Honoring the Soul of Posada

El Mosquito Americano.  An illustration and verse critical
of U.S. imperialism where the U.S. is likened to a mosquito.

Artists, like writers, can be important political tools.  Both often are punished for their work, and they often die penniless, unnoticed, and never knowing what effect their work has had on the overall scheme of things.  One of these unsung champions is José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), a Mexican artist, illustrator and cartoonist.

Importantisimo milagro.  A miracle performed by

the Virgin of Guadalupe in response to the pleas

of a devout man, Nicolas Gutierrez, on behalf

of his wife who was suffering from chest pains.

Posada learned engraving and lithography as a young teenager, and while still a teen worked for a local newspaper, El Jicote (The Bumblebee), as a political cartoonist.  As the story goes, one of his cartoons so inflamed a local politician, Jesús Gómez Portugal, that the newspaper was shut down after eleven issues.

Explotador del Pueblo.  This political print deals with
labor abuses and the concentration of power.  The central
figure is likely a specific hacendado (landowner) of the
time.  Two caricatured men ride away on a donkey
while laborers toil in the background.

He moved to a new town and set up a print shop, where he became involved in commercial work, book illustration, and printing posters of religious and historical figures.  He also taught lithography at a local school.  When the town was flooded in 1888, he relocated to Mexico City.  He got work at a publishing company of the famous liberal journalist Ireneo Paz, whose grandson is the Nobel Prize-winning author, Octavio Paz. 

Corrido de la vida de Santanón (1911).  Pictoral broadside with an 
image and corrido narrative ballad addressing the life of
Santana Rodríguez (Santamón) - a Mexican Robin Hood-style
bandit in the state of Veracruz during the Porfirian era 
who was eventually captured by rurales (campesinos ).

El Dulcero Mexicano.  This is the cover
for a 16 page chapbook containing
recipes for Mexican desserts, depicting
a man wearing an apron, making sweets
in a kitchen.

In 1892, he went to work for Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, a publisher of newspapers, periodicals, and chapbooks for the general public.  These were cheap and distributed by the thousands, although not many have survived.  Because they were illustrated even the illiterate could understand them. During this time Posada moved away from lithography, using instead zinc, wood and type metal for the purpose of a cheaper way of printmaking.  Posada worked prodigiously for Arroyo and on his own, and had to open two more workshops.  Although he was never considered a “fine” artist, his work was important to the general public, giving historians a nice glimpse into their lives and thoughts.  He never went to an art academy, having learned his skills through apprenticeships, so was not regarded a “real” artist by his contemporary art world.

José Guadalupe Posada by Leopoldo Méndez (1960).  An offset lithograph from the portfolio 
450 Years of Struggle: Homage to the Mexican People honoring Posada, who initiated the
printmaking tradition in Mexico.  Here he is depicted in his workshop capturing the scene of
military oppression taking place outside of his window.  

Untitled (Guadalupe after Posada), Rafael López Castro, 1984.
This serigraph is based on Posada's A Nuestra Señora de
Guadalupe showing her surrounded by four medallions that
illustrate her apparitions.  Besides adding color to the original
black and white print, Castro substituted the image of
Emiliano Zapata for the supporting angel.

The Porfirio Díaz dictatorship was the target of a number of authors and illustrators who  delivered anti-establishment messages and cartoons to the public. Díaz was originally a liberal and progressive, but during his 35-year dictatorship he focused on the elite landowners and ignored the underprivileged lower classes.  Posada was a very outspoken critic of the Díaz government, and used his skills in political satire.  He supported Emiliano Zapata, and portrayed him as a noble hero.  Using the Dia de los Muertos festivities as a theme, Posada staged shows with puppet skeletons who were dressed in the latest fashions, emulating the rich.  His shows and artwork used macabre humor to skewer politics and the elite class, and he was jailed several times for these satires.

Despotados al Valle Nacional.  Indigenous 
men and women are being herded 
by men in military uniforms towards a train.  

Forgotten by the time of his death, he received some international attention in the 1920s when the French artist Jean Charlot discovered his work.  Diego Rivera and the muralist José  Clemente Orozco claimed Posada as an influence, as well as other more modern artists.  Posada was given a pauper’s burial, and his bones were eventually dug up and dispensed with.  Sadly, the man most associated with Dia de los Muertos was not and can never be honored at a gravesite during this commemoration.  I chose to honor him with this post.

