{"id":3178,"date":"2019-10-28T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T18:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/day-of-the-dead-from-aztec-goddess-worship-to-modern-mexican-celebration\/"},"modified":"2024-09-23T14:41:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T21:41:06","slug":"day-of-the-dead-has-aztec-history-now-modern-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/day-of-the-dead-has-aztec-history-now-modern-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Day of the Dead: From Aztec goddess worship to modern Mexican celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3099-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3099-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3099-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Day of the Dead: From Aztec goddess worship to modern Mexican celebration\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Dance performers wearing Catrina skull makeup for Dia de los Muertos line up after a show in front of Palacio Municipal at Festival de las Animas in Merida, Mexico, on Oct. 28, 2018. (Photo: loeskieboom\/iStock.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=faculty\">Faculty<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Day of the Dead: From Aztec goddess worship to modern Mexican celebration<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  It may be tempting to equate Day of the Dead with Halloween, but the two holidays celebrate very different customs. <strong>[5 min read]<\/strong>\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Kirby Farah<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">October 28, 2019<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 1.058837 1.0874543 2.51831502 1.6884158 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xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>Day of the Dead might sound like a solemn affair, but Mexico\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/ich.unesco.org\/en\/RL\/indigenous-festivity-dedicated-to-the-dead-00054\">famous holiday<\/a> is actually a lively commemoration of the departed.<\/p>\n<p>The nationwide festivities, which include a <a href=\"https:\/\/mexiconewsdaily.com\/news\/mexico-city-declares-alebrijes-cultural-heritage\/\">massive parade in Mexico City<\/a>, typically begin the night of Oct. 31 with families sitting vigil at grave sites. Mexican tradition holds that on Nov. 1 and 2, the dead awaken to reconnect and celebrate with their living family and friends.<\/p>\n<p>Given the timing, it may be tempting to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2017\/10\/30\/no-dia-de-los-muertos-isnt-mexican-halloween\/762225001\/\">equate Day of the Dead with Halloween<\/a>, a ghost-themed U.S. holiday. But the two holidays express fundamentally different beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>While Halloween has its <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/from-scary-stories-to-scowling-pumpkins-halloween-has-pagan-roots-33661\">origins in Christian tradition<\/a>, Day of the Dead has indigenous roots as a celebration of the Aztec goddess of death.<\/p>\n<h2>Mictecacihuatl, goddess of death<\/h2>\n<p>Day of the Dead can be traced back to the native peoples of central and southern Mexico, the regions where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kirbyfarahphd.com\/\">I conduct my archaeological research<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When the Spanish arrived in central Mexico 500 years ago, the region had millions of indigenous inhabitants. The conquistadores largely characterized them as Aztecs because, at the time, they were united under the expansive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/ancient-americas\/aztecs\">Aztec empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newworldencyclopedia.org\/entry\/Aztec_codices\">colonial period records<\/a>, the Aztec empire was formed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.historycrunch.com\/aztec-triple-alliance.html#\/\">A.D. 1427<\/a>, only about a century before the arrival of Spanish . But the celebration that Mexicans now call D\u00eda de los Muertos almost certainly existed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/halloween\/day-of-the-dead\">many centuries earlier<\/a>, perhaps originating with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancient.eu\/Toltec_Civilization\/\">Toltec people of central Mexico<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, by the time the Spanish conquistadors invaded in 1519, the Aztecs recognized a wide pantheon of gods, which included a goddess of death and the underworld named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancient.eu\/Mictlantecuhtli\/\">Mictecacihuatl<\/a>. She was celebrated throughout the entire ninth month of the Aztec calendar, a 20-day month that corresponded roughly to late July and early August.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 359px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/298590\/original\/file-20191024-170499-6u88ak.JPG\" alt=\"A stone carving of Mictlantecuhtli\" width=\"359\" height=\"384\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mictecacihuatl\u2019s underworld husband, Mictlantecuhtli, was also depicted in skeletal form. Mictecacihuatl\u2019s underworld husband, Mictlantecuhtli, was also depicted in skeletal form.