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Day of the Dead.

Day of the dead is Mexican holidays. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family dnd friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have dead. It is particulary celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality of national holydays. The celebrations take place on November 1st and 2nd, in connection with the catholic holidays of all saints´ day (November 1) and all souls ‘day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holidays include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holidays to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called mictecacihuatl. In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holidays that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

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.

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 know 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 day of the innocents but also as day of the little angels and November 2 as day of the dead.

People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages as well as photos and memorabilia of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

During the three- day period, families usually clean and decorate graves; most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with offerings, which often include orange Mexican marigolds called cempasuchitl (originally named cempoalxochitl, Nahuatl for “twenty flowers”.

In modern Mexico, this name is sometimes replaced with the term flower of the dead. These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings.

Some families build altars or small shrines in their homes; these usually have the Christian cross, statues or pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pictures of deceased relatives and other persons, scores of candles and an ofrenda.

Jose Guadalupe Posada created a famous print of a figure that he called calavera of the female dandy, as a parody of Mexican uppers –class female. Posada´s striking images of a costumed female with a skeleton face has become associated with the day of the Dead, and Catrina figures often are a prominent part of modern day of the Dead observances.

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