Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular, the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican ancestry living in other places, especially the United States. It is acknowledged internationally in many other cultures. The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey.
The holiday is sometimes called Día de los Muertos in Anglophone countries, a back-translation of its original name, Día de Muertos. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a public holiday. Prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration took place at the beginning of summer. Gradually it was associated with October 31, November 1 and November 2 to coincide with the Western Christian triduum of Allhallowtide: All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day.
Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas, honouring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favourite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Visitors also leave possessions of the deceased at the graves.
The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico developed from ancient traditions among its pre-Columbian cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors had been observed by these civilisations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. The festival that developed into the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess known as the "Lady of the Dead", corresponding to the modern La Calavera Catrina.
By the late 20th century in most regions of Mexico, practices had developed to honour dead children and infants on November 1, and to honour deceased adults on November 2. November 1 is generally referred to as Día de los Inocentes ("Day of the Innocents") but also as Día de los Angelitos ("Day of the Little Angels"); November 2 is referred to as Día de los Muertos or Día de los Difuntos ("Day of the Dead").
Mexican cempasúchil (marigold) is the traditional flower used to honour the dead
In Christian Europe, Roman Catholic customs absorbed pagan traditions. All Saints Day and All Souls Day became the autumnal celebration of the dead. Over many centuries, rites which had occurred in cultivated fields, where the souls of the dead were thought to leave after the harvest, to cemeteries.
In many countries with a Roman Catholic heritage, All Saints Day and All Souls Day have evolved traditions in which people take the day off work, go to cemeteries with candles and flowers, and give presents to children, usually sweets and toys. In Portugal and Spain ofrendas ("offerings") are made on this day. In Spain, the play Don Juan Tenorio is traditionally performed. In Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, people bring flowers (typically chrysanthemums in France and northern Europe) to the graves of dead relatives and say prayers over the dead.
As part of a promotion by the Mexican embassy in Prague, Czech Republic since the late 20th century, some local citizens join in a Mexican-style Day of the Dead. A theatre group produces events featuring masks, candles, and sugar skulls.
Create a special time and space to remember and honor the loved ones by offering them an ofrenda, the fragrance of the flowers, the light of the candles,
the aroma of special foods and the solemnity of prayers.
It is also a time to joke and make fun of death through "calaveras",
poetry allusive to a particular person, generally politicians; sugar,
chocolate and amaranth skulls which are given to one another with their friend’s name
so "they can eat their own death"
and special crafts allusive to different aspects of the living,
with skeletons representing daily activities.
People start getting ready for the celebration on the third week of October
with the harvesting of the cempasuchitl flower,
also known as the flower of the twenty petals.
On the altar they will place the ofrendas of fruits,
vegetables and the special dishes prepared for the soul to enjoy the essence of the aroma of the food.
This altar will also have items that once belonged to the deceased.
On November 2nd, the souls of the adults are honored
in their homes with beautifully decorated altars.
Each state has different styles
but all of them represent a place where the ofrenda becomes a spiritual communion between life
and death.
Again, in each state the making of the altar and the rituals are different.
Day of the Dead is a time of reflection about the meaning of life
and the mission that one needs to fulfill.
During the celebration of Day of the Dead
all feelings and beliefs come together
in a season that brings to life the memory of the loved ones.
