The celebration of death for the ancients was not only a nametag for the fallen, but an opportunity to give life in death to those who had left a mark and admiration among the living.
Rober Diaz. Peninsula 360 Press.
The Day of the Dead is a tradition that has maintained its validity and now has a new boom worldwide. The vision that the dead continue to have a decisive influence on the destiny of the living and therefore it is important to show them our respect, is a tradition that various ancient cultures practiced.
The Nahuas continued to call out to people who had been important to their community and had died a dignified death as were those who were overcome by old age or sacrificed in the name of their gods. There were four places where the dead ended up:
Mictlán or "place of the dead." This place was reached after passing many obstacles: two mountains that closed when the one who would be dead passed by, while being threatened by a snake, a place protected by a lizard called XochitonalAfter passing seven hills and seven moors, we reached a place where the winds were blowing with obsidian knives. They had to be guided by a dog that had to be red and were left facing the ChiconaumictlánThere, in front of Mictlantecuhlti, they offered him papers and clothes, in "the place without chimneys", Atlecallocán"the place of the flesh-eaten", the Ximoayán.
Tlalocán"Tlaloc place". The equivalent of paradise, There is no shame and everyone eats corn, pumpkins, green peppers, tomatoes, there are always vegetables and summer. Those who arrive there were killed by lightning or drowned, the lepers, buboos, mangy, gouty, and hydropic. There were those who were torn away by the gods of human suffering. There reigns Tlalocatecutlitogether with their priests the Tlaloques and their big sister, the Goddess ChalchiuhtlicueThe goddess of water, the one who had the power over the sea and the rivers, the one who had the power to create whirlwinds and storms in the water. There she dwells. Side of the Ahuizotl a being the size of a dog that would submerge and attack those who had the misfortune to peek into the water near its abode.
Tonatiuh ichan"the house of the sun." Home of HuitzilopochtliThe warriors, those who died from obsidian and also those who were sacrificed, ended up there. This is where women who died in childbirth, considered to be defeated warriors, ended up, to whom it was attributed that after expiring they became demi-goddesses, Cihuateteo. Those who remained there lived on a beautiful plain where they became birds, hummingbirds, sacred yellow birds with black feathers that whistled at the earth, looking at the flowers.
Cincalco"the house of corn." Governed by HuémacThe site where children who die in their early childhood and are buried near the barns will live, cuetzcomatlso that they would give up their life energy to the corn.
At the King's funeral Ahuitzotl who died after enjoying a great feast, once the mourners with their wailing, they would make screams and sobs. They rubbed the body and cried in front of the crowd to raise the tragic sense of loss. Shortly before shrouding the body, a lock of hair would be placed in its shroud, the piochtliThe body of the man, cut off on the day of his death along with another lock of hair cut off on the day of his birth and specially stored for this day in the same carved box where his ashes would be placed. Torquemada assured that this ritual was done because the soul was found in the part of the tuft, which had to be reunited with the body, the bone, that is, the ashes. The piochitl for the Nahuatl Indians contained the vital principle of every individual: their tonal.
After they were neatly washed and wrapped in blankets, they were placed on carved mats and a jade stone was placed in the mouth of the deceased, Chalchihuitland he would make a speech. Later he was taken to his tomb where he was cremated or buried according to his social status; at the end of the funeral, the jade stone was collected, which they believed was guarding the Tonal, which from that moment on was called Quitonaltíaand kept as a symbol against ash, a sign of regeneration.
After the death of the character, his domestic servants had to be sacrificed so that they could help their master in the misfortunes that would occur in the afterlife. With them, his red-haired dog was also sacrificed to help him cross both waters and ravines that were in his way.
Once they were buried, a ceremony was held every year for four years where the mourners wore, in addition to the mourning of not bathing, much less changing, figurines made of ocote and paper.
The festivities that would be celebrated for each person corresponded, again, to the form of his death. While those who had to access the Mictlán a figurine made of ocote was made for them, those who went to the TlalocánThe mountains and streams to which they brought roses and grasses were closely related.
For the warriors, who were going to the house of the sun, Tonatiuh ichanThe celebration was much more provocative and particular, since it is known that they raised a very high stick where a person remained. From below, with some ropes, other people tried to pull the one that was on the tip of the stick. Down below he ate the tamales called "tamales", teoucallebread of God. What followed was a butcher shop where men were skinned and ritually roasted.
Finally, the children who were going to the cincalcoThe "House of Corn" was punctured as part of the celebration of the coming feast. They were given small pricks with thorns in their ears, tongue and lips to prepare them for the feast that followed, that is, for the elderly dead.
