Its origins date back 3,000 years to ancient Aztec celebrations that recognized the centrality of death to life. The Day of the Dead is replete with sweet bread, altars erected as offerings to deceased loved ones, and brightly painted skulls that inject color into the festivities.
But perhaps a lesser known aspect of the day belongs not to the earth, but to the sky. In Guatemala, gorgeous kites called barriletes hover in the air above a famous cemetery in Santiago. The enormous kites, made from wood and mosaic fabrics, depict landscapes and scenes of everyday life.
The legend behind these kites varies. Some say they are intended to block the sky so that bad spirits can’t return on All Saints Day to make trouble for living souls. But one of our favorite stories comes from Guatemalan painter, Filiberto Chali, who tells the tale of a young woman whose untimely death left her fiancé in deep mourning. The grieving man “couldn’t resign himself to never communicating with his beloved again. So, he made a beautiful kite that he sent skyward in order to feel a link with her.” All these years later, the kites fly on November 1st in order to preserve a connection to our departed loved ones. |
