Fast Facts
- El Día de Muertos is celebrated annually on November 1 & 2, when families come together to honor and remember their deceased loved ones.
- Marigolds (flores de cempasúchil) are placed around altars (ofrendas) that families prepare to help guide the spirits back to visit.
- Monarch butterflies are also an important part of the celebration, and are thought to be the souls returning during Día de Muertos.
- In the Diego Rivera mural, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Central Park, the feathered boa wrapped around La Catrina’s neck is said to represent the Aztec serpent god, Quetzalcoatl.
La Catrina is a skeleton lady in a very fancy hat, and she has a story to tell! Over 100 years ago, in Mexico, an artist named José Guadalupe Posada drew her to poke fun at people who wanted to hide their Indigenous ancestry. Some Indigenous women dressed in fancy hats and gowns, rejecting their roots in favor of styles of European aristocracy. Posada said: “Death is democratic. At the end, regardless of whether you are white, dark, rich or poor, we all end up as skeletons.”
Later, Diego Rivera painted her in a gorgeous gown with a feathered snake scarf, honoring Mexico’s Indigenous history, and named her La Catrina. Today she is a beloved symbol of Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, when families remember loved ones with marigolds, music, and sugar skulls.
La Catrina reminds us to be proud of where we come from! Subscribers, can you find La Catrina on your box? Look for her fancy hat and flowers!
Additional Information and Resources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Catrina
https://visitpuertovallarta.com/blog/the-day-of-the-dead-icon-discover-the-story-behind-la-catrina
https://spanishmama.com/monarch-butterfly-and-day-of-the-dead/