English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

6 answers

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.

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.

The spirits of the deceased are thought to pay a visit to their families during this time and the families prepare an altar for them.

The Altar
An area of the house is cleaned up and the furniture removed to make room for the altar. The altar consists at a minimum of a covered table, and usually a few crates or boxes are added to it and covered to create open shelves and other raised display areas. The coverings used can vary from plain to vibrantly colored oil cloth. The altar is then set up with the appropriate ofrendas (offerings.)

2006-10-19 22:07:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2 0

The month is November. But there are 2 days that are celebrated for this.
November 1 is the day of the dead for Children and infants who've died, they're called the "little angels",
and then it's ALSO celebrated on
November 2 for the people who have died as adults.
so November 1st and November 2nd.

2006-10-20 17:50:32 · answer #2 · answered by Alexis Samira 5 · 1 0

MEXICO'S DAYS OF THE DEAD - DIA DE LOS MUERTOS - November 1 & 2 ... - [ Traduire cette page ]DAY OF THE DEAD Mexico's Day of the Dead DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS. Día de los Muertos Mexico honors those gone but not forgotten. (Dale Hoyt Palfrey) ...
www.mexconnect.com/mex_/feature/daydeadindex.html - 14k - En cache - Pages similaires

2006-10-19 19:58:13 · answer #3 · answered by kick it 5 · 0 0

ma-ma is right.
The day of the dead is celebrated in November.

2006-10-19 19:54:35 · answer #4 · answered by Sociallyinquisitive 3 · 0 0

NoVeMbEr

2006-10-19 20:32:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

dia de los muertos is nov. 2nd

2006-10-19 19:51:56 · answer #6 · answered by mama 2 · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers