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An essay about dia de los muertos
An essay about dia de los muertos
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The Day of the Dead or Dia de Los Muertos, is an ancient festivity that has been transformed throughout the years, and was originated in Mexico. But now these celebrations occur in many countries: South America, Europe, Asia, and various states of the United States. Día de los Muertos is a day of commemoration an opportunity for individuals to come together to focus on their loved ones who have passed away, and to honor, revere, and celebrate their memory. It is a time when families remember their dead and the continuity of life. Originally it was celebrated at the end of July and the beginning of August in the Aztec calendar, but then it was changed. It is believed that the spirit of the dead visits their families on October 31 and leave on November 2. The result is that Mexicans now celebrate the holiday on the first and second of November, rather than the beginning of summer. …show more content…
Special foods such as candy, breads, and buns, they are often baked in the shapes of skulls with icing. The use of puppets and masks are very popular as well. The belief that family members who have died will return to their gravesite that is why the flowers and gifts are placed there. The warm social environment the colorful setting, and the abundance of food, drinks and good company are the ceremony of the dead. It has pleasant overtones for most observers. Finally, Días de los Muertos is a Hispanic tradition, a way for the Hispanics to remember their loved ones and those who have been deceased. Días de los Muertos is taken as a celebration because they know they are headed to a much better place. El Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican celebration, is a day to celebrate, remember and prepare special foods in honor of those who have departed. On this day in Mexico, the streets near the cemeteries are filled with decorations of papel picado , flowers, candy calaveras, and
It is a loving ritual, full of joy and remembrance. For those who did not grow up in a culture that celebrates such a celebration, these practices and rituals might seem odd. But bear in mind that in the US, it is common for people to visit the graves of their family members and friends who have left this earth, to leave flowers and to reconnect with their loved ones. Dia de los Muertos is similar to this common American practice, so you can see that the Day of the Dead is not that unusual. Dia de los Muertos allows the dead to live again. During this time it is believed that the deceased return to their earthly homes to visit and rejoice with their loved ones. The Days of the Dead are celebrated as a way of retaining connections with the unseen world a world we will all return to one
Foreigners have more trouble understanding Dia de Los Muertos than any of Mexico's other celebrations. At first glance, they see Day of the Dead decorations which are colored paper garlands, little skeletons performing daily tasks and sugar skulls inscribed with names, which remind them of Halloween. Other tourists discover that much like Memorial or Remembrance Day in the US, families here visit, clean and decorate graves of loved ones for the November 1 and 2 holidays. Many families honor their ancestors and dead with different traditions, which I will be telling u about.
...parts of the celebration, October 31st, November 1st, and finally November 2nd. On October 31st, it is seen that the kid’s souls return. November 1st is considered the adult’s day of returning, and November 2nd is when all souls have returned from the dead and there is a big celebration. People of Mexico celebrate by making many baked goods and cooking meals, making objects such as masks and decorating papers and toy coffins to prepare for the return of the souls.
The holiday is holy obligation, a time set aside in the year so families and friends can pray and honor the souls of their deceased relatives (Castro). During this time, the deceased family and friends are also given consent to reunite with the living and enjoy the pleasures of life again. In the Mexican culture, death is not something that should be feared but should be embraced and viewed as a part of life as life itself. In other words, Day of the Dead has become such an important holiday to Mexican culture because is not only about honoring death, nor for it be a scary holiday but it is about celebrating the lives of the deceased and reminiscing on those memories that once were shared. Often people have misconstrued Halloween with Day of the Dead as being the same when they are not. Paul del Castillo, who partakes in the celebration of Day of the Dead stated that he likes “Halloween” but also likes the “Mexican culture” all while believing the” Mexican traditions [are] better,” (Argen). Him along with other Mexicans believe that Day of the Dead seems to be overshadowed by Halloween. To revive Mexican cultural traditions, Mexican people are acting by creating Mexican festivals to cities like Hollywood and New York as well as making movies like Coco by using a Día de Los Muertos theme to inform them the subject. What was once held in private has been moved out from the graveyards and people’s homes
First tradition- One of the well-known traditions of dia de los muertos, or day of the dead, is making sugar skulls. These skulls are made by putting sugar in a bowl and slowly adding water until the sugar is all mixed with the water. Then you mold the sugar into a skull shape and let it dry overnight. Then the next day you decorate the skull with colorful frosting to symbolize your loved ones. Some people write the name of their loved ones who have passed on the forehead of the skull.
