3. What is Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Dia de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and Southern regions, and acknowledged around the world in other cultures. This holiday focuses on the gathering of family and friends to pray for and remember deceased friends and family members and help support their spiritual journey. Prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration took place at the beginning of Summer. It was moved to October 31st, November 1st, and November 2nd to coincide with All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Traditionally, private altars called ofrendas are built which honor the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and family and friends visit the graves of their departed with these items as gifts. Visitors also leave possessions of the deceased at the graves.
Scholars trace the origins of this modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years, including an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess, Mictecacihuatl. La Calavera Catrina, Lady of the Dead, or Mictecacihuatl, was keeper of the bones in the underworld, and she presided over the ancient month-long Aztec festivals honoring the dead. Dia de los Muertos has spread throughout the world, being absorbed within other traditions for honoring the dead. This celebration of the dead is, in ways, similar to observances in other cultures, including the Spanish tradition in which festivals and parades are held and people gather at cemeteries and pray for their deceased loved ones at the end of the day.
On October 31st, All Hallows Eve, children make a children's altar to invite the angelicas (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1st, All Saints Day, adult spirits will come to visit. November 2nd, All Souls Day, families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives. This 3-day fiesta is filled with marigolds, the flowers of the dead; Pan de muerto (the bread of the dead); sugar skulls; cardboard skeletons; tissue paper decorations; Papel picado; fruit and nuts; incense, and other traditional foods and decorations.
Pan de muerto (Spanish for bread of the dead), also called pan de los muertos (dead bread) in Mexico, is a type of sweet roll traditionally baked in Mexico during the weeks leading up to Dia de los Muertos. It is a sweetened, soft bread shaped like a bun, often decorated with bone-shaped phalange pieces. Pan de muerto is eaten on Dia de los Muertos at the gravesite, or alternatively, at a tribute (ofrenda.) In some regions, it is eaten for months before the official celebration of Dia de los Muertos. In Oaxaca, pan de muerto is the same bread that is usually baked, with the addition of decorations. As part of the celebration, loved ones eat pan de muerto as well as the relative's favorite foods. The bones are representative of the deceased one (difuntos or difuntas) and usually the shape of a tear drop is baked onto the bread to represent goddess Chimalma's tears for the living. The bones are represented in a circle to portray the circle of life. The bread is then topped with sugar.
Another part of the offering is Papel picado ("perforated paper" or "pecked paper". Papel picado is the Mexican folk art and decorative craft made out of paper, cut into beautiful and elaborate designs. The designs are commonly cut from colored tissue paper using a template and small chisels or by folding tissue paper and using small, sharp scissors. Common themes include birds, floral designs, and skeletons. They are commonly displayed for both secular and religious occasions, such as Easter, Christmas, the Day of the Dead, as well as during weddings, quinceas, baptisms, and christenings.
A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (Spanish: calavera). Celebrants wear masks, called calacas (colloquial term for skeleton), and sugar skulls (alfeniques) or chocolate skulls, decorated with colored foil, icing, beads, and/or feathers and inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead, are displayed. Sugar skulls are given as gifts both to the living and the dead. Families decorate their loved ones' ofrendas with both large and small handmade sugar skulls. Children who have died are represented by small sugar skulls, and the larger sugar skulls represent the adults. It is believed that the departed return home to enjoy the offerings on the altar.
Ofrendas can be made up of 2, 3, or 7 levels. Two levels represent the division between the earth and the sky. Three levels represent the sky, the earth, and the underworld. Seven levels are the most common and reference the 7 levels of a soul's journey before reaching its destination. Seven can also reference the 7 deadly sins.