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The tradition of the Catrinas and Masks for Dia de los Muertos
Because of migration, Day of the Dead celebrations are found in Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, and other parts of the world. It is important to note that Day of the Dead celebrations vary from place to place.

Masks
Revelers often wear masks, colorful makeup, and costumes. They hold parades, parties, sing, dance, and make offerings to honor deceased loved ones. The rituals have deep symbolic meanings. Celebrants today paint their faces or wear skull masks to represent a deceased loved one. The idea is to dance in honor of a loved one or keep the spirits close. Our masks are interpretations of the Calacas, skulls typically used during the Dia de los Muertos celebration, Alebrijes, and Aztec inspired masks.

Alebrijes
Alebrijes (Spanish pronunciation: [aleˈβɾixes]) are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastic, mythological creatures. The first alebrijes, along with the invention of the term, originated in Mexico City in the 1930s by artisan Pedro Linares. Pedro Linares Lopez (906-1992), a paper Maché artist from Mexico City, is renowned for making big figures for easter’s eve called Judas. Mr Linares job as cartonero or paper mache artist was so good that Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo used to collect his creations, even before he made the first alebrijes.

Aztec Masks
Many people know of the Mexican holiday Día de Los Muertos, which is filled with vibrant colors and intricately painted faces. What many people don’t know is that this holiday originated over 3000 years ago with the Aztec empire. The Spanish Conquistadors first recorded a Día de Los Muertos celebration during the 16th century. When the Aztecs had begun this tradition, they weren’t remembering loved ones who passed, but they were worshiping the queen of the underworld and protector of the dead.1

This Aztec queen was Mictecacihuatl, “Lady of the Dead,” Queen of Mictlan.2 According to Aztec legend, Mictecacihuatl was sacrificed as an infant and placed in the underworld to become the wife of Miclantecuhtl, the king of the underworld. In the underworld, her role was to watch over the bones of past lives, which would be used to create new life in the living world. However, in order for the bones to be able to create new life, they needed to be stolen from Mictecacihuatl to be brought to the living world. As their protector, part of her own life would be carried with the stolen bones. Even after the bones were stolen, she would continue her duty to protect them by returning to the living world every year to make sure the bones were being properly taken care of. When the time came for her to return to the living world, the Aztecs celebrated Mictecacihuatl’s return with death festivals and traditional dances, to honor her for her protection of the bones that created life and to seek protection for those who died.3

The Aztecs celebrated Día de Los Muertos much differently than it is celebrated today due to the Spanish conquistadors and Catholicism. The Spanish changed the lives of the indigenous peoples wherever they went, from taking land for the Spanish throne to converting people to Catholicism. Many traditions changed, including those of Día de Los Muertos.4 The Aztecs laid out offerings for the King and Queen of the Underworld for the whole month of August, and the Spanish were the first outsiders to witness this honoring of Mictecacihuatl by the Aztecs. Not long after the Spanish exposure to this festival, the Spanish combined the Aztec tradition with Catholicism. Syncretism, the blending of Spanish and indigenous beliefs and practices, combined the Aztec traditions of Día de Los Muertos with the Spanish traditions of All Saint’s Day and All Souls Day.5 Some examples of syncretism between Catholicism and Día de Los Muertos are the symbols that are most recognizable with Día de Muertos, such as decorated skulls and skeletons, and the Spanish character “La Catrina,” who represents Mictecacihuatl.6 The merging of Catholicism with the Aztec religious beliefs began the evolution of how Día de Los Muertos, transforming how it is celebrated today.

In Pre-columbian Mexico, Aztec masks followed a tradition of many cultures. The art form was ancient, and had religious connections. Aztec masks were used as ornaments, and were sometimes worn as part of a ritual, or in death as a death mask. They usually represented one god or another, and the Aztecs did have many gods. Like the artistry and materials, the Aztecs worshipped gods collected from a variety of cultures.

Calacas

Skulls—known as calaveras or calacas in Mexico—are an essential part of the symbolism of Día de los Muertos in Mexico. The motif is used in food (sugar or chocolate shaped like skulls), face paint and masks called calacas (skeletons).

1. MasterFILE Complete, 2008, s.v. “Día de los Muertos, by Benjamin Perea. ↵2. Sin Jones, Mictecacihuatl, Santa Muerte, 2010, 1-16. ↵3. Sin Jones, Mictecacihuatl, Santa Muerte, 2010, 1-16. ↵4. Mark Lacy, Origins of El Día de Los Muertos: The Prehispanic Festival of the Dead Defies Cultural Invasions of Mexico, (History Institute for Culture), 1. ↵5. Mark Lacy, Origins of El Día de Los Muertos: The Prehispanic Festival of the Dead Defies Cultural Invasions of Mexico, (History Institute for Culture), 1. ↵6. Mark Lacy, Origins of El Día de Los Muertos: The Prehispanic Festival of the Dead Defies Cultural Invasions of Mexico, (History Institute for Culture), 1. ↵