The path from the after life to the land of the living is quite a treacherous journey. The Day of the Dead is a traditional Mexican holiday that dates back to the time of the Aztec Indians, beginning in the 14th century (“Mexico” 3). It is important to realize that this holiday is not about mourning the dead. It is a time to recognize how the dead have made an impact on the lives of their loved ones, and their soul’s journey back to the living. “And that's what it is, it's a celebration, not of their death, it's a celebration of their life. It's the celebration of recognizing that they are, on this particular day… that this is the day in which the spirits of the past are in the closest proximity to the living” ("Living on Earth: Day of the Dead" 2). One of the most important parts of the Day of the Dead holiday are the altars, also known as ofrendas. These are created in order to assist the dead along their passage from the underworld back to the home of their family. Creating an altar for Day of the Dead may seem morbid, but it is actually a beautiful and fascinating process.
Halloween in the United States is celebrated with children dressing up and asking for candy, often by threatening minor pranks. Symbols of Halloween include pumpkins, ghosts, vampires, and mummies. Halloween was originally used to ward off evil spirits. The name Halloween is derived from the name All Hallow’s Eve, because it was the day before All Saints’ Day. Halloween is celebrated on October 31. However, Dia de los Muertos, or called Day of the Dead, is celebrated from November 1 to November 2. Dia de los Muertos is a celebration where people honor the dead with festivals and parades. Dia de los Muertos recognizes death as a normal part of the human experience and is a time for people to celebrate their memories with deceased family members. “Dia de los Muertos is more of a celebration than a depressing day where you celebrate passed family members. Death is not the end, but the beginning of another phase of life” (Rodriguez). At midnight on October 31, people believe that the gate from heaven is opened and decreased children are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours. “It’s based on the belief that there is interaction between the living world and the world of spirits. On the Día de los Muertos, the spirits of the dead are said to come back for family reunions” (Major Holidays). On November 2, people believe decreased adults arise to enjoy the festivals and altars others have prepared for them. Symbols of Dia de los Muertos include skulls and masks called calacas. Both holidays have to do with spirits and for people to have an enjoyable time with family
In The Day of The Dead, people use el calacas, (skeletons) in remembrance of their deceased friends and family. They hang skeletons doing whatever actions, paint skulls onto their faces, or even eat them as sugar skulls, they are everywhere on The Day of The Dead as a symbol of the dead. People who celebrate Halloween and go all out to decorate their houses most likely hang plastic skeletons outside or maybe even inside their house. They use skeletons to represent the brevity of human mortality, the fear of death, or a danger that can result in death. But Halloween is usually to be thought of as scary and skeletons are scary to some people because they are something that was a part of a human.
The Latinos make up close to 16 percent of the total American population, thus becoming the 2nd largest ethnic community. Just like many other migrant populations, the Latinos seek to keep in touch with their Hispanic traditions and cultures. As Alvarez puts it, children born in the US are thus taught certain cultural events and values so as to maintain their lineage. The most common one as discussed by Alvarez in her book is the quinceañera. This refers to a girl’s celebration as she reaches fifteen. This day of celebration is supposed to mark a girl’s transition from being a child to an adult woman. Among other traditional symbols, these parties are huge and include choreographed dances and ball gowns.
