Mexico's horrific "Day of the Dead" custom

Starting from October 31 every year, Mexico celebrates the "Day of the Dead"(also known as the "Day of the Dead"). Walking through Mexico City and Rural Areas, you can see "dead people" wandering through the city everywhere, and there is a festive atmosphere everywhere. This festival in Mexico is similar to the Western "Halloween" but not exactly the same. It expresses strong Indian cultural characteristics. Let's go and learn about it from Xiaobian below.

Octavio, a famous Mexican writer and Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Pass said: "Death is actually a reflection of life. If death is meaningless, then life must be the same." "Death shows the highest meaning of life; it is the opposite of life and the supplement to life." This has not only become a cultural phenomenon with Mexican national characteristics, but also reflects the values and philosophical concepts of the Mexican people. The Mexicans inherited this view of life from the philosophy of ancient Indians. Therefore, they celebrate with joy the completion of their life cycle and welcome the annual reunion of the living and the dead. The annual Day of the Dead is influenced by such Aztega philosophical concepts and customs. People pay homage to the dead, but there is no sorrow. They even sing and dance all night long, intending to celebrate the festival with their deceased relatives.

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According to folk customs, November 1st is the "Young Spirit" Festival; the 2nd is the "Full-Spirit" Festival. People sprinkled yellow petals on the road leading from the cemetery to a village or town, allowing the dead to return along the fragrant path. In the evening, pumpkin lanterns are lit at the doorstep of the house to guide the dead; corn soups, chocolates, bread, rice dumplings, hot sauce, pumpkins, sweets, desserts and other offerings are placed on the altar for the dead to enjoy. The bread on the altar on the Day of the Dead is different from the bread you usually eat. Different shapes have different meanings. Some are made into the shape of a "human", and some have no "legs" to indicate "ghosts"; the spiral-shaped bread called "Roskite" represents the reincarnation of life; and the bread "Ohardra", which is made into the shape of a thousand-layer cake and is decorated, is intended to welcome the return of the dead. During the festival, men, women and children can wear masks and ghost clothes with bones printed on them, and march through the streets to express the return of the dead.

In Mexico, children are told of this tradition from an early age. In the "Citizen Knowledge" textbook for Mexican fourth-grade elementary school students,"Day of the Dead" is listed as one of the most important traditions in Mexico. Children know from textbooks: "November 2, Day of the Dead is a holiday we celebrate for those who are no longer with us. This is not a sad festival, on the contrary, it is a colorful festival; people set up altars for the dead with food and other things; music is played in the cemetery and some 'skeleton' poems are written to make fun of each other. This is an Indian custom and Indian culture that existed before the Spanish colonial era; this is how the Aztega celebrated it." On the Day of the Dead, newspapers also devoted full-page space to publish skeleton caricatures of the president, cabinet ministers and celebrities, accompanied by epitaph. The person painted as a skeleton was also honored, showing the optimistic and open-minded character of the Mexican nation and its humorous attitude towards death. In the capital of Mexico City, in order to showcase this ancient culture, relevant government departments also specially organized cultural departments in various districts to set up various altars on Constitution Square in the center of the city.

Participating units "Eight Immortals cross the sea, each showing its magic power" and made the altar beautiful and artistic. Thus expressing the inheritance of national cultural characteristics. Small merchant vendors are also specially allowed to sell a variety of traditional foods around the square. The visitors were jubilant, completely festive. Although Mexico's "Day of the Dead" has similarities with other Western countries, it has the dual origin of the Indian nation and the Spaniards before Spanish colonization. However, in essence, they still inherit the Indian tradition and show Indian cultural characteristics, as well as their unique humor and concepts. Mexicans generally believe that this culture mainly inherits the concepts of ancient Indians, especially the Mayans or Aztegas. And it originated from the most developed period now known as the "Mesoamerican culture". Although, as a cultural phenomenon, it was also influenced by European culture during the colonial era. However, Mexicans are always willing to regard the ancient civilization and culture they have inherited as national characteristics to distinguish them from other Western countries. This awareness is deeply rooted.

The Day of the Dead is a product of the combination of Indian culture and Spanish culture dominated by indigenous Indian culture. Native Americans celebrate the Day of the Dead every year in July and August. Indigenous people believe that only by treating the dead well and letting the dead go home happily for the festival, those living in the coming year will be blessed by the dead, without disease or disaster, and a bumper harvest of crops will be achieved. After the Spaniards came to the American continent, they combined the Western "All Saints 'Day", the Native Day of the Dead, and some Native burial and sacrificial customs to create today's Day of the Dead, with dates set on November 1st and 2nd. Nowadays, in Mexico and other Latin American countries, November 1st is the "Infant Spirit" Festival, a festival to remember deceased children, and the 2nd is the "Acquiring Spirit" Festival, a day for everyone to remember deceased adults.