Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Day of the death celebration

Origins

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.


The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the god known as the "Lady of the Dead", corresponding to the modern Catrina.

In most regions of Mexico, November 1 honors children and infants, whereas deceased adults are honored on November 2. This is indicated by generally referring to November 1 mainly as Día de los Inocentes ("Day of the Innocents") but also as Día de los Angelitos ("Day of the Little Angels") and November 2 as Día de los Muertos or Día de los Difuntos ("Day of the Dead").

My celebration
 
Is fun to celebrate Halloween, my little girls just disguise perfect, I had a cute and tiny ladybug running around and a pretty little mermaid.
But also is important to teach them our culture and to keep traditions that last for generation. This day should be celebrated because it is a way of remembering who we are and where we have come to worship those that no longer exist physically and worship the memory of what they were. It is also a date that makes us reflect on the cultural richness of Mexico, since each region has its own perception of death and a very characteristic way of celebrating the holiday.


The best way to celebrate this day is simply to remind all those who have died and missed both. It is a sad day, however, have to be happy, because beliefs say that this day come and visit the souls of the dead to live with us, so it is necessary to prepare the place, put water and all those things that they enjoyed in life, in an offering or altar. This year I didn't want to put a photo of them, it is so painful to remember that they are not anymore with us, so I only decorated with authentic sugar skulls, papel picado, funny catrinas and catrines, water and pretend food.
 
Now inmerse in this photos of the celebration my fellow citizens made this day.
 





3 comments:

  1. Que lindo el altar con las frutas! Espectacular!

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  2. Lovely custom! love all the colors! me encanta! Patti

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful altars. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

 

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