On Oct. 31, the Latinos Unidos Club held a Dia de los Muertos gathering in the SFCC student union building.
The event was incredibly colorful. It was a far cry from the usual dark spooky decorations that accompany Halloween. While skulls dotting the walls are familiar for this time of year, the event’s skulls were colored with bright greens, yellows and reds.
“It’s an opportunity for us that are living to remember those that have passed,” Gabriel Alvarez Garcia, adviser of the Latinos Unidos Club said. “It’s really more a celebration of life than a fetish of death.”
People had their faces painted in white and black skull designs. Many in attendance also asked questions of the various club members about much of the symbolism in the room.
“This is an event to honor everybody that’s passed, because that’s a real thing that happens to everybody,” Garcia said. “But also to remember that we’re here to enjoy life.”
One of the displays near the room’s entrance was an ofrenda: a plain white sheet with a few pictures on it. This is a small example of the complex decorations that can and usually go into a families’ ofrenda. They can vary rather dramatically in size, and level of decoration, but regardless of size they are all still meant to represent one’s dead relatives.
“An ofrenda is an opportunity to remember and honor someone that has passed,” Garcia said.
It is also common to place things the person enjoyed on the ofrenda. A personal item or even a type of food they liked. Everything on the ofrenda is an offering to relatives spirits.
Latinos Unidos members Xochil Rangel, Lorena Garcia, Clarissa Valdez and Ashley Mendiola reinforced the importance of family.
They spoke about how it was an occasion for the whole family to gather and remember those who can’t be with them. Some families go to the graves of their relatives, where they will clean it and offer the same items you might find on an ofrenda.
The idea of spirits and a life after death are a key part to the holiday. A typical sight of Dia de los Muertos are candles. They are used as a guiding light to the dead. The candles are placed on the ofrenda or at the grave.
Orangey-gold Marigold flower petals serve as a similar guide to the dead. It is believed that the scent of the flowers attract spirits.
One thing was incredibly clear, Dia de los Muertos is as much for the dead as or the living.