Hanal Pixan :: Not Halloween

::He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.:: 

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Here is my La Catrina costume for 2011

If you have spent much time in other parts of Mexico, you immediately sense that nothing of the food, music and celebrations of the Yucatan connects it to the other states.  In the Yucatan, Hanal Pixan, translated from Mayan as Feast of the Souls, is an eight day celebration.  Hanal Pixan is not a version of El Dias de los Muertos, which was the Spaniards attempt to outlaw the ancient tradition of Hanal Pixan and its' equivalent amongst native peoples.  According to long time expat residents and locals, as Mérida increasingly attracts tourist from within the country and around the globe,  this historically private affair of honoring the deceased is taking on a more public face painted to mirror the rest of Mexico.   

The Walk of the Dead traditionally ushers in El Dias de los Muertos throughout Mexico. In this informal parade the participants are dressed similar to the La Catrina character made famous by lithographer Jose Guadalupe Posada.  Parade participants paint themselves as skeletons dressed in upper-class garb.  This is a new component for Hanal Pixan, and a direct imitation of El Dias de los Muertos.  Since I either missed it due to its' brevity or it didn't take place in my hood as planned, I can't compare the Yucatecos version to that of Puebla. During the Hanal Pixan families celebrate by making altars or ofretas in their homes.  Candles of symbolic color, burning copal incense, gourds filled with water or hot chocolate, buckets of marigolds, a cross made from the cut leaves of an aguave or palm, fresh tortillas, and carved animals are circled around a photograph of the deceased.  

Many altars begin with the image of a lost child.  The Angelitos arrive on October 31st and leave on November 1st, allowing the adults, living and deceased, to party until one or the other is called to the grave.




There are many more components to this eight day traditions but I will leave you with these images taken of the ofretas as seen in the main plaza of Mérida centro.  The offerings were enshrined in little huts, some rather simple while others filled with intricate details.  For all the work in construction, they disappeared only a few hours after set-up.  Poof!

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The Broad

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