And just two days after Halloween we have The Day of the Dead! A Mexican celebration honoring and remembering the life of those that have passed away.
El Día de Los Muertos was first celebrated in August almost 3,000 years ago, along with the Aztec calendar, but then was moved to November 2 to be celebrated along with All Saints Eve (Oct 31) and All Saints Day (Nov 1). This religious day is full of color, parades, mariachis, food and spending time with family while remembering the deceased.
With time, it has become popular celebrating El Dia de Los Muertos and Mexican families outside Mexico have shared this part of their culture with the rest of the world so know it’s an even bigger celebration that you can be a part of. It even made it to the “List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO in 2008. It’s also celebrated in other places like Moscow, Brasil, Perú, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
The families spent days preparing and decorating for this event which is one of the most important days of the year in Mexico. Usually, on this day, they clean the graves of their loved ones, bring them flowers and might even do picnics at the graveyard while sharing stories. There is also a big parade where everyone paints their faces like skulls inspired by the famous “Calavera Catrina”.
If you have seen the movie “Coco” there are a couple of things that you might have learned about this celebration. You probably shed a tear or two but one of the most important things about the Day of the Dead is to celebrate and not be sad. As we could see in the movie, the pictures in the altar are to let the deceased know that they have not been forgotten. In the real celebration, they might use any other thing that reminds them of the person including their favorite food. These altars take some time to prepare and it’s a serious and emotional moment because everyone misses the family members that are no longer with us. Once it’s done, they go into commemorating them, talking about all the things they did for their family and sharing every detail and story that is remembered about that person.
The flowers that are used, named flowers of the dead or Marigolds, are said to guide the spirits home by their scents. That’s the reason why they are everywhere whether it is on the grave or leading a path into a house. It is also believed that if you don’t celebrate this day the spirits could take revenge where it is included getting ill or having financial problems. It must be wonderful to visit Mexico at this time of the year and be a part of this celebrations. You can buy skulls and even try the famous “pan de muerto”.
The idea of The Day of the Dead is to celebrate life, not fear death and know that when you’re gone you will also be remembered. Everything is alive, colorful and sweet to remind you that dying is not something to be afraid of. With this said, we should see death from a different point of view: use wisely the time we have to enjoy life which will, later on, be celebrated by our predecessors. I believe we have a lot to learn about this day and should make it a part of our lives too.