The sugar skulls They are the sweetest pillar in the assembly of the offerings of Day of the Deadbut instead of just a skeletal decoration with fun shapes and vibrant colors, it is a cultural element full of history that prevails intact no matter the passing of the years. Not for nothing is it considered Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, along with the entire Mexican tradition of November 2nd.

If you want to know its story, here we will tell you exactly how it came about and how it became an indispensable piece of offerings to the deceased, although there is a warning that its origins (like almost all the symbols of pre-Hispanic rituals) harbor a crudeness very far from current standards.

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What is the meaning of the sugar skulls in the Day of the Dead offering?

Most popularly made with sugar or chocolate, these small versions of human skulls represent that part of our anatomy for a reason. In pre-Hispanic times, the inhabitants used to perform the Tzompantlia ritual that commemorated the passage from death on the earthly plane to life on the heavenly plane. To ensure that the deceased reached their destination without complications, they used to place several skulls in an offering to guide and accompany the complete path.

After the conquest of Mexico, the custom evolved into a less ruthless version by replacing the bony figures with others made with plant ingredients. To maintain the essence of their purpose, they began to make skulls with the technique weakling (a word that derives from the Sanskrit “phañita” and means sugar paste), which was invented by the Arabs and introduced by the Spanish in Mexico; It consists of making a moldable dough that, when cooled, is capable of retaining different shapes without falling apart.

Nowadays, annually the Alfeñique Fair in Toluca to exhibit the artisanal and creative advance in the technique, since today there are multiple variants in terms of inputs and designs, all with the common denominator of being edible products. But what remains intact is the meaning of the calaveritas in the Day of the Dead offering: to honor the transition of beings from life to death, or rather, from life on Earth to life on another plane.