El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead)
Halloween is a popular holiday celebrated all around the world. However, not as many people know about the holiday celebrated directly after Halloween (unless you’ve watched the Disney movie Coco): Dia de los Muertos, a Spanish holiday translating to Day of the Dead. As the name implies, people during this holiday honor those that have passed on to the afterlife. However, not many people know how this holiday started or what exactly the traditions of the holiday are.
Día de los Muertos is a holiday celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. The holiday dates all the way back to the early Americas and the different ways some groups of people honored death, such as the Olmecs, Aztecs, and Mayans. It is said that on these days, the living and the dead meet again. Death was (and still is) considered an important part of the life cycle to these people, so they honored their deceased loved ones in different ways.
Nowadays, many cultures put up altars including candles, food, drinks, and pictures of the deceased loved ones. Skulls are commonly used as decorations, but it isn’t as creepy as it sounds. They are typically made of different materials, such as clay, wood, or paper-mache. The origins of these skull decorations came from artist José Guadalupe Posada’s drawings of skeletons. They were originally used to critique Mexican society during his time (1852 - 1913) but were used to symbolize Día de los Muertos after his death.
El Día de los Muertos is a day where the living and the dead come together, and it even brings communities together, celebrating their cultural heritage on these days. Today, many countries celebrate this holiday, such as Peru, Haiti, and Bolivia. Each country has its own variation of altars, but most contain the same general things. Day of the Dead is a special holiday for both the living and the dead, bringing everyone together to celebrate their heritage.
Source:
Dia De Los Muertos (no date) The Mexican Museum. Available at: https://www.mexicanmuseum.org/dia-de-los-muertos (Accessed: 22 October 2023).
