Día de los Muertos or Day of the dead is a holiday that is celebrated in Mexico November 1st and 2nd. The Day of the Dead tradition dates back thousands of years ago to the indigenous people of Mexico as they believed that souls don’t die. The tradition believes that the dead return on November 1st to visit their families. When the Spanish arrived to Mexico they were baffled by the ritual and tried to end it. The indigenous people wouldn’t allow it, so the result ended in moving the holiday to being celebrated in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Souls’ and All Saints’ Day. Depending on the city or country you live in, people celebrate and honor the deceased in many different ways from creating beautiful and elaborate ofrendas (altars) in their homes to decorating the graves at the cemeteries. Here are a couple of the traditions of Día de los Muertos explained.
Las Ofrendas (Altars)
The altar is the most intricate tradition of the day of the dead celebration. The altars are used to honor the lives of each deceased loved one in the family and to greet their spirits on November 1st. Altars are decorated with candles, buckets of marigolds and food including pan de muerto (bread of the dead), drinks and candies. It is customary that the items placed at the altars were belongings of the deceased as well as their favorite foods and drinks.
Las Calaveras de Azúcar (Sugar Skulls)
Due to the abundance of sugar produced in Mexico, back in the 18th century the people learned to make sugar art since they couldn’t afford expensive European church decorations. They molded the sugar into skeleton figures that represented a departed soul and then used them to decorate the ofrendas for Día de los Muertos. The sugar skulls are made smiling and using bright colors and glitter. They reflect folk art and were either made at home or purchased in markets in Mexico.
Today different traditions of Day of the Dead are now being celebrated in many parts of the United States, as well as hybrid celebrations honoring the dead in countries in Europe, South America and Asia. Here at Lara Media we have our own Día de los Muertos tradition. Each year we create an altar at our office and invite everyone on the team to bring photos and mementos that honor our loved ones that have passed. This Saturday November 2nd there will be a Day of the Dead celebration in Portland, you can find out more info about the event here.
Sources:
http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/skeleton_folkart/altar.html
http://www.ladayofthedead.com/history.html
http://www.celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/day-of-the-dead-facts.html
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-history.html?nclick_check=1