what is the difference between Halloween and Dia de los muertos (day of the dead) ?

Answer 1

One is the US version. One is the South American version.

Avoid the candy skulls. They are SO nasty!!!

Answer 2

Halloween is based on Los Dia de los Muertos, but day of the dead is a Mexican holiday where everyone celebrates their dead loved ones, and they believe that the spirits come join them for the celebration. it's really quite cool. they make alters and candy and light candles and putt out the dead person's favorite food and possessions and stuff, to honor and remember them. they might even dress up as the ghost/skeleton of the dead person.(which is where halloween costumes come in)

Answer 3

Halloween is October 31 and children celebrate by dressing up and going trick or treating. Dia de los muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated on November 1 and 2 to celebrate family and friends who have passed away. Dia de los muertos is a joyous holiday focused on celebration unlike Halloween which is dark and scary. Wikipedia has some good info on both holidays.

Answer 4

Hallowen is North American tradition, bases in the witch of SALEM; the time past and now is a kind of party therefor the children said "trick or tread" to get candys.
Dia de los Los Muertos is not a party and is not and South America tradition is a Latin American Tradition. This date is the 2nd of November and is a day dedicated to the souls of the deads. Is a HOLLY CATHOLIC ROMAN TRADITION

Answer 5

well i think one is the eve of all souls day and the other is the actual celebration day. in my country we don't celebrate halloween, we do celebrate nov. 1st and nov. 2nd in which we call all souls day and all saints day respectively.....

halloween is the western culture tradition in which children enjoy the trick or treating, halloween costume contest, where children dress up and collect those goodies from the neighborhood.

from what i gather regarding the dia de los muertos, that is usually the south american tradition, that is where they have parade and the bonfire to honor the dead. i have watched that with mission impossible 2....

Answer 6

Day of the dead is mourning the dead and loved ones and Halloween is where you dress up as something scary or anything and get candy house to house

Answer 7

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos, Día de los Difuntos or Día de Muertos in Spanish) is an ancient Aztec celebration of the memory of deceased ancestors that is celebrated on November 1 (All Saints' Day) and November 2 (All Souls' Day).

The holiday is especially popular in Mexico where it is a national holiday, and is celebrated in the Philippines, in Mexican-American communities in the United States, and to a lesser extent, in other Latin American countries. It is a public holiday in Brazil, where many Brazilians celebrate it by visiting cemeteries and churches, bringing flowers, lighting candles and praying.

Though the subject matter may be considered morbid from the Anglo Saxon perspective, Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead joyfully, and though it occurs at the same time as Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls Day, the traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life.

Beliefs and customs
The souls of children are believed to return first on November 1, with adult spirits following on November 2.

Plans for the festival are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the period of October 31 and November 2, families usually clean and decorate the graves. Most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas, or offerings, which often include orange marigold called Flor de Muerto, Spanish for "flower of the dead", or zempoalxochitl, Nahuatl for "twenty-flower", a term that has been carried into modern Mexican Spanish as cempazúchil) which are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings. Toys are brought for dead children (los angelitos, or little angels), and bottles of tequila, mezcal, pulque or atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or the deceased's favorite candies on the grave. Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto or sugar skulls and beverages such as atole. The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrenda food, so even though the celebrators eat the food after the festivity, they believe it lacks nutritional value. The pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Mixquic, Pátzcuaro and Janitzio, people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives.

Some wealthier families do build altars or small shrines in their homes. These altars usually have the Christian cross, statues or pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pictures of deceased relatives and other persons, and scores of candles. Traditionally, families spend some time around the altar praying and telling anecdotes about the deceased.

Public schools at all levels build altars with offerings, usually omitting the religious symbols. Government offices usually have at least a small altar, as this holiday is seen as important to the Mexican heritage.

Those with writing talent sometimes create "calaveras" – short poems mocking epitaphs of friends. This custom originated in the 18th-19th century, after a newspaper published a poem narrating a dream of a cemetery in the future, "and all of us were dead", proceeding to "read" the tombstones. Newspapers dedicate calaveras to public figures, with cartoons of skeletons in the style of José Guadalupe Posada. Theatrical presentations of Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla (1817–1893) are also traditional on this day.


Pan de muerto, traditionally eaten on the holidayA common symbol of the holiday is the skull (colloquially called calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial term for "skeleton"), and foods such as Candy Skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Other holiday foods include pan de muerto (or "bread of the dead"), a sweet egg bread made in various shapes, from plain rounds to skulls and rabbits often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.

The traditions and activities that take place in celebration of the Day of the Dead are not universal and often vary from town to town. For example, in the town of Pátzcuaro on the Lago de Pátzcuaro in Michoacán the tradition is very different if the deceased is a child rather than an adult. On November 1 of the year after a child's death, the godparents set a table in the parents' home with sweets, fruits, pan de muerto, a cross, a Rosary (used to pray to the Virgin Mary) and candles. This is meant to celebrate the child’s life, in respect and appreciation for the parents. There is also dancing with colorful costumes, often with skull-shaped masks and devil masks in the plaza or garden of the town. At midnight on November 2, the people light candles and ride winged boats called mariposas (Spanish for "butterfly") to Cuiseo, an island in the middle of the lake where there is a cemetery, to honor and celebrate the lives of the dead there.

In some parts of the country, children in costumes roam the streets, asking passersby for a calaverita, a small gift of money; they don't knock on people's doors.

Answer 8

different cultures