Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated from October 31st to November 2nd to honor loved ones who have passed away. It originated over 3,000 years ago as an Aztec tradition and was later blended with Catholic traditions. Families build altars and visit cemeteries to remember deceased family members, bringing their favorite foods and pan de muertos bread. Sugar skulls, skeleton costumes and marigolds are symbols of the holiday that maintains traditional meanings while being celebrated on Catholic holidays.

2. Brief Summary
 Is a traditional Mexican
holiday celebrated from
October 31st at midnight
through November 2nd
 It is a day to honor and
remember their loved ones
who have past away (the
children on the first day and
adults on the second day)
 Families throughout the
community visit the
cemetery and celebrate this
day together

3. Origins
 This holiday began over 3,000
years ago as an Aztec tradition of
celebrating the dead under the
goddess Mictecacihuati in the
summer (approximately August)
 When the Catholic Spaniards
came, they moved this holiday to
All Saints and All Souls days to
Christianize it and promote
converts
 This holiday is an example of the
blending of the two cultures still
being practiced today. While it
maintains many of its traditional
symbols and meanings, it
continues to be celebrated on the
Christian date.

4. Food
 When the families visit the
gravesites of their loved ones,
they bring along a picnic of the
deceased's favorite foods to eat Pan de Muertos
at the cemetery together.
 They also bake a special sweet
bread called “pan de muertos”
specifically for this holiday
 They often have sugar skulls
with their loved one’s names
engraved or written on the top
(which replaces the human
skulls that used to be displayed
in the ancient celebration)
Calavera
(aka “Sugar Skull”)

5. Symbols & Traditions
 Wooden skeleton masks and
 A celebration alter is decorated by costumes called “calacas” are
the family with flowers and gifts worn and people dance and
celebrate.
around the gravesite (sometimes
families set up alters at home, too).
 Yellow and orange marigolds are
often used in the decorations
because yellow was the Aztec color
for fall, which is when nature starts
to die.

6. Día de los Muertos Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRtvoDn1whI
The link above leads to a brief YouTube video taken at a Day of the Dead
celebration. This video illustrates the excitement and grandness of the
holiday. It contains a skeleton puppet dance with lively music and
community members all standing together watching and taking part.

7. View of Death
 I found the following quote
from azcentral.com to be
especially interesting: “Unlike
Spaniards, who viewed death as
the end of the life, the natives
viewed it as the continuation of
life. Instead of fearing
death, they embraced it. To
them, life was a dream and only
in death did they become truly
awake.”
 It reminded me that even the
way people perceive life is
dependent on their culture. It is
good to be reminded of this
when studying any foreign or
past civilization to prevent our
own biases from taking over our
perception of different cultures.

8. Works Cited
 “History of Day of the Dead.” Dia de los Muertos San
Fransisco. The Marigold Project, n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
 “Mexico’s Day of the Dead Celebrations.” About.com. The
New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
 Miller, Carlos. “Day of the Dead History.” azcentral.com.
azcentral.com, 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
 All photographs and illustrations were taken from
Wikipedia