Two Graces Gallery's Taos Altar.

Sharon Niederman Photo

Sharon is a food and travel writer and photographer based in northern New Mexico. Her upcoming books are: NEW MEXICO'S TASTY TRADITIONS: FOLKSY STORIES, RECIPES & PHOTOS (New Mexico Magazine: Summer, 2010) and SHRINES & SIGNS: SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS ACROSS NEW MEXICO
(The Countryman Press: Spring, 2011).
Please visit her website at: www.sharonniederman.com.


Even the Dead find that Taos is Sacred

By Larry Torres, Associate Professor, UNM-Taos

Did you know that Taos is so sacred that sometimes even the spirits of the dead don’t want to leave? There are certain times of the year, mainly in the autumn, when spirits of the dead stand by the side of the road near descansos. A descanso is the marker where a soul was spilt and is trying to complete its journey.

These Unfleshed Ones, called Descarnados, are lost souls trying to find a ride to their final destination. They usually wave and disappear as a car speeds by. They stand within a radius of 33 feet from the descanso. It is for this reason that friendly Taoseños, who might otherwise pick up a hitch hiker at other times of the year, hesitate to take someone into their cars as el Día de los Muertos approaches. Stories of people who have picked up Descarnados only to have them dissolve before their very eyes, send chills up and down the spine as the stories are recounted.

The belief in the idea that the dead are with us always is very prevalent in Taos. If a person comes into the room and grandma says, “Move over; your grandpa just walked into the place,” then one moves over with no questions asked. Never mind that grandpa has been dead for 40 years.

At Taos Pueblo the ancestral dead are honored on the Day of the Dead. A Mass is held at the chapel of San Jerónimo early in the day. The people of the Pueblo will bring offerings of food to be blest by the priest. At the end of Mass, the food is given to people who attended with the explanation that the Dead have already eaten the “essence of the food” and now the living may enjoy “the substance of the food.”

The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Taos proper has a tradition of setting up an altar for el Día de los Muertos in the foyer of the building. It is usually decorated with marigold petals called “zampohanes” since this seems to be the favorite food of the Dead. Photos of relatives who have “gone to a better life” are set up as each parish family brings in pictures of those they wish to honor every year. Offerings of Mexican “pan dulce” and harvest fruits like apples and plums are put into bowls alongside the images. Sometimes prayer cards dating back to funerals of the dearly departed also grace a Día de los Muertos altar.

There is even a special folk prayer called a “Sudario” that specifically asks God to give the souls rest and to take them to “the glory of His resurrection.” The word “Sudario” means “a winding sheet” or a “mortaje” which used to be the traditional burial habit in Northern New Mexico. It says: “Señor Dios que nos dejaste la señal de tu sagrada pasión y muerte, la sábana santa en la cual fue envuelto tu cuerpo santísimo, cuando por José fuiste bajado de la Cruz, concédenos Señor, Oh piadoso Salvador, que por tu muerte y sepultura santa, te lleves a descansar las ánimas del Purgatorio a descansar a la gloria de la resurrección, dónde Tú Señor, vives y reinas en unidad del Espíritu Santo por los siglos de los siglos santos, Amén.”

(“Oh Lord God, who didst leave as a sign of your Passion and Death the holy winding sheet in which your most holy body was wrapped when you were taken down from the Cross by Joseph, grant Oh Lord, that by your own Death and Resurrection that the souls or Purgatory may be taken to the place of rest in the glory of your resurrection where you live and reign in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever, Amen.”)