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(Images courtesy of the University of New Mexico’s

Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections)
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Honoring the Ancestors

In the Victorian era, families would gather in cemeteries to honor their deceased loved ones.  They would celebrate by cleaning up around the graves, and having a picnic.  Cemeteries were quiet, peaceful places, beautifully landscaped and with trees for shade.  In fact, they functioned somewhat like parks.  Some of these picnics became elaborate affairs, and some gravesites were even designed for these events with stone slabs that could be used as benches or tables.  In some areas of the U.S., predominantly in the South and usually on Memorial Day, this is still done.

Since ancient times and worldwide, people have set aside a time to commemorate their forerunners.  At one time people were buried near their homes, thus remained near their family.  As people began to bury their kin in sites dedicated for this, they believed that when the souls of their loved ones returned, it was first to the place where they were buried.  Thus most of the traditions involve sprucing up gravesites, bringing offerings, and feasting.  Ching Ming is the Chinese festival for remembering the ancestors; it has roots going back 2,500 years ago.  Koreans call their similar tradition Hansik.  Japanese Buddhists call it the Bon festival.  Feralia was the day the ancient Romans conducted their homage.  In Africa, the Yoruban Odun Egungun festivals are one of the many held to honor the dead.  Most European countries have traditions where the graves of dead relatives are visited and brought gifts.  But perhaps the most well known celebration is the Mexican Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

The origins of this festival come from the indigenous cultures of Mexico, going back in time about as far as the Ching Ming.  The original festival was celebrated in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, which occurred about the time of our month of August, and the celebration lasted the whole month.  When the Spanish arrived, they tried and failed to cease this “pagan” rite.  In an attempt to make it more Christian, they moved the date to coincide with All Saints’ Day (November 1st) and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd), when it is still celebrated today.  Dia de Los Muertos has nothing to do with Halloween, despite the graveyard venue and the use of skulls to celebrate both.  Skulls were important in pre-Hispanic times, and may have been kept as trophies, brought out for ceremonial occasions.

November 1st is dedicated to honoring children, referred to as Dia de los Inocentes (the innocents) or Dia de los Angelitos (the little angels).  November 2nd is known as Dia de los Muertos, or Dia de los Difuntos, and honors adults.  Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead) is made, along with other pastries and sugar treats shaped like skulls.  People go to cemeteries and build altars that hold the favorite foods and drinks of their ancestors.  Marigolds, called Flor de Muerto, are thought to attract the souls of the dead and symbolize life’s brevity -  they are used en masse to decorate the graves and altars.  There are photos and memorabilia of the dead, and for children who have passed there may be toys.  Some people place blankets and pillows out so the dead can rest after their long journeys home.  Stories about the dead are shared, and amusing anecdotes are told.  Although the food provided is for the dead, once they are offered it, the attending families consume it.  Alcoholic beverages, such as tequila, mezcal, or pulque, are offered to the adult ancestors. 

The planning of these events is done throughout the  year.  This is a joyous celebration and much anticipated.  It is a welcoming of the dead back to homes and families, albeit for a very short time.  The meals prepared are culinary feasts, and usually feature a mole, which is stew-like sauce.  The Ur-moles were made of dry chilies, tomatoes, seeds, and chocolate.  Today each mole is as different as the cooks who make them, but the mother-of-all-moles is the black mole, usually made with over thirty ingredients.  Several types of chilies are used, such as guajillos, pasillas, anchos, and chipotles.  Other ingredients can include raisins, plantains, peanuts, cinnamon, various herbs, and of course, chocolate.  Some moles are an all-day project.

The possession of Dia de los Muertos items will bring good luck, so dolls and masks of skulls are everywhere.  Tattoos associated with this event are popular and a permanent good luck charm.  It really is a beautiful tradition, though sadly misunderstood.  There is a Mexican saying:

It is said that we suffer three deaths:  

first when we actually die;

then the day our body is buried;

and the final death is the day we are forgotten.

Dia de los Muertos exists so that the third death never happens.

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