Boldly Go Solo

Feliz Dia de los Muertes. That is, happy Day of the Dead (hm, maybe "happy" isn't part of the greeting?)

The holiday is celebrated in Mexico in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2.

It wasn't until after I returned from Mexico that I learned about the National Museum of Death. Sounds real enticing, right?

You want to see human skulls encrusted with turquoise? This is where you go. A case full of bloody crucifixes? This is the museum for you.

 Fortunately, most of what I saw and learned about the Day of the Dead during my recent trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, was more charming than this macabre-sounding museum in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Which I did not visit.

I saw sugary candies, statues and candles of many a dressed-up skeleton. The first time I got wind of this holiday years ago, I was in Tijuana for a day.

 I was quite taken aback. It seemed so, well, morbid. (uh, yah) Death is just not something we Americans are big on celebrating. Unless it's someone famous and we get a three-day holiday for it.

But as I've gotten used to the idea, I think there's something nice about it. The skeletons are a bit off-putting still, but it's nice to think that people take some time to think about loved ones they've lost. Celebrate their lives and pray for them.

I learned from the woman I lived with for five days while in Guadalajara that people set up altars in their houses or at schools to honor their loved ones who have passed away. If you set one up at home, you leave sugar skulls, marigolds and favorite foods and drinks of the person who died.

At school, to teach children history, the teachers set up an altar to one specific person, often an historical figure. The children research the person and bring an item that relates to what they've learned about that person.

Cherries for George Washington, perhaps, if it were to be celebrated here? Some candy railway cars for Porfirio Diaz, president and dictator of Mexico in the late 1800's and early 1900's? (The poor suffered under his rule, but thousands of miles of railway were built.)

Supposedly the tradition dates back thousands of years and is linked to an Aztec festival. But similar traditions take place in many other countries, whether at an altar in a house, at a local cemetery or in a house of worship.

Addendum, Nov. 2: Another Day of the Dead story running today in the Providence Journal, Rhode Island. According to this story, yellow and orange marigold petals in front of a house are a signal to the departed that their spirits are welcome in the home.

Photos: Ellen Perlman. Skulls, skulls and more skulls. One skeleton guy holding bottles of Bacardi (I thought it was tequila before I looked more closely.) One holding sweets. One dressed real nice.