Day of the Dead, Bronco and the Skull

February 9, 2022

Day of the Dead, Bronco and the Skull

November 2, 2020.

Yesterday was “Day of the Dead” in Mexico. It's becoming increasingly popular internationally, almost competing with Halloween.

Halloween “trick-or-treating” may have been fun in the past, but this year, apparently we all have to adapt to “trick-or-treating”. Either we dress up, get in the car and give each other candy in the trunks of our cars, or nothing.

COVID-19 has changed traditions, celebrations and transformed any mass social gathering.

You can laugh if you are Mexican, because while I was thinking about how to celebrate the Day of the Dead this year, I couldn't help but start singing Bronco's famous song: “Let there be no trace left”

Please listen to the beginning as you review the lyrics, I can't promise you that you understand why this became an international success but it's worth a try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb08WzdP7F0

This song that I sing friends
It's one more pain
If you see me crying friends
Excuse me please

I have sorrow and cry in my soul
That I can't contain
And the thing is that I love her so much and so much
But I had to lose

And now I have to forget her too
And tear it away from my soul and my being
And of that love that burns my skin
That there is nothing left

That there is no trace left that no and that no
That there is no trace
Because I'm sure that you my love
You don't even remember me anymore

This is exactly how I feel that we are dealing with the current situation. Instead of going through pain and suffering and dealing with our feelings, we might as well leave no traces.

There's no time to waste. There's no need. We could pretend that the past never happened.

For the commemoration of the Day of the Dead, we are no longer allowed to go to the pantheons and offer our ancestors food, a prayer or a moment to coexist between the living and the dead.

It's curious because for us, dead souls return on this day to rejoice with the living and honor our past. Death doesn't represent the loss of someone or an eternal absence. The tombs are decorated with cempasúchil flowers and burning candles to guide the path of your loved ones, originally from your house to the pantheon.

Instead, Mexico has declared three national days of “national mourning” due to the rising number of deaths from COVID-19. This is the new reality. So the new way to celebrate will be from our homes, brought to you live on television.

“Let there be no trace left...”

Well, except for another tradition that we hope will continue and does not include social gatherings: writing the “little skull”.

As creative as possible, we write our own poetic version of how to laugh at our own deaths, including those of famous people, politicians and even drug traffickers.

I'll leave you with one that a friend wrote to me and that includes the carbon footprint. I found it funny and an appropriate concern added to the COVID-19 crisis:

Calaverita by Eduardo Cordova
The skinny and bony one was very lively
for the big party they had planned for him.
There were bread, tamales and atole on the table,
But his bones trembled as he tasted the tequila and mole.

The cat driving and smoking was,
without thinking about the carbon footprint it left in its wake.
“You shouldn't be unconscious,” his beloved wife told him.
“Well, can't you see that because of your recklessness he's going to bring us all the toast.”

Here are some resources if you want to connect to some events this year:
Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition that transcends time
https://www.gob.mx/inafed/es/articulos/dia-de-muertos-tradicion-mexicana-que-trasciende-en-el-tiempo?idiom=es

UNAM Mega Offering
www.megaofrenda.unam.mx

Official Decree of Mexico - 3 days of national mourning
RO.% 2D%20SE%20declare%20mourning, of the%20D%C 3% ADA%20of%20de%20en

Virtual offerings: the new way to celebrate the Day of the Dead
020/10/31/virtual-offerings-the-new-modality-to-celebrate-the-day-of the dead/

Mónica Lafon is a freelance writer. He graduated in Journalism and Political Science from Concordia University and obtained a Master's degree in Environmental Policy at Sciences Po Paris.