The Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday that is celebrated every year.
Contrary to popular belief, the holiday isn’t related to Halloween – it actually dates back thousands of years.
But when is it observed and how is the tradition celebrated?
Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the Day of the Dead?
Even though the festival is called the Day of the Dead, it is truly a celebration of life as it reinforces the idea that life is short and young children should not fear death.
The ritual was started by the Aztecs some 3,000 years ago and when the Spanish arrived they simply could not quash the tradition – the idea survived and thrived as its rituals merged with elements of Christianity.
Originally, the Day of the Dead was celebrated in the summertime but it moved to the beginning of November to coincide with All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival was recognised by UNESCO as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2008.
When is the Day of the Dead celebrated?
Day of the Dead is marked annually on – this year, it falls on a Saturday.
Some believe that on the Day of the Dead, the souls of the departed return to earth to visit with and provide counsel to their families and loved ones.
How to wish someone a happy Day of the Dead
They speak Spanish in Mexico, so you can wish someone a happy Day of the Dead by saying ‘‘.
How is the Day Of The Dead celebrated?
On the Day Of The Dead people will visit gravesites and the graves are cleaned up, weeds are pulled, debris is swept away and the grave is decorated with flowers.
People will set up altars in their homes to commemorate those they have lost, the altar will be decorated with flowers, candles, ceramic skulls, and pictures of their deceased loved ones.
People paint their faces to look like skulls, decorating them to represent a deceased loved one or an expression of themselves.
There will be a party in many graveyards as so many people flock to honour their loved ones at their burial ground.
They will also place food on the altar, maybe their loved ones favourite food and treats.
Drinks are traditionally placed on the altar to quench the thirst of the dead for their long journey home.
Children learn that there is a circle of life when they eat sugar skulls and dance with the caricatures of death and begin to respect that life is brief.
Day of the Dead quotes and messages to share
The following are heartfelt messages and quotes you can use to send to any loved ones celebrating Day of the Dead today:
May the beautiful souls of our loved ones be always filled with joy, and may we be blessed with the opportunity to see them again.
As we celebrate this special festival, may we never forget that death isn’t the end. There’s so much beauty and excitement in the afterlife.
Memories keep us alive.
‘
‘Is death the last sleep? No, it is the last final awakening.’ – Walter Scott.
Day of the Dead poems to read and share
Reveries
Sweet are the tales of the years that have vanished,
Beautiful years that can never return;
Beautiful hopes that cannot be banished,
In the heavens of the soul their fires will burn;
Soul speaks to soul through years long departed,
Distance is swept by sweet mem’ry aside,
A word resurrects the long silent-hearted,
We walk once again by dear ones who died.
– Josephine Butterworth
Just a thin veil
Just a thin veil, between this world
And that world of beauty and love,
Just a thin veil that hides the view
Of our Spirit loved ones above!
– Gertrude Tooley Buckingam
Día de los Muertos
It is not simply the Day of the Dead—loud, and parties.
More quietly, it is the day of my dead. The day of your dead.
These days, the neon of it all, the big-teeth, laughing skulls,
The posed calacas and Catrinas and happy dead people doing funny things—
It’s all in good humor, and sometimes I can’t help myself: I laugh out loud, too.
But I miss my father. My grandmother has been gone
Almost so long I can’t grab hold of her voice with my ears anymore,
Not easily. My mother-in-law, she’s still here, still in things packed
In boxes, her laughter on videotape, and in conversations.
Our dog died several years ago and I try to say his name
Whenever I leave the house—You take care of this house now,
I say to him, the way I always have, the way he knows.
I grew up with the trips to the cemetery and pan de muerto,
The prayers and the favorite foods, the carne asada, the beer.
But that was in the small town where my memory still lives.
Today, I’m in the big city, and that small town feels far away.
– Alberto Ríos
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