Day of the Dead art often features skeletons drinking, dancing and celebrating, and these skeletons are often depicted in humorous situations. Given that Day of the Dead is a festivity, it has become common to interject classic Mexican humor to add to the light-heartedness of the occasion. In many towns, there are celebratory processions involving masks, puppets, and colorful costumes.ĥ - Humor has played an important role in the holiday It is common to have celebratory meals with family, as well as street parties with music and dancing. Instead of everything being dark and somber, as is commonly associated with mourning rituals, the holiday is bright and colorful, with decorations filling nearly every home and public space in the country. While many would expect Day of the Dead to be a solemn memorial day, it is actually a joyous occasion, meant as a celebration of life. They are often made by well-known artists, adopt a yearly theme, and are meant to honor important figures in Mexican history and culture.Ĥ - Day of the Dead isn’t somber, it is a celebration
In cities around Mexico, public Ofrendas become a spectacle in itself, attracting dozens of people to view these gorgeous, large-scale altars placed within public view. Secular, and non-Catholic Mexicans will often avoid placing this religious iconography on their Ofrendas.ĭuring the holiday, Ofrendas are not only placed in homes, but also in schools, offices, and public squares.
These sit alongside sugar skulls, candles, the traditional Pan de Muertos, crosses, and statues and icons of Jesus and Saints. They are adorned in orange and purple, the holiday’s traditional colors, and decorated with flowers, including marigolds, and decorated paper crafts, including the traditional “papel picado.” Placed atop these altars are photographs of the deceased, objects that were precious to them, and foods they enjoyed in life. These shrines, referred to in Spanish as “Ofrendas,” are bright, colorful, and ornate. In the days preceding the holiday, it is customary to build a shrine to honor one’s deceased relatives. The traditions were moved from summer to November 1st and 2nd to coincide with these two days.ģ - Mexican families place Ofrendas to honor their deceased relatives These traditions set the precedent for the Ofrendas, or Day of the Dead altars placed by Mexican families today.Īfter colonization, these traditions were Christianized and became incorporated into the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, producing a unique syncretism of traditions. Several Aztec holidays involved rituals to honor the deceased, including decorating tree stumps and placing offerings for dead relatives. To help the deceased along this journey, the Aztecs would make offerings of useful objects at their relatives’ burial sites.
The Aztecs believed that in order to reach Mictlán, souls had to complete an arduous journey. One of these is Mictlán, the final destination for those who died of natural causes, and ruled by the goddess Mictecacíhuatl, often represented by a skull. However, many of the traditions we know today come from the religious practices of the Aztecs, who believed different afterlives existed depending on how people died. Pre-columbian civilizations had a variety of celebrations aimed at honoring the dead. Day of the Dead focuses on receiving the souls of dead relatives with joy and hospitality.Ģ - The holiday has a rich and ancient history, dating back over 2000 years.Īs mentioned above, the roots of Day of the Dead run deep in Mexican history and date back to the days before the Spanish conquest. In Halloween, spirits are seen as scary, or something to be warded off. Day of the Dead traditions involve none of those things. Halloween, as it is practiced today, involves trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, and decorating pumpkins. Halloween has its origins in the Celtic harvest festival of Samhain, while Day of the Dead is rooted in the ancient religious traditions of Mesoamerica’s indigenous population. Even though they fall around the same time of year, and have similarities, the two are different holidays with separate origins and unique traditions.
To help illustrate how fascinating this holiday truly is, here are 10 things you should know: 1 - Day of the Dead is NOT Mexican HalloweenĬontrary to what is often portrayed in popular culture, the Day of the Dead is not Mexico’s version of Halloween. It is a national holiday, seen by many in Mexico as second only to Christmas in terms of its importance, and it is growing in popularity around the world thanks to the Mexican diaspora abroad. Its purpose is to celebrate the lives of the deceased on the days of the year when their spirits are believed to return to our world. Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday, celebrated on the first two days of November.