Many people think that “Dia de Muertos” (Day of the Dead) is some sort of Mexican Halloween. After all, it happens close to Halloween and has the word “dead” is in there. In reality, the original Day of the Dead was about as opposite to Halloween as you can be.
Celebrate Life – on Day of the Dead
Day of The Dead is a time to remember the people that are gone but have formed the fabric of your life. It is time to retell the tales of joy and sorrow, fun and frustration that those people brought with them. Kids may remember an arthritic grandmother, but the elders remember the sprightly girl who danced so beautifully in the town square. This is a celebration and a time of love, not a time of fear and creepy things.
Cempoalzuchil
Why would a plant person (me) be interested in Day of the Dead? Because, as I worked on my dissertation plant Tagetes, I discovered that these beautiful flowers were used extensively in the celebration. Indeed, one species of Tagetes was bred into a large and showy size by the ancient Nahuatl speaking people who may have been among the first to celebrate the festival. The flower, called cempoalzuchil in Nahuatl, literally means “the flower of Cempoal.” Cempoal is also spelled Zempoal, and is a city in what is now called the state of Veracruz, in Mexico.
The people of Cempoal grew, then traded and sold the seeds of cempoalzuchil (Tagetes) throughout the Olmec, Mixtec, Mayan, and Aztecan Empires. The plant was then widely shared and cultivated for a number of reasons, including it’s insect repelling abilities.
My dissertation on Tagetes got long. It is close to 1000 pages (!) because there are pockets of the original cempoazuchil in remote areas across Mexico. This made constructing species boundaries difficult.
By now you might have guessed from the pictures. In English we call cempoazuchil “marigold,” which translates as Mary’s gold. The common marigolds are now known as “African marigold” or “French marigold,” but they all originally came from Mexico.
Origins of Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead origins are hotly debated. What can’t be argued is the fact that there was once a harvest festival across what is now Mexico. This was celebrated at the time of the full moon during the harvest season. In most traditions, the festival was held around the time of the Autumnal Equinox. Especially when there was a full moon to help harvest the corn, beans, and squash that had proliferated over the summer. It is suggested that the event would have been celebrated at the same time as the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot, also a harvest festival. This makes sense as the latitudes and growing seasons are very similar.
The harvest holiday in what is now Mexico has changed over the years, despite the wholesale obliteration of native nations, traditions, language, and their religions. Then there was the changes in time of year, and even the calendars. And yet, back in the remote mountain valleys, many of the traditions persist. Harvest holidays around the world and across cultures all have a basis of giving thanks for the harvest. Even if it is a paltry one, people give thanks that the harvest was not less. In all cases that I have studied, ancestors are remembered at some point during the festivities. The celebration was most likely the same in the many different nations and cultures that have been subsumed into Mexico.
Time Went By
The harvest holiday of those long ago peoples in what is now Mexico morphed over time, courtesy of the Catholic priests, into Dia de Muertos. It was also moved from the movable lunar holiday to a fixed date in the calendar – All Saint’s Day (November 1) and All Soul’s Day (November 2).
Dia de Muertos Celebrations Today
For Dia de Muertos, homes have ofrendas or “altars” that include food and drink for the departed. The altar is often decorated with flowers, as well as stacks of corn and other fruits of the harvest. Entire families then visit the cemetery, clean up family graves and decorate them with flowers. The children lead the walk home, scattering flower petals. The petals create a path leading from the graves to the door of the house. And to the ofrenda inside too, of course. The petals are of cempoalzuchil, flor de muerto, the marigold. These glowing golden petals have been used for this golden path for time out of mind.
Marigolds are just one of the many flowers used in Day of the Dead celebrations. Cock’s comb, lilies, chrysanthemum, asters, and virtually any other fall-blooming flower is used. In modern celebrations, exotics such as protea, lavender, and roses are included. Sugar skulls are also a modern invention.
Day of the Dead is a blend of cultures, starting with ancient Nahutal traditions, blending in with Aztec, then Spanish, then Mexican, and now Americanisms. The one thing that runs like a thread between them all is the use of the Flor de Muerto, the glorious golden-orange marigold. I do hope you will celebrate with a plant or two.
As always, enjoy!
Peace, Jacqueline
More about Tagetes in this book:
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The book’s author is Jacqueline Soule, a Tucson-based gardening expert. She knows this arid region inside and out, and she’s written several articles and books packed with her gardening advice. Arizona, Nevada & New Mexico Month-by-Month Gardening showcases Soule’s expertise in one easy-to-read guide.”
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About Your Southwest Yard & Garden
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