Altars

Altars are an integral part of the celebrations of Dia de los Meurtos. Most families and businesses create one to honour the lives of those who have passed away. In the days leading up to Nov. 1, I saw them popping up all over Oaxaca. Some were very elaborate and expensive while others much smaller and more modest. But all have the same basic premise and building blocks.

Sugar skulls, bread, and flowers are integral to all Dia de los muertos altars.

Generally an altar will be two or three tiers and each layer will be covered with a cloth and ofretas or offerings. Many will have an arch made of marigolds and sugar cane over the top.

Almost all altars will contain the following elements:

• Marigolds, which symbolize death.
• Pictures of the dead (in many cases including beloved pets (or mascotas)).
• Candles.
• Incense, usually from the copal tree.
• Sugar skulls.
• Pan de muerto, the egg bread symbolizing the deceased.
• Food, drink, and fresh fruit that were the favourites of the deceased. These can include traditional as well as modern foods as well as alcholic beverages, particularly mezcal in Oaxaca.
• Papel picado, the hand cut paper decorations.
• Salt, which represents the continuance of life.
• Pictures of saints.
• There are often other favourite things included such as cigarettes, and other items belonging to the deceased.

At our school, we built a modest altar but all went together to the market to buy the items. Anyone could add in items for people they wanted to remember. Weaving the flowers and putting all the pieces together and remembering lost loved ones, even though mostly with a group of people who didn't really know each other well, was actually quite uplifting. 

Bottom left from our house and bottom right was the altar from our school.

These pictures show some of the altars I saw around Oaxaca, including the one from our school, the house I was staying in, as well as a few other family and business ones.

They are all a bit skeletal here in Oaxaca

Today's post is a collection of the skeletons, and los catrines that I've seen around the city of Oaxaca over the past week. Most of them are women, or la catrina, the origin of which the hivemind at Wikepedia describe thusly:

La Calavera Catrina ('Dapper Skeleton', 'Elegant Skull') is a 1910–1913 zinc etching by famous Mexican printmaker, cartoon illustrator and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada. The image depicts a female skeleton dressed only in a hat befitting the upper class outfit of a European of her time. Her chapeau en attende is related to French and European styles of the early 20th century. She is offered as a satirical portrait of those Mexican natives who, Posada felt, were aspiring to adopt European aristocratic traditions in the pre-revolutionary era. She in particular has become an icon of the Mexican Día de los Muertos.

I'm starting off with this one that was in Le Merced market yesterday because I think this fruit seller had style with his catrine.

The rest are much more classic. The ones that look like they're in jail are all just in the windows of shops that are almost universally behind iron bars.