Catrina's; Dancing with Death

A Dancing Catrina is the fun loving, flirtatious skeleton representing triumph over the sadness of death. Just as the legend goes, she waits for us around corners and we never know when she will whisk us away to forever. Many expats have elaborate Catrina figures in their homes and she is immortalized in painting; murals; dolls of every type;  dinnerware; candy skulls and even trivets. 

The pagan roots of Catrina figures and Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, go back to the ancient  Aztecs and the goddess Mictecacihuatl who was the guardian of the dead. This morphed, as many pagan rituals throughout  the ages, into the Catholic All Souls Day.

The Catrina as we know her today, began life in Aquascalientes, MX and a political cartoonist,  Jose Guadalupe Posada. She was a satirical figure mocking Mexicans who were following foreign fashion styles. Her depiction soon evolved into representing people from all walks of life, symbolizing that death comes to everyone; rich and poor. But she soon found her place as a humorous metaphor for death, elaborately dressed and always right by our side, ready to claim each of us with her laughter

Last year I went to a party where everyone had their face painted and dressed up. The party was very close to my house and I just walked over; no one gave me a second glance!