THE  DAY OF THE DEAD

Ricardo Mata

The cult of the dead in Mundo Maya today is a mixture of elements both Christian and pagan. While Guatemalans dance their way to the cemetery (above), the Maya of Chiapas, Tabasco and the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) raise altars in their homes and honor their dead with food and prayer.

Text by Beatriz Martí

Among the people of the Mundo Maya, November is the month of the dead. They believe this is a time in which the dead are allowed to abandon the great beyond to wander on the earth for a few days. The dead seek for their homes and families, their ancient lands, and when they find them, the stay to eat and drink, to pick up some gifts, and when sated, return to the place assigned to them to experience anew their eternal rest... for another 365 days. Then they will return again in an interminable cycle which maintains the ties between life and death.

    For the Maya, dying is merely leaving this world to inhabit another.

    Each place in the Mundo Maya, however, maintains communication with the dead in its own way. Some groups do so by suffering anew and reliving their period of mourning; others by celebrating, and still others by playing games of chance with the souls who visit them. All, however, achieve their objective which is to satisfy their visitors so as to help their souls to eternal rest.

    We invite you to see how the Maya celebrate their dead in four regions of the Mundo Maya.