Day of the Dead - Dia de Los Muertes

Mexico Celebrates Day of the Dead Tara A. Spears It may have started out as a somber religious event but today Mexico celebrates on November 1 and 2 with vibrant enthusiasm. These days are typically observed with friends and family in remembrance of their passed loved ones. The families spend the day playing the departed’s favorite music, eating the departed’s favorite foods or spending the day at picnics around gravesites. It is a fiesta to honor the good memories of a loved one and to celebrate life. November 1st is especially reserved in remembrance of any children that have passed. Family members and friends adorn graves with toys and gifts in honor of the little ones that have died. Some gifts may even include their favorite foods and drink. Mexicans believe that the departed’s spirit will return to spend the day with them so in return the family has a huge party to celebrate. They decorate with the traditional Zenpasuchitl marigold flower. Candles are lit to serve as a guide for the spirits to make it back home. The photos are from the Jaltemba Bay area.November second is reserved to honor the adults that have passed. Family typically decorate using the Zenpasuchitl (a type of marigold) flower and candles besides photos and some of the loved one’s favorite things: it’s not unusual to see tequila or actual food at gravesites besides lovely floral arrangements. For weeks before you will see thousands of skulls and skeletons on sale to be used to decorate this festive day. Baked pastries and bread in shape of bones are available in markets. Some stores even sell skull candies. They symbolize a person "cheating death" because the person ate it. You can even buy them with your name on it and put it on the altar at home. Once you break a piece of this really hard candy then it´s said that you have cheated death. Involving the children in the preparations for the celebration of El Dia de los Muertos, whether making the ofrenda, or altar, arranging flowers, or packing the food for the cemetery, seems like a positive means of de-horrifying death. As the family honors the dead, children learn that death is a natural part of the life cycle and therefore, not something to fear.