WASHINGTON DC.— Death comes to all of us, rich and poor, at any age and anywhere.
The virtual tour of El Camino al Mictlán, which will open to the public tomorrow at the Mexican Cultural Institute, reproduces the nine paths that, according to Aztec mythology, mediated between death and eternal rest.
Every year, the Mexican Cultural Institute (ICM) of the Mexican embassy in the US capital, Washington DC, opens its doors to expose a colorful altar of the dead, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced this year to move this traditional celebration to the virtual world.
In an interview with Noticias Telemundo, its director, Ix-Nic Iruegas, and the altarist, Enrique Quiroz, explained that, despite this change, the public will be able to appreciate every detail of the tribute to the dead.
"Very close to the date we realized that perhaps the most responsible thing would be to migrate everything we had planned to the digital environment, to make sure that everyone was safe and secure, and
that we did not become in any way a place of source of contagion,
”said Iruegas, who took office in March.
In this exhibition, “the altar is Mictlán, the place where souls arrive, completely free from their bodies after going through nine levels of difficult tasks and many hardships, which takes four years, until they manage to reach Mictlán, where their soul will rest eternally ”, explained Iruegas.
“The Day of the Dead is an important day for all Mexican families, it is something very intimate and familiar, in which there is no sadness but rather joy and longing for our loved ones.
For the Mexican, death is not the end, it is continuity, ”Quiroz said.
The route, which represents all the obstacles and threats that a human being can face, has the purpose of "being more human, more spiritual, detaching ourselves a little from the material, which sometimes conflicts us a lot in life," he emphasized.
The ninth level serves as a point of reflection on all earthly experiences, until we reach the altar of Mictlán and reach eternal rest, “because we all go there, it doesn't matter that you are rich, poor, white, black,
we all go there and we have to be good,
”he continued.
A magical journey through nine "tests"
During the interview, Quiroz carried in his arms his pet, Tizoc, a
Xoloitzcuintle
dog
,
hairless and endemic to Mexico, similar to the one that, according to Aztec mythology, helped souls cross the border between the living and the dead to Mictlán .
The Mexican artist, Enrique Quiroz, made for a month and a half the altar for the Day of the Dead at the Mexican Cultural Institute, whose exhibition this year will be virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
María Peña / Telemundo News
Thus, the mythological journey includes representations of the nine tests: the crossing of a torrential river;
mountains colliding with each other;
a hill of obsidian blades;
a frozen wasteland;
a desert plain with threatening winds and a path of arrows.
The remaining three stops are made up of an area full of hungry jaguars that ate the hearts of the deceased;
the crossing by another river to free oneself from the body and, finally, the passage through a thick mist - and reflection of earthly life - until its arrival in Mictlán.
This mountain of obsidians is part of the Camino de Mictlán route that, according to Aztec mythology, all dead performed before reaching eternal rest.
This representation is by the artist Enrique Quiroz.María Peña / Telemundo News
The pyramidal altar, which took a month and a half to make, has seven levels - which, due to religious syncretism, represent the seven deadly sins - and is adorned with hand-painted skulls, photographs of colleagues who died this year, and flowers. orange color of
marigolds
, planted by Quiroz.
Although the altar does not have photos of victims of COVID-19, the pandemic has revealed the fragility of life and the importance of "taking care of ourselves, of being human, to embrace again soon," argued Quiroz.
"It has been very difficult for everyone, it has been repeated a lot that this will happen soon, and it does not happen," he added, "we have to pull evenly all of us, if we get together this will end sooner."
The virtual tour will be available from Monday afternoon on the ICM accounts (@MexCultureDC) on the social networks Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, until November 21.
The ICM will also offer, with pre-scheduled appointments, guided tours twice a week, through Zoom.
Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead under the new normal due to the pandemic
Oct. 30, 202001: 59
According to Iruegas, the virtual exhibition not only pays tribute to the original peoples and their pre-Hispanic traditions, but will also serve to generate interest in the commemoration, next year, of the 500 years of the fall of Tenoctitlán, and the 200 years of the consummation of the War of Independence.