Day of the Dead - Dia de los Muertos: Home

The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos), is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration. A blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture, the holiday is celebrated each year from October 31- November 2. While October 31 is Halloween, November 1 is “el Dia de los Inocentes,” or the day of the children, and All Saints Day. November 2 is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on November 2.

The roots of the Day of the Dead, celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage in the United States and around the world, go back some 3,000 years, to the rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life.

Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, a journey of several years, could the person’s soul finally reach Mictlán, the final resting place. In Nahua rituals honoring the dead, traditionally held in August, family members provided food, water and tools to aid the deceased in this difficult journey. This inspired the contemporary Day of the Dead practice in which people leave food or other offerings on their loved ones’ graves, or set them out on makeshift altars called ofrendas in their homes.

In ancient Europe, pagan celebrations of the dead also took place in the fall, and consisted of bonfires, dancing and feasting. Some of these customs survived even after the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, which (unofficially) adopted them into their celebrations of two minor Catholic holidays, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, celebrated on the first two days of November. Continue reading from History

Glossary for the Day of the Dead

• alfenique — a special confection used to fashion skulls, fruits and other figures.
• angelitos — the souls of the children who have died, literally “little angels”
• atole — an ancient drink made from corn meal and water flavored with various fruits.
• calvera — a skull, also a slang term for “daredevil”
• calveras — songs and poems about the festival careta — a face mask
• cempazuchitl — a yellow marigold, the symbol of death
• copalli — a scented resin used to make candles
• mole — a thick sauce made from a variety of ingredients including chilis, sesame seeds, herbs, spices, chocolate/fruit.

Craven, Scott. "A Marriage Of Aztec, Catholic Cultures." Hispanic Times Magazine 24.4 (2001): 16. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.