Dia de Los Muertos
Dia de Los Muertos. or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican tradition that borrows from the Indigenous cultures and the Spanish Culture that make up Mexico. On November 2nd (depending on what state you are in the traditions are a bit different, but always on Nov.2) families all over Mexico remember their loved ones who have passed away by sharing a meal and spending the day with them. It all begins (like any good mexican holiday) with food. The family tries to make at least one of the favorite dishes and/or treats of the deceased and either buys or make Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead). The family then head off to the cemetery (that may or may not include a trip to church) where they clean and make sure the headstone and burial plot are neat, clean and look their best. Flowers are brought to help beautify the area, the traditional flower of the dead is called Cempazúchil or Mexican marigold. After the are has been beautified and cleaned, the family sit down and have a meal in the cemetery with their loved ones and even serve them a plate.
Another very important aspect of the holiday that tends to be more "optional" than that the visit to the cemetery is the altar for the dead. The altar mainly has flowers of the dead for decoration, religious icons, candles, and most importantly pictures and trinkets of the deceased.
According to my mother, our family in mexico always has a visit to the cemetery on Nov 2nd, that is one of our traditions... The altar thing? Not so much, but Naty and I deicded that this year we were gonna begin a new tradition based on Mexican tradition and make an altar for my (our) abuelito Mariano and abuelita Monica (que en paz descansen). Normally we would have tons of marigolds, but we are poor students so that was kinda nixed so we decided to make mexican paper flowers out of tissue paper, I made most of them and Naty "supervised" so she only made like four lol The pictures are the end result so I hope you like it :)
If you want to learn a bit more about el Dia de Los Muertos, here is the wiki.
Another very important aspect of the holiday that tends to be more "optional" than that the visit to the cemetery is the altar for the dead. The altar mainly has flowers of the dead for decoration, religious icons, candles, and most importantly pictures and trinkets of the deceased.
According to my mother, our family in mexico always has a visit to the cemetery on Nov 2nd, that is one of our traditions... The altar thing? Not so much, but Naty and I deicded that this year we were gonna begin a new tradition based on Mexican tradition and make an altar for my (our) abuelito Mariano and abuelita Monica (que en paz descansen). Normally we would have tons of marigolds, but we are poor students so that was kinda nixed so we decided to make mexican paper flowers out of tissue paper, I made most of them and Naty "supervised" so she only made like four lol The pictures are the end result so I hope you like it :)
If you want to learn a bit more about el Dia de Los Muertos, here is the wiki.