dia de los muertos photo-field observation
TRANSCRIPT
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
McKaycee Abrenica
Rominna Joie De Torres
Anthropology 121
Professor Wolfe
November 5, 2014
Hollywood Forever Cemetery has an intercultural version of the Day of the
Dead. There, in a mixture of Mexican traditions and Hollywood hip, conventional
altars are set up side-by-side with altars to Jayne Mansfield and Johnny Ramone.
Some families build altars
or small shrines in their
homes; these sometimes
feature Christian cross,
statues or pictures of the
Blessed Virgin Mary,
pictures of deceased
relatives and other
persons, scores of candles
and an ofrenda.
There were hundreds of Aztec Ritual Dancers in full
costume. Colorful native dancers and music intermix with
performance artists, while sly pranksters play on traditional
themes.
Dia De Los Muertos is a
time of celebration on
remembrance. It is also a
time to come to terms with
our mortality and become
aware of the cycle of life and
death. Rather than deny and
fear death this event teaches
us to accept and
contemplate the meaning of
mortality.
People go to cemeteries to be
with the souls of the departed
and build private altars
containing the favorite foods
and beverages, as well as
photos and memorabilia, of the
departed. The intent is to
encourage visits by the souls,
so the souls will hear the
prayers and the comments of
the living directed to them.
Celebrations can take a
humorous tone, as celebrants
remember funny events and
anecdotes about the departed.
This altar has a theme of a peacock. Traditionally,
peacocks have been associated with the afterlife. Their
colors attract spirits of the dead back to living. They also
symbolize integrity, beauty, reincarnation, and new life.
ETERNAL QUINCEAÑERA
On Dia De Los Muertos,
tradition holds that the dead
return to earth to visit their
living relatives. It is
believed that although these
relatives can’t see them,
they can surely feel them.
This night is an important
feast and evocation. It is a
time when family members
share memorable stories
that evoke the lives of their
ancestors .
Dia De Los Muertos expresses this
perspective: it is not a mournful
commemoration but a happy and
colorful celebration where Death
takes a lively, friendly expression and
is not frightening or strange. There is
no place for sorrow or weeping for
this could be interpreted as a
discourteous to the dead relatives
who are visiting gladly. Indigenous
people believed that souls did not
die, that they continued living in
Mictlán (Place of Death) a special
place for them to finally rest.
Altars are decorated with
candles, buckets of flowers
mounds of fruit, peanuts,
plates of turkey mole,
stacks of tortillas and big
Day-of-the-Dead breads
called pan de muerto. The
altar needs to have lots of
food, bottles of soda, hot
cocoa and water for the
weary spirits. Toys and
candies are left for the
angelitos.
Since the theme of this
year’s Day of the Dead
celerebration is
Quinceañera they had an
altar with actual 15 year
old girls dressed in their
quiceañera dresses with
their beautiful crowns
and have their faces
painted with sugar skull
designs.
They have different
booths, one of which is
where they do painting
your face with the
sugar skulls. The
people doing the face
painting also have
sugar skulls painted on
their faces.
SUGAR SKULL
Sugar skulls represented a
departed soul, had the
name written on the
forehead and was placed
on the home ofrenda or
gravestone to honor the
return of a particular
spirit. Sugar skull art
reflects the folk art style of
big happy smiles, colorful
icing and sparkly tin and
glittery adornments.
ROBIN WILLIAMS
Starting as a stand-up
comedian in San
Francisco and Los
Angeles in the mid-
1970s, he is credited
with leading San
Francisco's comedy
renaissance.