“Altar of the Dead” opens at Mexican Institute

While Americans and an increasing number of Belizeans celebrate All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween on October thirty-first, throughout Latin America the spirits of the departed are remembered on El Dia Del Los Muertos, or the “Day of the Dead” on November first and second. Today the Embassy of Mexico and the Institute of Cooperation and Culture Mexico-Belize unveiled their annual “Altar of the Dead”. News Five stopped by to make an offering.

It’s a tradition that began as a celebration of the harvest but eventually became a Christian ceremony for the dead. In the first days of November, Mexicans reverently prepare the favorite foods of their deceased loved ones, like moles, tamales, sweet breads and candies. These foods are taken to the relatives’ graves where family members participate in a “graveyard picnic.” Guillermo Guiterrez Nieto, Director of the Institute of Cooperation and Culture Mexico-Belize, says this tradition is done out of respect, and fear, for the dead.

Guillermo Guiterrez Nieto, Coordinator

“The explanation of this is that every year, the dead people come to visit the living parents in this earth. The idea is to show the principal things that like them and different kind of dishes, different kind of drinks.”

The graves, wrapped in copal incense, are covered in cempasuchil or “flowers of the dead” and then lit with candles, so the dead can find the food. The family says prayers for their loved ones and drink “to the health of the departed”. Janelle Chanona for News Five.

“The Altar of the Dead” will be on display until Tuesday evening at the Institute of Cooperation and Culture, Mexico-Belize on Newtown Barracks. The exhibition has been mounted every year since 1993.