<a class=\"source\" href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/c7\/2013-12-24_Mictlantecuhtli_anagoria.JPG\">Anagoria\/National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico<\/a>, <a class=\"license\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Aztec mythology tells that Mictecacihuatl was sacrificed as a baby and magically grew to adulthood in the underworld, where she married. With her husband, she presided over the underworld.<\/p>\n<p>Mictecacihuatl \u2013 who is often depicted with flayed skin and a gaping, skeletal jaw \u2013 was linked to both death and resurrection. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.learnreligions.com\/mictecacihuatl-aztec-goddess-of-death-248587\">According to one myth<\/a>, Mictecacihuatl and her husband collected bones so that they might be returned to the land of the living and restored by the gods.<\/p>\n<p>The Aztecs appeased these fearsome underworld gods by burying their dead with food and precious objects.<\/p>\n<p>Archaeologists and historians know relatively little about the details of the month-long celebration of Mictecacihuatl, but say it likely involved <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdl.org\/en\/item\/10613\/\">burning incense, song and dance, and blood sacrifice<\/a> \u2013 customary practices in many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.historyonthenet.com\/aztec-religious-ceremonies-and-rituals\">Aztec rituals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Blending cultures<\/h2>\n<p>The Spanish invaders of Mexico were Catholic, and they worked hard to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mexconnect.com\/articles\/1562-religion-and-society-in-new-spain-mexico-s-colonial-era\">evangelize native peoples<\/a>. To stamp out lingering indigenous beliefs, they demolished religious temples, <a href=\"https:\/\/vistasgallery.ace.fordham.edu\/items\/show\/1707\">burned indigenous idols and destroyed Aztec books<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But indigenous people in Mexico, as across the Americas, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/mexico-city-dig-uncovers-traces-aztec-resistance-spain-180963970\/\">resisted<\/a> Spanish efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/a-bloody-tale-of-how-mexico-went-catholic\">eradicate their culture<\/a>. Instead, they often blended their own religious and cultural practices with those imposed on them by the Spanish.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/298566\/original\/file-20191024-170462-p1ajm6.jpg\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A calavera \u2013 Day of the Dead skeleton \u2013 all dressed up for that afterlife party. <a class=\"source\" href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/aa\/TENENCIAS_MORELIA_089.jpg\/800px-TENENCIAS_MORELIA_089.jpg\">Alfonso Martorell\/Culture and Tourism Secretary of Morelia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Perhaps the best-known symbol of the ethnic and cultural mixing that defines modern Mexico is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/virgen-de-guadalupe_n_4434582\">La Virgen de Guadalupe<\/a>, a uniquely Mexican Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n<p>Many Mexican Catholics believe that in 1531 the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego, an indigenous Mexican farmer, and in his native language of Nahuatl told him to build a shrine to her. Today the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiritualtravels.info\/articles-2\/south-america\/mexico-citys-shrine-to-our-lady-of-guadalupe\/\">among the world\u2019s most visited holy sites<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Day of the Dead is almost certainly a similar case of blended cultures.<\/p>\n<p>Spanish conquerors faced difficulty in convincing native peoples to give up their rituals honoring death goddess Mictecihuatl. The compromise was to move these indigenous festivities from late July to early November to correspond with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicworldreport.com\/2018\/10\/24\/the-season-of-the-dead-the-origins-and-practice-of-allhallowtide\/\">Allhallowtide<\/a> \u2013 the three-day Christian observance of All Saints\u2019 Eve, All Saints\u2019 Day and All Souls\u2019 Day.<\/p>\n<p>With this move, the holiday was nominally connected to Catholicism. But many practices and beliefs associated with the worship of the dead remained deeply indigenous.<\/p>\n<h2>D\u00eda de los Muertos today<\/h2>\n<p>Contemporary Day of the Dead rituals were featured prominently in the 2017 Disney\/Pixar film \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rvr68u6k5sI\">Coco<\/a>.\u201d These include homemade sugar skulls, decorated home altars, the fantastical spirit animals called alebrijes and images of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.davidsongalleries.com\/artists\/modern\/jose-guadalupe-posada\/restrikes\/gran-baile-de-calaveras\/\">convivial calaveras<\/a> \u2013 skeletons \u2013 enjoying the afterlife in their finest regalia.