Day of the Dead: Origins and Traditions

• Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday.
• Families welcome the souls of deceased relatives for a brief reunion.
• The reunion includes food, drink, and celebration.
• The holiday blends Mesoamerican ritual, European religion, and Spanish culture.
• Celebrations occur each year from October 31 to November 2.
• October 31 is Halloween.
• November 1 is "el Dia de los Inocentes" (the day of the children) and All Saints Day.
• November 2 is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead.
• Tradition states the gates of heaven open at midnight on October 31.
• The spirits of children rejoin families for 24 hours.
• Adult spirits can rejoin families on November 2.

Origins

• The roots stretch back 3,000 years to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
• It is celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage.
• Aztecs and other Nahua peoples in central Mexico had a cyclical view of the universe.
• They saw death as an integral, present part of life.
• Upon death, people traveled to Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead.
• Souls reached Mictlán (the final resting place) only after navigating nine challenging levels.
• The journey took several years.
• Nahua rituals traditionally held in August provided the dead with food, water, and tools to aid their journey.
• Contemporary practice involves leaving food/offerings on graves or ofrendas (altars).

Day of the Dead vs. All Souls Day

• Ancient European pagan celebrations of the dead consisted of bonfires, dancing, and feasting.
• Some customs survived the rise of the Roman Catholic Church.
• The Church adopted them into All Saints Day and All Souls Day on the first two days of November.
• People in medieval Spain brought wine and pan de ánimas (spirit bread) to graves.
• Graves were covered with flowers and candles to illuminate the souls' way back home.
• Spanish conquistadores brought these traditions to the New World in the 16th century.
• They also brought a darker view of death influenced by the bubonic plague.

Celebration

• El Día de los Muertos is not a Mexican version of Halloween, but they share traditions (costumes, parades).
• The border between the spirit world and the real world dissolves.
• Souls awaken and return to feast, drink, dance, and play music with loved ones.
• Living family members treat the deceased as honored guests.
• They leave favorite foods/offerings at gravesites or on ofrendas.
• Ofrendas are decorated with candles, cempasuchil (bright marigolds), and red cock's combs.
• They also have stacks of tortillas and fruit.
• Prominent symbols are calacas (skeletons) and calaveras (skulls).
• José Guadalupe Posada re-envisioned Mictecacíhuatl (Aztec goddess of the underworld) as La Calavera Catrina.
• La Calavera Catrina is the recognizable Day of the Dead icon.
• People wear skull masks and eat sugar candy skulls.
• Pan de ánimas rituals in Spain are reflected in pan de muerto, a sweet baked bread.
• Other foods include spicy dark chocolate and atole (corn-based drink).
• You can wish someone a happy Day of the Dead by saying, "Feliz día de los Muertos."

Movies

• Traditionally celebrated in rural, indigenous areas of Mexico.
• It began spreading into the cities in the 1980s.
• It was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 as Mexico's "indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead."
• In the US, it has developed due to visibility in pop culture.
• In 2016, over 36 million people identified as of partial or full Mexican ancestry.
• Mexico City held its first parade in 2016, inspired by the James Bond movie Spectre (2015).
• Multiple U.S. cities held Day of the Dead parades in 2017.
• Disney and Pixar released Coco, a $175 million homage to the tradition.
• Coco involves a boy transported to the Land of the Dead where he meets his ancestors.
• The holiday's heart remains constant, remembering and celebrating those who have passed on.
• It portrays death as a natural part of the human experience.