El Dia de Muertos

I often find the Oaxaca Times to be brazenly biased and hopelessly in need of a decent editor (hmmm . . . maybe they're hiring). The paper is chiefly a means of advertising to tourists, dressed up as a newsletter and distributed free throughout el centro. That said, I found this article about el Dia de Muertos to be exciting and enlightening, especially as the event draws near.

The Day of the Dead is a blend of cultural traditions: the pre-Hispanic cult of death, the veneration of ancestors practiced both by the indigenous people and by Spanish pre-Christian pagans, and the commemoration of Catholic Saints on All Saints' Day. Above all, it is a wholly Mexican occasion. The most ostentatious Christian festivity of the year—more exuberant than either Easter or Christmas—it illustrates the special relationship that Mexico has with death, a laughing, mocking familiarity embodied in the portrayal of grinning paper mache skeletons performing life's everyday tasks. Dancing on someone's grave, an action which carries negative connotation in the rest of the Christian world, here represents a reaching out of the living to the dead, a reunion in the most festive spirit.

I don't know enough about the holiday to say if the writer gets it right, and I don't have the will to go fact checking it now, but it's a pretty thorough article and offers insights on the customs with which I am unfamiliar. Of course there's a plug for tours run by Oaxaca Times, but that's how it goes. You get what you pay for, as the saying goes. This time it turns out pretty good.