Day of the Dead is also known as Dia de Los Muertos. Mexicans gather in cemeteries to remember their departed family members every year, in a celebration that is the country’s most important fiesta.
This Wednesday is one of Mexico‘s most important holidays — Dia de Los Muertos: Day of the Dead, which originated from Indigenous cultures in Mexico thousands of years ago, honours those who passed.
According to the tradition on this day, it believed the souls of the dead could visit the living. Every year, the families invite their loved ones to return home. The idea of this day resonated with 16th-century Spanish settlers, who turned it into a holiday.
The tradition says that on this day the heavens open the doors, and the souls of the dead come back to earth.
Here in this article, we discuss everything about the Day of the Dead:
What is the Day of the Dead?
Photo by: knape
Before we go ahead we should know about the day, It is not just one day, in fact, it is a two-day celebration that is traditionally observed on November 1 and 2, where families welcome back the soul of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drinks and even toys at altars, all of which serve to allure the souls on holiday to visit.
It is marked as a celebration rather than a dim affair, a time when the living and the dead are believed to connect.
The sadness was there when our loved ones died, but during this day, we have to show them that we remember them with happiness.
Even, if we dance, we sing they need to feel that they are welcome.
How did it originate?
It is believed that the celebration is to be a pre-Hispanic tradition that came from Indigenous communities dating back thousands of years.
Death was transitory, and souls could come back and visit, according to Aztecs. After the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, those traditions were melded into the Catholic calendar and now are celebrated to coincide with All Souls’ Day.
How is this day celebrated?
This is a two days celebration, in many parts of Mexico, the families spend November 1 remembering the children, often referred to as “angelitos” (little angels), decorating their gravesites with toys and balloons and on November 2, they celebrate All Souls day, dedicated to adults who have died.
The Families create altars on the graves of their loved ones. They also use marigolds as these are believed to help lead spirits back from the cemetery to their family’s homes.
Others write short, satirical poems, also known as skulls, which are epitaphs of friends that describe their interesting habits and are peppered with funny anecdotes.
The skull, which represents the cyclicity of life, is a symbol of the day. Chocolates and Sugar skulls can be given as gifts to both the living and the dead. Pan de Muerto is a bread made in different shapes, often decorated with white frosting to represent the image of twisted bones is also popular.
Who celebrates the Day of the Dead, in Mexico City?
While it is a national holiday in Mexico, it is also celebrated throughout the Philippines, Latin America, Spain, and parts of the United States.
Google celebrates the Day of the Dead, Mexico City 2022
The annual holiday of Dias de Los Muertos is also celebrated by Google.
To celebrate this day, people make skeleton paint, display colourful skulls made from sugar or clay, and create a home altar with pictures of their loved ones and candles to guide the departed home.
Google also made something like this. Google’s Day of the Dead was created from real sugar, sculpted into skulls and letters, by Lydia Nichols.
