Dia de los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead, is a day celebrated in Mexico on November 1st and 2nd. Dia de los Muertos is a day when the spirits of the dead come to visit their families and friends, and has been celebrated for over 3,000 years.
One of the traditions during Day of the Dead is setting up something called an “ofrenda.” La ofrenda is a stand set up with pictures of dead friends and relatives, flowers, candles, foods like pan de los muertos, which is a sweet bread, and other foods or items that friends or family like.
Other traditions of Dia de los Muertos are gathering at a cemetery to enjoy pan de los muertos and calaveras, which are sugar skulls. Sometimes people put on face paint that resembles a skull, and costumes that are usually black, yellow, and orange.
Dia de los Muertos originantes back to the Aztecs. Originally they celebrated for a month, but over time it has changed to two days. They worshiped the goddess of death, named Mictecacihuatl, nicknamed “Lady of the Dead.” She was strongly associated with Day of the Dead, and she was thought to be responsible for the souls.
During the 1930s a man named Jose Guadalupe Posada got popular for making art, specifically skeletons that are now famous for representing Mexican culture and representing the Day of the Dead. One of the drawings that have become famous is named “La Catrina”, which is a skeleton with a big dress and a hat with feathers and flowers. La Catrina is a representation of many things, her dress, and hat represents celebration, and her smile means that even if death is inevitable we should learn to accept it, and that the dead should be commemorated.
