Day+of+the+Dead+in+Mexico

Kara Lester Overview Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday that is now celebrated all over the Spanish-speaking world. It is celebrated from midnight of October 31 st to November 2 nd. During this time, the dead return home to check in on their families and to ensure they have not been forgotten. It is not a day of mourning but a celebration of life, rebirth and the continuity of life. Since this holiday lands at the sam e time as Halloween a lot of people refer to it as “Mexican Halloween”, but the holiday shares more qualities with Memorial Day than Halloween. It is a day to honor the dead. Those who live far away make sure they have time to come home to celebrate with their families.
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History 500 hundred years ago when the Spanish Conquistadors came to what is now Mexico they found the indigenous people practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death. It was ritual the indigenous people had been practicing for over 3,000 years.(Miler Day of the Dead History). The holiday was Day of the Dead. The holiday used to be celebrated in August because of the nine-month calendar the Aztecs lived by. When the Spanish priests came, they moved it to November 1 st. When the Spaniards first came to Mexico they wanted the Aztecs to abandon their old traditions and become Catholic like them, but the Aztecs wanted to keep their own traditions. The Aztecs and the other indigenous people managed to combine their ancient beliefs of honoring the dead with the ways of the Catholics. Day of the dead happens to fall on the same day as the Catholic holiday Catholic holiday Soul’s and All Saint’s day.

Traditions Day of the Dead is celebrated all over Mexico, but in places with heavy indigenous populations like Oaxaca and Michoacán, the celebrations are large. They pull out all the stops to honor their dead. The Mexican people believe that the gates of heaven open at midnight of October 31 and the spirits of all the deceased children are allowed to come and spend time with their families for 24 hours. On November 2 nd the spirits of the adults come to spend time and enjoy the festivities with their families.(Gleason //Day of the Dead).// On November 2 nd most of the families move the party to the cemetery where they carry out vigils, prayers, dances, and clean the headstones of the ones they love. To honor their dead family and friends, families will make beautiful altars, sugar skulls and attend picnics with all of the deceased favorite foods.

Altars Altars are one of the most important parts of Day of the Dead traditions and the Mexican people take them v ery seriously. One room in the house is converted into an altar. They place photos of family and of saints on the altars. They also put paper mache skeletons on them. Different colored paper means different things. Purple represents pain, white for hope and pink for celebration. Along with the skeletons and photos there are also four candles placed on the top level to guide the way for the dead to return home, sugar skulls, pan de muerto, marigold (the flower of the dead), a bowl with a wash cloth and soap, a pitcher of water, and whiskey. Marigolds are placed on the altar because they are the flower of the dead and also because of the strong aroma they are supposed to help guide the spirits home. The bowl of water is for the dead to wash after their long journey, the pitcher of water is for the dead to drink, and the whiskey is for the dead to remember the good times in their life. Other things that are sometimes included are salt, sugar, corn, beans, cocoa, milk, nuts, chiles, Altar arch, Baby’s breath, atole, incense, tamales, toy coffins, personal mementos, mole, and religious symbols. (Williams //Day of the Dead)//

Sugar Skulls The sugar skulls are the items most closely associated with Day of the Dead by the world at large. Originally they were often made by artists and bought by people who intended to give them as a gift to another family. If the family had the skull labeled with a persons name it made the skull even more special. Now the skulls are made and kept around the house. The skulls are used for general decorations. They will be put on the altars or in other places around the house. To make the sugar skulls a sugar mixture is packed into purchased skull molds and allowed to dry, then unmolded and decorated, usually with piped icing in bright colors. The skulls are sometimes eaten, but they are very sweet and difficult to eat because of how hard they are.



Day of the Dead is one of the most important holidays the Mexican people celebrate. It is a national holiday, the entire city shuts down so everyone can celebrate and honor their dead loved ones. They don’t want to fear spirits or death. Death is one of the only things in life that is guaranteed to happen and they believe that people shouldn’t be scared of it they should embrace what happens after you leave earth.

References

1)Gleason, Carrie. //Day of the Dead//. New York: Crabtree, 2008. Print 2) Miller, Carlos. "Day of the Dead History." //Arizona Local News - Azcentral.com//. Arizona Republic. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.  3)Villalba, Angela. "History of Day of the Dead and Sugar Skulls | MexicanSugarSkull.com." //Mexican Sugar Skull | Offering Day of the Dead / Dia De Los Muertos Mexican Folk Art, Sugar Skulls, Calaveras De Azucar, Molds and More//. Reign Trading Co, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. . 4)Williams, Kitty, and Stevie Mack. //Day of the Dead//. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2011. Print.