Dia De Muertos Celebrating The Dead in Mexican Culture

Dia De Muertos (Day of the Dead) is an annual celebration of life and death in Mexican culture. It originated with the Aztecs in Mexico about 3,000 years ago. The Aztecs saw death as an inevitable part of life, like birth, and believed it should be celebrated. It’s a popular holiday in Mexico and these days, it’s also celebrated in other parts of the world.

Dia de Muertos in Mexican Culture

The Mexican Culture created days among Dia de Muertos to celebrate everyone who has passed. Imagine chalky white skulls painted on thousands of faces, blooming flowers among shirts, skirts, hair and in the grass, the luminescent light of a candle guiding spirits home.

Symbolism on Dia de Muertos

One of the most popular symbols of Day of the Dead is Calaveras (skulls). In Mexican culture, many wears paint Calaveras on their faces, wear masks, or even gift sugar skulls to each other.

Another symbol of the day is Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead). The bread is shaped to resemble a skeleton. Another common symbol is candles. This may be the most important symbol of the Day of the Dead. In Mexican Culture, four candles are placed on the four cardinal points on a cross. This helps leads spirits to find their way from the cemetery to home.

When is it?

The holiday begins at midnight on October 31st and ends on November 2nd. November 1st is reserved for children as the Dia de Inocentes (Day of the Saints), and November 2nd is Dia De Muertos for the adults.

So it’s like Halloween?

Well, unlike Dia De Muertos’s birthday counterpart (Halloween), this holiday is not scary.

It is said that on these days, spirits return to commemorate life and their families. To invite spirits to visit, families will create an altar in their homes. Here they’ll place pictures of the family who have passed, candles and their favourite foods. Living family members may also make a path of flowers that leads out of the cemetery so spirits can find their way home.

Disney Coco

One of the most notable depictions of Dia De Muertos comes from the 2017 Disney Film Coco. In this film, a boy tries to meet his dead grandfather and reunite him with the rest of his family on Day of the Dead. Disney tried to capture the true authentic Mexico Culture is this family by visiting various parts of Mexico for research.

As cultures around the world, including Mexican culture, migrate and spread, Dia De Muertos is sure to become more common and celebrated.

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