Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration of life and death. While the holiday originated in Mexico, it is celebrated all over Latin America and worldwide with colourful calaveras (skulls) and calacas (skeletons). Day of the Deadoriginated several thousand years ago with the Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people, who considered mourning the dead disrespectful. For these pre-Hispanic cultures, death was a natural phase in life’s long continuum. The dead were still members of the community, kept alive in memory and spirit and during Día de los Muertos, they temporarily returned to Earth.
Today’s Día de los Muertos celebration is a mash-up of pre-Hispanic religious rites and Christian feasts. It takes place from October 30th, 31st through to November 1st and 2nd—All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on the Catholic calendar—around the time of the fall maize harvest.
The centerpiece of the celebration is an altar, or ofrenda, built in private homes and cemeteries. These aren’t altars for worshipping; rather, they’re meant to welcome spirits back to the realm of the living. Altars are set up Oct. 30 and 31. In homes, tables are covered with flowers, fruits, vegetables, candles, incense, statues of saints, photos of the deceased. If one of the spirits is a child, you might find small toys on the altar. The sky is represented by a sheet or strings of paper cutouts.Marigolds are the main flowers used to decorate the altar. Scattered from altar to gravesite, marigold petals guide wandering souls back to their place of rest. The smoke from copal incense, made from tree resin, transmits praise and prayers and purifies the area around the altar. The foods are eaten (or given away) by the living later, after their essence has been consumed.
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