The renowned Mexican poet, Octavio Paz, put it this way back in 1959: “The word death is not spoken aloud in New York, in Paris, in London, because it burns the lips. The Mexican, in contrast, is familiar with death, chases after it, mocks it, courts it, hugs it, sleeps with it; it is his favorite toy and his most lasting love.”

More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death. It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. To make the ritual more Christian, the Spaniards moved it so it coincided with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 1 and 2), which is when it is celebrated today. Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.

That is about as brief a description of Day of the Dead that I can throw at you now…you get the gist, right? People who have died come back and enjoy the things they enjoyed before they died. For that reason, in Mexico, and many other places in Central and South America, people place on the grave of the departed the things they loved the most: favorite foods, drinks, smokes, etc… DUring this time, they’ll come back and enjoy them once again for this one day of the year. Pretty cool! If you can’t make it to the gravesite, you might have an altar in your home that serves the same purpose. We made one here at TacoLu and we were delighted that so many people brought rememberances of the people in their family, or friends who have passed–and placed them on our altar.

It’s not so solemn as you’d think. We had a great time throughout the night, celebrating with the Dos Equis girls, the Frida Kahlo Tequila (did you know she’s a brand?) girls as well, both sampling shots and glasses of beer for our little shindig.

Next year it will be bigger and better. It’s pretty much halfway to Cinco de Mayo, so it can be as big as we want it to be…

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dia de los muertos