<\/p>\n<p>The use of Mexican marigolds to adorn altars and graves on Day of the Dead probably has indigenous origins. Called cempas\u00fachil by the Aztecs, the vibrant Mexican marigold grows during the fall. <a href=\"https:\/\/beautifulmesoamerica.com\/cempasuchil-legend\/\">According to myth<\/a>, the sweet smell of these flowers awaken the dead.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/298571\/original\/file-20191024-170462-c41idx.jpg\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1032\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mexico City\u2019s annual Day of the Dead parade features floats of alebrijes, or spirit animals. <a class=\"source\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Desfile_de_Alebrijes.jpg\">Juancho Lorant\/Wikimedia<\/a>, <a class=\"license\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The elaborately decorated shrines to deceased loved ones, which usually contain offerings for the dead, may also have pre-Hispanic origins. Many indigenous peoples across Mesoamerica had altars in their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordhandbooks.com\/view\/10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780199341962.001.0001\/oxfordhb-9780199341962-e-26\">houses or patios<\/a>. These were used to perform household rituals, worship gods and communicate with ancestors.<\/p>\n<p>The bones, skulls and skeletons that are so iconic of Day of the Dead are fundamentally indigenous, too. Many Aztecs gods were <a href=\"https:\/\/uknowledge.uky.edu\/world_mexico_codices\/8\/\">depicted as skeletal<\/a>. Other deities wore bones as clothing or jewelry.<\/p>\n<p>The Aztecs, who engaged in ritual human sacrifice, even used human bones to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordmusiconline.com\/grovemusic\/view\/10.1093\/gmo\/9781561592630.001.0001\/omo-9781561592630-e-4002294560\">musical instruments<\/a>. The Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan had a large bone rack, called a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2018\/06\/feeding-gods-hundreds-skulls-reveal-massive-scale-human-sacrifice-aztec-capital\">tzompantli<\/a>, that stored thousands of human skulls.<\/p>\n<p>And when Aztec commoners <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordhandbooks.com\/view\/10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780199341962.001.0001\/oxfordhb-9780199341962-e-26\">buried deceased family members under their own houses<\/a> to keep them close, Mictecacihuatl became the formidable guardian of their bones.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s good reason, the Aztecs would say, to celebrate this goddess of death with breads, flowers and a killer three-day party.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[ <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/us\/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&amp;utm_medium=inline-link&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter-text&amp;utm_content=expertise\">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today\u2019s news, every day.<\/a><\/em> ]<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/124962\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/kirby-farah-722793\">Kirby Farah<\/a>, Lecturer of Anthropology, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-southern-california-dornsife-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences-2669\">University of Southern California \u2013 Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from <a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/day-of-the-dead-from-aztec-goddess-worship-to-modern-mexican-celebration-124962\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/how-did-halloween-get-spooky\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Halloween\u2019s celebration of mingling with the dead has roots in ancient Celtic celebrations of\u00a0Samhain<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/course-explores-magic-witchcraft-and-healing\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Course explores \u2018Magic, Witchcraft and Healing\u2019<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/why-mummies-still-mesmerize\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Magic, medicine and eternal love: why mummies still mesmerize<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It may be tempting to equate Day of the Dead with Halloween, but the two holidays celebrate very different customs. <strong>[5 min read]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[129,87,71,677,185,83],"class_list":["post-3178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","tag-anthropology","tag-expert-viewpoint","tag-history","tag-kirby-farah","tag-mexico","tag-the-conversation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Day of the Dead: From Aztec goddess worship to modern Mexican celebration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It may be tempting to equate Day of the Dead with Halloween, but the two holidays celebrate very different customs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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