ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

El Día de los Muertos - Mexican Day of the Dead

Updated on November 1, 2015

A Celebration of Family Past and Present

El Día de los Muertos or, Day of the Dead, is an ancient Mexican holiday that is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. Even though there are many similarities between El Día de los Muertos and Halloween, this is not the Mexican version of Halloween.

Like Halloween, El Día de los Muertos is a pre-Christian holiday that has been absorbed into the Christian tradition. Originally a pre-Columbian holiday celebrated by Aztecs and other Mexican tribes in honor of the spirits of those who have died, it remains today a holiday honoring the memory of the dead.

Sugar Skull

A Traditional Carved Sugar Skull Decoration
A Traditional Carved Sugar Skull Decoration | Source

With the coming of Christianity, the focus of the day was shifted from native religions to Christianity and the date moved from earlier in the autumn to the first two days in November which happen to be the Catholic holy days of All Saints Day (November when Catholics and Anglicans honor all the Saints) and All Souls Day (November 2nd when Catholics and Anglicans honor all those who have died). This is one of the similarities to Halloween which was also a pre-Christian religious holiday celebrated earlier in the fall and moved to the eve of All Saints Day.

Día de los Muertos figurines
Día de los Muertos figurines | Source

Many Still Observe the Ancient Traditions Associated with this Holiday

Many of the ancient traditions associated with El Día de los Muertos continue to be observed by Indians in rural Mexico today. These include the opening of boxes containing the bones of deceased relatives and cleaning them. Decorating graves, celebrating Mass, praying for the deceased and joyously celebrating family both alive and dead. Like the Celts of ancient Ireland, these people still believe that this is a time when the barriers between this world and the next are removed and the spirits of the deceased can come back and mingle with their living descendants. Thus, it is a day of celebration and joy rather than of sorrow.

Among the Indians of rural Mexico, November 1st celebrates the children who have died and November 2nd the adults who have died.

Among the foods that are specially prepared for this holiday is Pan de Muerto or, bread of the dead which is made with flour, sugar, butter, eggs, orange peel, yeast and anise. The top of the bread is decorated with strips of dough representing bones of the dead and a round ball of dough representing a teardrop. A sugar candy formed in the shape of a skull is also a popular treat that is only made at this time of year. In addition to bread of the dead and the sugar skulls, which are only produced for this holiday, the feasts include other popular Mexican foods.

Porcelain skeletons as decorations for El Día de los Muertos
Porcelain skeletons as decorations for El Día de los Muertos | Source

While the rural native population follows the ancient traditions closely, the urban and more Europeanized citizens of Mexico also join in the festivities but don't generally partake of things like the cleaning of ancestral bones. Pan De Muerto and sugar skulls are very popular and are available in stores and bakeries throughout the country at this time. Going to Mass for All Saints and All Souls Day is popular as well as general celebrating with food, song and dance.

Today, with the increasing Hispanic influence due to immigration and the common border, some of the traditions and celebrations of El Día de los Muertos are making their way to places like Arizona and New Mexico.

Like other holidays El Día de los Muertos continues to evolve and change as it encounters other cultural influences, but, while the outward trappings of the celebration continues to evolve, the core idea of honoring and remembering departed loved ones remains central to the holiday.

Dia de los Muertos in Mesilla, New Mexico

El Día de los Muertos altars
El Día de los Muertos altars | Source
Decorative drawing of skull for El Día de los Muertos
Decorative drawing of skull for El Día de los Muertos | Source
Painting of family and deceased ancestors celebrating El Día de los Muertos
Painting of family and deceased ancestors celebrating El Día de los Muertos | Source

© 2006 Chuck Nugent

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)