Death and the Lady

The month of August was dedicated in the Aztec tradition to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, "Lady of the Dead."  This goddess of death has come to be known as La Catrina in current Día de los muertos tradition, and she is portrayed as a sexy, bony skeleton dressed to kill.  

    Cuernavaca celebrated its 2nd annual La Catrina competition this year, and the Catrinas wer

e quite something.  Made out of a wire and paper maché body, their clothing ranged from an outfit made out of candy to a gold creation imitating the Ángel statue  in D.F.  While each had a skeleton head, they are in no way frightening or malevolent.  Rather, they are Death as a sex symbol, Death as a lady, Death as something you might not mind spending time with.  

     The other tradition that casts death as something other than terrible is the writing of calaveras.  Calaveras, lterally "skulls,"are verses that make fun of death, usually mixed 

with a politician.  The writing of calaveras were inspired by the illustrations of José Guadelupe Posada.

 

 "Death, " wrote Posada, "at the end of it all, is democratic, and everyone, rich, poor, white, brown, ends up being a skull."   He drew notable figures of his time as skeletons, and made popular the image of the Catrina with a flowered hat (image).  

      My students were able to whip out calavera rhymes in a matter of minutes, which impressed me.  Here are two: 

          Estaba la maestra Reed Scott                                      

          tomándose contenta su taza de arroz                          

          llegó el maestro Santiago                                             

         y del susto le dio la tos.                                        

      

                             - Medardo

        There was the teacher Reed Scott

         contentedly drinking her mug of rice

         Teacher Santiago arrived  

         And the fright gave her a cough.  

                              

          Estaba Rubi comiéndose un budín                          

         cuando de repente llegó la calavera                        

         y se echó un pedín.    

                           - Erick 

            There was Rubi eating a tart

            when suddenly Death showed up 

            and let out a little fart.  

                                                    (changed to keep rhyme) 

    

To me, the Catrinas  and the tradition of writing calaveras embody the Mexican ability to make fun of death, laugh at her, tease her, and ultimately, allow the love of life to triumph over death.