As every year, this November 1 and 2 is celebrated in Mexico on the Day of the Dead. Ancestral celebration, quote receive with honor and joy those who are no longer on this plane and these days they come to visit us.
Although due to its proximity to the almanac with Halloween it is usually associated with the two holidays, they have little or nothing to do with either.
product of the mixture indigenous and Christian traditionsin the Day of death One cannot cry or complain about the loss of loved ones. On the contrary, death is “celebrated” These are days to share a moment with all those who are not here but who are still very present in our affection.
It’s to celebrate Day of death, death does not represent an absence but a living presence; the death is a symbol of life which materializes in the offered altar.
The Day of the Dead parade
The Day of death It is one of the most important and anticipated celebrations in Mexico. The celebrations began last Saturday, October 29, with a parade attended by more than a million people.
There were 12 allegorical floats, five monumental hot air balloons and 300 musicians and entertainers who flooded joy and excitement the streets of Mexico Cityon a tour that stretched from the Puerta de los Leones to Chapultepec to the Zócalo.
Day of the Dead: why is it celebrated on November 1st and 2nd?
The celebration of Day of death It takes place on November 1st and 2nd as it is divided into categories, indicate from the official website of the Mexican government.
“According to the Catholic calendar, November 1 corresponds to All Saints’ Day, a day dedicated to the” little dead “or children, and November 2 to the faithful departed, that is, adults”, they detail.
What is celebrated on the Day of the Dead?
The Day of death – also called All Souls’ Day – is a day in which homage and thanks are paid to the deceased.
In Mexico, in particular, death is seen as one more step in lifefor which we celebrate and honor those who are no longer on this plane by accompanying us daily.
Everyone is remembered with images, music, dances and stories, and so, according to tradition, their souls remain alive.
How is the day of the dead celebrated?
Every year, families put up offerings and decorated altars with flowers, cut paper, sugar skulls, bread of the dead, mole or some dish that their relatives liked to which the offering is dedicated. As in pre-Hispanic times, it is on incense to flavor the place.
The festivities also include adorn the tombs with flowers and often make altars on tombstones, which in the indigenous era had a great significance because it was thought to help guide souls to walk a good path after deathdescribes the portal.
Tradition also indicates this facilitate the return of souls to earththe petals should be scattered cempasuchil flowers and place candles tracing the path they are about to travel so that these souls do not get lost and reach their destination.
The November 3the next day, tradition ends. After removing the offer from Day of deaththe living can dispose of the sweets, food, and drinks that are on the altar and distribute them among family, neighbors, and friends.
What is the origin of the Day of the Dead?
For pre-Hispanic cultures, death was the beginning of the journey towards “Mictlan”something that means in the Nahuatl language “Place where the dead live”.
there in MictlanUnlike what the Christian religion proposes, there are no moral connotations of hell nor of Paradise.
However, to reach it, the dead had to, during four yearsgo through various tests that were found in the different levels of the underworldto finally arrive at the place of his eternal rest.
When the conquerors arrived, the Christianity introduced to indigenous culture “the terror of death and hell”.
However, the evangelizers were forced to give in to the strong convictions of the indigenous and, in this way, a fusion of Spanish and indigenous customs which gave rise to what is now known as the celebration of Day of death.
For the Catholic churchthe days to honor the dead are 1 and 2 November, All Saints and All Saints, respectively.
However, for those who follow the indigenous customsthe celebration begins in the last week of October and ends on the first days of November.
Source: Clarin
