals venerated the dead, so

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<v Speaker 1>the Church looked for existing Christian holidays that emphasized communion

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<v Speaker 1>between the living and those beyond. All Saints Day and

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<v Speaker 1>November first is a time for Christians to remember and

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<v Speaker 1>honor fallen saints and now in heaven, and All Souls

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<v Speaker 1>Day November two marks the time to pray for the

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<v Speaker 1>souls of departed loved ones who may be trapped in

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<v Speaker 1>purgatory waiting for admission to Heaven. Still, some peoples held

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<v Speaker 1>tight to pre Hispanic symbols like Mctechasua and her skull necklace,

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<v Speaker 1>which endure today as the skeleton Sheik Katrina and brightly

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<v Speaker 1>painted sugar skulls. American concepts of death tend to be fearful,

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<v Speaker 1>and Halloween is a scary time. The spirits of the

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<v Speaker 1>dead are more likely to return as creepy ghosts than

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<v Speaker 1>friendly visitors. But Eldiya dels Mortos is a celebration of life,

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<v Speaker 1>both here and beyond, when the souls of the departed

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<v Speaker 1>come home for feasting and fun. The holiday's traditions help

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<v Speaker 1>us remember, respect and celebrate loved ones who have passed,

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<v Speaker 1>and they let us laugh at death while poking fun

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<v Speaker 1>at the living. The Mexican poet and author Octavial Pus

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<v Speaker 1>described this attitude, writing that a Mexican person quote is

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<v Speaker 1>familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it,

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<v Speaker 1>celebrates it. It is one of his favorite toys and

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<v Speaker 1>his steadfast love. Even the cemetery, a place that Westerners

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<v Speaker 1>tend to associate with mourning and fear, is tinged with laughter, music,

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<v Speaker 1>and colorful decorations on the Day of the Dead. A death,

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<v Speaker 1>after all, is part of the human experience. We'll get

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<v Speaker 1>back to the cemetery in a moment, but Day of

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<v Speaker 1>the Dead really starts in the home with the building

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<v Speaker 1>of afrandas, a type of festive altar dedicated to deceased

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<v Speaker 1>love ones. An afranda can be small or large, humble

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<v Speaker 1>or ornate, but ite's sure to include a picture of

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<v Speaker 1>the person who has passed a plus some of their

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<v Speaker 1>favorite foods and drinks to help them refuel after the

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<v Speaker 1>long journey from the spirit world. The path home is

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<v Speaker 1>marked by flower petals scattered on and around the altar,

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<v Speaker 1>a smoky incense candles, and papel piccato, a multicolored sheets

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<v Speaker 1>of tissue paper with elaborate designs cut into them. The

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<v Speaker 1>dominant color of afrendas is the rich orange yellow of

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<v Speaker 1>Mexican marigolds. In the days approaching Day of the Dead,

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<v Speaker 1>a flower market sell mounds of fragrant marigolds for decorating offrendas,

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<v Speaker 1>along with white baby's breadth and purple red cock's comb.

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<v Speaker 1>But in parts of Mexico where a Day of the

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<v Speaker 1>Dead is still traditionally observed, much of the celebration centers

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<v Speaker 1>around the local cemetery. In the days leading up to

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<v Speaker 1>November first, families will clean up the grave site of

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<v Speaker 1>a loved one. They'll pull out weeds, put a fresh

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<v Speaker 1>coat of paint on iron fences or white down headstones.

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<v Speaker 1>In humbler cemeteries, where a grave might only be marked

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<v Speaker 1>with a simple wooden cross, families might bring shovels and

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<v Speaker 1>mound up fresh soil over the grave. Then it's time

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<v Speaker 1>to decorate a graveside off brendas include lots of marigolds, candles,

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<v Speaker 1>and offerings of food and drink for the famished souls

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<v Speaker 1>of the departed. On the night of November First, families

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<v Speaker 1>gather around the graves. They bring food and drinks for

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<v Speaker 1>themselves as well as for their spirit guests. A musicians

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<v Speaker 1>take requests for loved one's favorite tunes. Families stay in

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<v Speaker 1>the cemetery all night, visiting with neighbors, telling stories and jokes,

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<v Speaker 1>and keeping the candles lit and the plates of food

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<v Speaker 1>full for the unseen guests of honor. A Spanish word

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<v Speaker 1>for skeleton is calivera, and calaveras play a large role

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<v Speaker 1>in Day of the Dead imagery, costumes, and art. Although

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<v Speaker 1>skeleton motifs go back to the Aztec Lady of the Dead,

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<v Speaker 1>a modern calivera imagery is deeply influenced by Mexican printmaker

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<v Speaker 1>Jose Guadalupe Posada, who gained fame in the late eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds drawing satirical cartoons of Mexico's wealthy elite and corrupt politicians,

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<v Speaker 1>all portrayed as comical skeletons. His most enduring image is

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<v Speaker 1>La Calavera Katrina from around nineteen ten. It portrays a

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<v Speaker 1>skeleton wearing a beautiful posh lady's hat decorated with flowers

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<v Speaker 1>and feathers and pretty tassels in her not hair. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a commentary on vanity, youth, beauty, money. You can't take

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<v Speaker 1>any of it with you. Today you'll find ornate clay

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<v Speaker 1>statues of colorfully painted Katrinas and her male counterpart Katrine

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<v Speaker 1>for sale at Day of the Dead markets, alongside smaller

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<v Speaker 1>figurines of Calaveras at work and play Calivera dentists, Caliverra bartenders,

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<v Speaker 1>Calovera footballers, etc. But there's also a second type of

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<v Speaker 1>Day of the Dead Calovera owen. Posado was making his

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<v Speaker 1>prints in turn of the twentieth century Mexico. Many of

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<v Speaker 1>his drawings adorned satirical poems called calaveras literarius literary calaveras.

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<v Speaker 1>These short, rhyming verses poked fun at all classes of

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<v Speaker 1>Mexican society and writing original colorvedos is still part of

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<v Speaker 1>Day of the Dead festivities for kids and grown ups. Alike.

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<v Speaker 1>Skeletons also appear as sugar skulls, bright white skulls made

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<v Speaker 1>of a type of sugarpaste called alfa yike. Those craft

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<v Speaker 1>markets have them in all sizes from tiny to life sized,

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<v Speaker 1>iced with colorful designs. However, though technically edible, they're meant

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<v Speaker 1>to be decorative, placed on afrendas or given as gifts.

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<v Speaker 1>The markets have plenty of skulls meant for snacking, though,

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<v Speaker 1>including chocolate skulls, lollipop skulls, and marshmallow skulls. Another holiday

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<v Speaker 1>treat is Pandemorthos, the bread of the Dead, available mostly

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<v Speaker 1>only around late October. Pandamorthos is made with a rich,

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<v Speaker 1>eggy dough flavored with a dash of orange blossom extract.

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<v Speaker 1>It's shaped into a round and topped with bulbous ropes

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<v Speaker 1>of dough shaped like crossper before being dusted with sugar

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<v Speaker 1>and baked. Today's episode is based on the article ten

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<v Speaker 1>Lively facts about the Day of the Dead on how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com, written by Dave Ruse. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.