Pumpkins play a big role in Halloween. People use them for all sorts of things like making pumpkin spice flavored foods and drinks. The cookies made on this day vary in shapes and sizes. Americans like to decorate their treats like bats, pumpkins, ghosts, or anything that symbolizes Halloween. Many people also make cakes and candies that they decorate to fit the theme of Halloween. The Day of the Dead has a traditional bread called Pan de los Muertos which means bread of the dead. This bread is typically shaped like a skull. Mexicans also make white colored skull candies, but every person decorates it with color to make it prettier. People usually cook any favorite foods for their loved ones that have gone to the after world. They place these foods on the altar, and after a certain time, the families eat
The Day of the Dead Museum showed many scenes that depicted homes decorated as they would be on the day of the dead. In one scene they showed how a typical mexican home looks like on the day of the dead, it showed the way the families would be dressed, how their houses would be decorated and the types of food and drink that they would have on that day. The exhibiton shows how the families used to honor their loved ones by putting up their personal items and pictures. The 19th century mourning customs showed how the Americans handled grief in that time period. This exhibit showed things like the hair of a departed family member would be taken to professional weavers that made them into intricate jewelry patterns and put them on display, it also showed how a family’s clothes would like for someone that died for example, a widow would always have a white collar to signify her from the other people and a wooden clock was used in the tra-dition of a family that was mourning in the Victorian era, the headstone contained the names of the deceased family members and the family would remember their deceased whenever they looked at the
But also, there are many different versions and many similar festivities around the world. Such as “el Día de los Muertos” celebrated in México. This is a joyful holiday were people get together to remember friends and family that passed away. In fact, this holiday lasts three days. It begins the night of October 31 and ends on November 2, in what Christians know as “All Souls Day”. While in China, Halloween is known as Teng Chieh. People place water and food in front of photographs of family members who have died while lanterns are lit around them to guide the spirit’s path. There is also Chusok in North Korea. But this festivity takes place in the month August and people thank their ancestors by visiting their tombs making offerings of rice and fruits. In England, people celebrated All Fawkes day. The English decided they had no reasons of celebrating All Saints ’ Day since they didn’t believe in saints because of their protestant beliefs. So they started to commemorate English traitor Guy Fawkes, who wanted to remove King James from power and attempted to blow up England’s parliament building. Also, people lit bonfires and children walked the streets knocking on doors and asking for “a penny for the guy”. But eventually this holiday
The Spanish observed a ritual practiced by the Aztecs, where the natives celebrated death. This may be what is now known as “Dia De Los Muertos”. From the costumes to the makeup the most recognizable practice in Mexican culture is the “Day of the Dead”. As mentioned, the Aztecs seemed to start the ritual by a month long celebration, where the dead were honored and remembered. After the Spanish conquest the ritual was Christianized, and called “All Saints Day”. By the 1960’s the Mexican government made it a national holiday. Today, the holiday is a “happy fiesta during which people celebrate relatives who have died. Houses are decorated with flowers, plants, and skeletons.”(1) The festival inspires people to create skulls, or Calaveras. They are decorated and eaten in tradition. Along with celebrations, skeleton use in art is important to the Mexican
Her 1938 painting The Girl with Death Mask (She plays alone) resides in Nagoya City Art Museum and it is said to be a self-portrait of Kahlo as a child. In the painting the child is wearing a mask of the dead while holding a flower. Right beside her foot rests another horrific looking mask of an animal that looks like a demon, but it is said that it could represent a tiger. The masks are a traditional symbol for the annual Mexican Festival called “The Day of the Dead”. The “Day of the Dead” is considered to be a joyful holiday, where families celebrate the death of their love ones instead of mourning over them. It is the celebration of life and rebirth and they believe on that day their loved ones’ spirits would come alive and partake in the festivities with them such as dancing and
...cing and partying at their graveyards? That’s Mexican celebrate the Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. On the first two days in November, they stop everything for the most distinctive festival that mixes Aztec and Catholic traditions into a special time for families to come together to honor their deceased ones. November 2nd is the official national holiday for the Day of the Dead. An Aztec mid- August banquet with the ancestors was appropriated by Catholic priest to coincide with their All Saints Day to encourage the conversion of the Indians to the Catholic faith.