Tag Archives: Mexican folklore

Ritual: el Día de los Muertos

When I asked my informant if they had any special holiday traditions or rituals, they thought of el Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead. S told me that this was one of their favourite holidays, they love the vibrant colours, the joyful celebrations, the delicious food, and the beautiful altars set up in honour of loved ones. S told me that when the sun set, they would stroll down the streets of their neighbourhood every year, watching families setting up their altars for their loved ones who had passed and they would see candles flickering in the night, incense burning, and pictures of happy faces. They would also see lots of marigold blooms set around the altars, known as ‘ofrendas’, and the flower’s bright orange colour and strong fragrance are to help guide the souls of the dead home. S said that their mom would always bring out a tray of fresh pan de muerto which is a sweet bread that is eaten on this holiday, and they all took a piece. They love this holiday because they always felt a strong connection to their ancestors and their culture during el Día de los Muertos, and they said that it will always be a special time for their family and them.

I have always loved hearing stories about el Día de los Muertos and I think that it is such an amazing way of celebrating the life of a loved one who is no longer with us. Growing up, every time the thought of dying and the afterlife came to mind, it would quickly spiral out of control and I would get very anxious and stressed out because I just couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of it. Not knowing what happens when we die is a scary thought and I didn’t really have a comfort to hold onto. This is why I think el Día de los Muertos is such a great holiday because it helps you feel so bonded to your loved ones, even if they were no longer with you. The belief that the spirits of the dead come back from the afterlife to visit and spend time with their families on Earth would have been a very comforting and reassuring thought for me growing up.

Rituals: Quinceañeras

My informant S told me about when they had their quinceañera when they turned 15. S said that quinces are a very valued Mexican traditional celebration of becoming 15 and that it is a big transition from being a child to becoming an adult. They talked about picking out the dress, and how it is supposed to show your personality. They showed me a picture of their dress and they wore a gorgeous baby blue gown that reminded me of Cinderella. S also talked about the quinceañera’s court, the quinces’ closest friends, and how their friends all wore beautiful dresses that were colour-coordinated to their gown. S told me about the dance number that they did together and how much fun it was for them. S also talked about one of her favourite moments, the father-daughter dance and how emotional it was. They had picked a really special song that meant a lot to them, a Spanish song that their dad used to sing to them when they were younger and S said it was a very memorable moment for the both of them.

Of course, I have heard of the tradition of quinceañeras and know what they are about, but it is always so special to hear about it from someone who got to experience it in their life. I have several other friends who have also had quinces and I loved hearing everyone’s different experiences and memories of them. From what I have heard about quinces, I know that when you are Catholic, the quinceanera goes to church before the party for a ceremony of blessings that renews the quinceanera’s commitment to God. I have never had a quinceañera but I did have a champagne birthday, which is the day you turn the age of the day that you were born. In my case, I was born on the 18th, so the day I turned 18 was my champagne birthday and I had a champagne birthday party with my closest friends.

Gesture:

Context: The interviewee, D, is 19 years old and they were born and raised in Mexico. They told me that when they were a kid, they accidentally made this gesture while trying to get their family dog to sit down. When D’s dad saw what they were doing, he asked them why they were cussing out the dog. D obviously did not know what the gesture meant, so their dad explained it to them. That’s how D found out that this gesture was basically a way of saying “F*** you” to someone.

Analysis: There are a lot of gestures that mean very different things depending on where you are in the world and so it’s important to keep that in mind, especially if you decide to travel internationally. When I moved to Canada from China, there were a lot of words and gestures that I didn’t know the hidden meaning of. I never knew this gesture was a way to cuss at people until D told me. However, I was unable to find the origins of this hand gesture because it’s rather hard to describe what I’m looking for online. I actually make this hand gesture quite often, but only towards myself and not other people thankfully as it’s how I check my nails and cuticles to see if they need fixing.

Joke/Riddle:How do you say pollo in English? And how do you say repollo in English?

Context: D also introduced me to this Spanish joke that they had learned from her childhood friends. D explained that “pollo” is chicken in Spanish, and “repollo” is cabbage in Spanish, so the joke is that people would answer chicken for the first question, and then rechicken for the second question. They told me that the joke would only make sense to people who were bilingual in both English and Spanish since it plays off of the similarities of both Spanish words and their English translations.

Analysis: After D explained the joke to me, I found it quite funny even though they thought it was silly since it was just a stupid joke they played on each other in grade school. It’s interesting how language works with jokes because they sometimes don’t work when translated. This actually reminded me of a joke that I heard from a family friend of mine that only bilingual people who speak both Mandarin and English would understand. You put up four fingers and ask the person what word you are putting up and they will usually respond with “four”. Then you bend your four fingers down and ask them again what word you are putting up and they usually get stumped, so you tell them that it’s “won-der-ful” putting emphasis on the “won” and pronouncing the “ful” similar to four. This is because the “won” sounds a lot like the mandarin word for bend is “弯”, so together it’s roughly translated to “bent four”. 

Gesture – “Packs a lot of Money”

Text: The above image shows the gesture. It is similar to the shape people make with their fingers to make a gun, but instead of making the pointer finger straight, it is slightly hooked inward. One is also supposed to slightly shake their hand once it is in this position.

Context: One of my roommates whose ethnicity is Mexican shared a universal hand gesture between people in Mexico. She shared that it means “a person packs a lot of money…it’s like they’re wealthy, they have money, they’re rich” and that “because in Mexican culture pointing at someone or using someone’s direct name in an unmanly or rude manner is very disrespectful”. As a result, she said, “[they] use this form of sign to mention people who have money or as a way to speak about them and how they like have a lot of bucks”. She then provided an example of how friends will use this gesture with one another when mentioning wealth. She also talked about how this gesture is “widely used…like the middle finger…growing up [one] sees it and are like oh…it’s widely used in Mexico…anybody will know it even in other Latin cultures…predominantly used in Mexico”. When asked what she thought of it/its importance she said “[she] thinks it’s important in the way that it helps people identify cause [she] feels like there’s a huge wealth gap in Mexico and those who are usually very wealthy always live in the bigger cities…more unaware of other living circumstances of people”. Overall she stated that this gesture is “a way for people to refer to those people…oh they carry big bucks they’re not gonna understand how [they] live or the situation that these lower-income people live”. She discussed how this gesture most likely came about due to the large gap between lower and higher income and the gesture is a way for the lower class to “refer to them without referring to them directly”. That being said the gesture can be used in “a serious manner or a laughing manner”.

Analysis: I think in general it is not polite to point at people when you are talking about them, but I think in America it is more common to just talk quietly rather than use hand gestures with someone else. I think this hand gesture has to do with the fact that the gap between the wealthy and the unwealthy is a lot greater than in the United States. It might be even harder to jump that gap as well, not that it is super easy in the United States. As a result, this hand gesture to reference the vastly wealthy can create a sense of community, like being a part of a group. As mentioned, since the wealthy do not understand the less wealthy’s circumstances, this gesture could pose as a gesture that only the less wealthy understand. Kind of like this gesture is something for just this certain group of people that not even the wealthy people, who have everything, know.