Dia De Los Muertos: Day of the Dead
Our friends at Mexican Sugar Skull.com gave us this article that explains Dia De Los Muertos, Day of the Dead (please see current giveaways). Visit them for all of your sugar skull decorating needs, Mexican Folk art, and much more.
Mexican Day of the Dead is an interesting holiday celebrated in central and southern Mexico during the chilly days of November 1 & 2. Even though this coincides with the Catholic holiday called All Soul’s & All Saint’s Day, the indigenous people have combined this with their own ancient beliefs of honoring their deceased loved ones. 
They believe that the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31, and the spirits of all deceased children (angelitos) are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours. On November 2, the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities that are prepared for them. In most Indian villages, beautiful altars are made in each home. They are decorated with candles, buckets of flowers (wild marigolds called cempasuchil & bright red cock’s combs) mounds of fruit, peanuts, plates of turkey mole, stacks of tortillas and big Day-of-the-Dead breads called pan de muerto. The altar needs to have lots of food, bottles of soda, hot cocoa and water for the weary spirits. Toys and candies are left for the angelitos, and on Nov. 2, cigarettes and shots of mezcal are offered to the adult spirits. Little folk art skeletons and sugar skulls, purchased at open-air markets, provide the final touches.
Day of the Dead is a very expensive holiday for these self-sufficient, rural based, indigenous families. Many times they spend over two month’s income to honor their dead relatives. They believe that happy spirits will provide protection, good luck and wisdom to their families.On the afternoon of Nov. 2, the festivities are taken to the cemetery. People clean tombs, play cards, listen to the village band and reminisce about their loved ones. Tradition keeps the village close. Day of the Dead is becoming very popular in the U.S.–perhaps because we don’t have a way to celebrate and honor our dead, or maybe it’s because of our fascination with it’s mysticism.
Reign Trading Co. 3838 Walnut Grove - Rosemead CA 91770 626-307-7755
Tags: day of the dead, dia de los muertos, halloween, mexican celebrations, what is day of the dead
October 15th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing this explanation of Day of the Dead. I was curious and did not really know exactly why it was celebrated.