Mexican holiday Day of the Dead 2022: A historical look at its meaning and history

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Day of the Dead 2022
Why do we celebrate the Day of the Dead 2022?

Around the world, November 1 and 2 are celebrated as Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead )

Our social media feeds and screens are flooded with dancing skeleton cartoons and sugar skulls toward the end of October. This isn’t because of Halloween, but rather another annual festival we have to thank.

Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead, also known as Dia de Muertos, for thousands of years. The two holidays are not interchangeable, even though they have unique roots and traditions.

In addition to celebrating them on different days, Halloween is observed on the 31st of October, and the Day of the Dead is held on the 1st and 2nd of November every year. Families welcome the souls of deceased relatives with food, drink, and celebrations on these days when the gate between the spirit and real worlds is believed to dissipate.

Despite the main festivities taking place on November 2, November 1 is known as All Saints’ Day, when the spirits of children and the innocent can be joined by their families for 24 hours.




Day of the Dead 2022

Day of the Dead: what is it?

In celebration of the richness of life and the inevitable journey of death, Da de Los Muertos weaves together pre-Colombian rituals and European traditions. It is important to note that Día de Los Muertos celebrations vary across regions and not all communities in Mexico participate.

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Altars or offerings are built in the home to show that the dead haven’t been forgotten. Family members visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried during D-day celebrations, cleaning and decorating the tombs, as well as gathering graveside to eat, play music, and pay their respects.

What is the Day of the Dead and where is it celebrated?

The Day of the Dead is commemorated on November 1 and 2 by those of Mexican heritage throughout Central, South, and North America. The souls of children are buried on the first date, while the souls of adults are buried on the second. Catholics celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day on these dates. Oaxaca and Mexico City are famous for their Day of the Dead celebrations, while San Antonio hosts the largest Day of the Dead event in the United States.

A brief history of the Day of the Dead

Da de Los Muertos has its roots in the death rituals of the Nahua people of Mesoamerica 3,000 years ago. According to the Nahua, which included the Aztecs, the universe is cyclical and humanity is a manifestation of duality. Rather than dividing life from death, it was integral to it. “Humans are the link between heaven and earth, between the divine and profane, between the rational and the irrational, according to the National Hispanic Cultural Center.” The universe’s contradictions were maintained by man, who was the union of opposites.”

As opposed to an end, death was a kind of embarkation.

Day of the Dead 2022

According to the Nahua, death was not an ending, but rather an embarkation. When a person died, their soul traveled to Chicunamictlán or the underworld. Mictlan was the final destination for the soul after a four-year journey of nine levels. Originally, rituals for venerating the departed were held in August and the living offered essential sustenance like food and water to help their ancestors along this journey. These ancient offerings served as the inspiration for the altars and alms that mark contemporary Día de Los Muertos celebrations.

Halloween is NOT the Day of the Dead

While both traditions revolve around death, Da de Los Muertos and Halloween are not the same things, and the confusion of the two as well as their commercialization is divisive. It is unsettling to some observers who see Day of the Dead remembrances as crass commercialism, which is a cultural appropriation, as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

Modern Halloween celebrations share little beyond skeletal imagery and a seasonal convergence with the Day of the Dead with the ancient Pagan harvest festival known as Samhain (link will be available when available). If you were not raised in a community that observed the holiday traditionally, please do not co-opt the sugar skull as a costume. In the past.

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