During the month of October most recognize this month to contain the holiday Halloween. Kids and Adults most know that this holiday contains trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples, and parties but most don't know the history and significance. Another holiday celebrated in October and continues through the beginning of November is El Día de los Muertos. Both holidays revolve around each other and have its own similarities and differences. These two holidays are both great and have great history. Starting with Halloween it all started with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain this is when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as a time to honor …show more content…
Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, which are minor holidays in the Catholic calendar. November 1 is All Saints Day in the Catholic Church, and this is when deceased children are honored and remembered. November 2, All Souls Day, is for the remembrance of the adult that have died. Although it is strongly identified with Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is celebrated throughout Latin America and everywhere with a Latino population, including some parts of the U.S. Dia de los Muertos honors the dead with festivals and lively celebrations this is typically from Latin American custom that combines indigenous Aztec ritual with Catholicism, brought to the region by Spanish conquistadors. In their customs mourning or being sad about death is almost like insulting death. Instead Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities that the passed ones enjoyed in their life. Dia de los Muertos recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience. Before this date usually a space is set up in each family’s house and is cleaned up, the usual furniture is removed to make room for the altar. Altars are also often also set up in public buildings or plazas, schools, and workplaces. The altar table is set with ofrendas (offerings) and are all usually things that the spirit loved during its life. The traditional offerings placed …show more content…
The Day of the Dead actually spans two days. The Day of the Dead holiday is about celebrating the dead, not being afraid of the dead. It’s a holiday for people to honor their ancestors and loved ones who have passed away and invite the spirits back into their homes to be part of the family once again. It is a celebration of family and a to show respect for those who have passed away. Rather than displaying grim or gory decorations, Day of the Dead celebrations involve paying respects to loved ones. Some similarities are that both fall very close together on the calendar. Both Halloween and Day of the Dead use costumes as a way to celebrate the holiday. Halloween costumes can range from scary to fun. To dress for the Day of the Dead, children wear masks to represent the deceased, in an honorable way, sometimes wearing the masks in a parade held in celebration of those who have passed on. Both Halloween and the Day of the Dead use food as part of the celebration. Halloween involves trick-or-treating where children knock on doors to receive candy and treats. Although food also is used during Day of the Dead, the food is placed on altars at the grave sites of those being remembered during the holiday. Both holidays have an emphasis on the deceased, but Halloween participants use the departed as a means to scare while the Day of the Dead celebrants use the dead as a form of remembrance. Regardless that these
In digging the day of the dead a distinction between Dia de los Muertos and Halloween is made, the purpose, to highlight the differences and showing the importance and significance of Dia de los Muertos. This ethnography begins by loosely describing Halloween in American culture, it is described as a day where “children dress up as grotesque corpses” and a celebration empty of historic or cultural significance and knowledge. The author Juanita Garciagodoy, later goes on to describe Dia de los Muertos in a romanticized way, by statin that the dead “are not forgotten or excluded from recollections, prayer, or holidays because they are no longer visible” Garciagodoy then goes on to tell a heartfelt story about a couple one holding on to tradition,
Even though the Day of the Dead and Halloween are both offshoots of all Saints' and all Souls' Days, their tone couldn't be more diverse. Halloween's images of skeletons and spirits emphasize on the frightening, gruesome, and ghoulish parts of the celebration. Society jolts, if delightfully, at the alleged terrifying spirits intimidating the living realm. On Day of the Dead, the focus isn't on personal menacing spooks, it's on celebrating with one's family alive and dead and recalling those who are no longer alive. It's on seeing death as another phase succeeding existence, rather being confronted with
The infamous "Day of the Dead" or dia de los muertos actually takes place over a period of 2 days. It is the largest and most elaborate celebration in mexico all year long, its even bigger than Christmas. In the past, this period marked the time when the deceased could return to the world of the living and visit their loved ones, but now it is usually a time to celebrate, remember, and pray for their souls.
Lastly November 2, Dia de todos los Muertos, (Day of all the Dead) is the last day of this celebration that mostly focuses on the adults who have passed away. This last day is when majority of the celebration takes place.
In Brazil, the Catholic Church celebrates O Dia dos Finado, (The Day of the Dead), on November 2nd. On November 1st, they celebrate the day of All Saint’s, which is a moment to rejoice all the saints known or unknown. The Brazilian people during the Day of the Dead, basically have the same rituals of going to the cemetery and putting flowers in the graveyards of the loved ones. However, they do not decorate skulls with the name of the defunct on the forehead. It is more a day to morn and regret the loss of the person that parted to the other side of life. Also it is a day, to remember and talk about how important that person was and how much she/he is missed (Wikipédia, 2016).
In the Hispanic culture, The Day of the Dead is a very special holiday celebrated in Hispanic communities. The Day of The Dead is a celebration that last two days. It occurs on November 1 and 2. On November 1, they have a celebration for the young. On November 2, they give honor to family members who have passed away. Traditionally they set up alters in their homes with pictures, candles, foods, and many other decorations. They believe this holiday connects them to their dead ancestors and allows the spirits to be welcomed back. It is one of the biggest celebrations in Hispanic communities and is a very meaningful celebration. One of the specific holidays that is celebrated in the US is called Martian Luther King Jr. Day. This day is in honor of Martian Luther King Jr. and his fight for civil rights. His actions have had a huge impact on America and has become a role model for not only African Americans, but for everyone. He died for fighting for what was right and is honored on this day only in America. Both the Hispanic and US cultures have their own specific holidays only celebrated in these
This holiday is an annual event meant to celebrate and commemorate the departed. Day of the Dead is celebrated on first two days of November and is a day in which the dead spirits return to Earth to visit their loved
Different cultures have different holiday traditions. At this time of year different cultures are preparing to celebrate Halloween or the Día de los Muertos.These two holidays occur around the same time of year. October 31st is Halloween and the Day of the Dead begins on November 1st and ends on November 2nd. Halloween is an American tradition and the Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico, and other Latin American countries. Both holidays share some similarities but also have some differences.Some common themes between the two holidays are food and religion. For example, Pumpkin is associated with both holidays. And Christianity is the religion associated with both holidays. The symbols for these holidays share some similarities , for example skulls. While Halloween also is associated with ghosts and witches. A big
To conclude, The Day of The Dead and Halloween may seem very similar but are actually very different from each other as you can now tell from the food, how it’s celebrated and how skeletons are
Despite different customs and traditions throughout the world, one of the oldest holidays, Halloween, is still celebrated all over the globe today (Halloween around the World). Halloween is known for being “a time of celebration and superstition” for all who celebrate it (History of Halloween). The Celtic people, who lived in what we know as Ireland began the tradition of Halloween nearly 2,000 years ago. The idea of Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celtic new year occurred on November 1st, marking “the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter” (History of Halloween).
The Mexican Day of the Dead celebration is similar to Tomb Sweeping Day on April 4th in Taiwan and Halloween on October 31st in USA. The Mexican, Taiwanese and American traditions includes festivals and parades, as well as gatherings of families at cemeteries to pray for their deceased loved ones at the end of the day. In Mexican culture the Day of the Dead celebration happens over three days. It starts on October 31st, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children's altar to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit.
El Dia de los Muertos goes back to the Aztecs, who had not just a few days but an entire month dedicated to the dead. When the Spanish conquistadors vanquished the Aztecs, they changed the tradition so it was at the same time of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. El Dia de los Muertos was brought to the United States when Mexican-Americans underwent a cultural reawakening in the early 1970s. The holiday's popularity has since spread to other races and cultures.
In Mexico, this holiday occurs on the day of October 31 and ending on November 2. They have believed that on October 31 the gates of heaven and let the souls of the children roam on Earth on November 1. Then on November 2, they once again open the gates for the adults to roam on Earth. The celebration of Dia De Los Muertos may take years of planning or maybe shorter. This day, they believed that the soul comes back and visit their loved ones. They also believe that even if they don’t see their beloved that had passed away, they can surely feel their presence. To the family, it is very important to them because this day, the family reunites and honors their loved ones that had passed away and ancestors.
Halloween is said to date back around the 1500’s and was founded by the Celtics who believed that on the thirty-first of October the dead would return to earth. The Celtics called this day All-hallows eve, or as we all know as halloween. After the first Europeans had arrived on the new world, the customs began to change which people now viewed this tradition as more for parties rather than Ghosts or witches. Day of the dead and Halloween both have the same origins that involve Christianity being mixed in with a thousand year old tradition. The term all saints day were on November 2nd for both holidays before the first settlers had arrived and changed the indigenous people’s ways.
to remember and honor those who have past.Day of the dead is on October 31st and it is a big holiday. The holiday has a big background. Celebrating The Day of the Dead has a long history in Mexican Tradition. The Day of the dead is celebrated on November 2nd. Sometime one hears reference to “the days of the Dead” which refers to the Days of October 31 – November 2. October 31 is Halloween or All Hallows eve. November 1 is “el Dia de los inocentes” or the day of the children and All Saints Day. November second is All Souls Day or the Day of the dead.