Día de los Muertos is celebrated on November 1-2 in Mexico and parts of Central America and abroad where there are communities of that heritage. The holiday honors the dead by celebrating the lives of deceased family members, who are welcomed back into the households with ofrendas (altars) that offer food and drink. Family graves are tended to -- cleaned and decorated and generally visited by the living. In more recent years, pets have started making an appearance, with October 27 as a day dedicated to lost pets.
In 2008, UNESCO added the holiday to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which acknowledges that cultural heritage is not limited to artifacts but also traditions.
La CatrinaAmong all the skeleton figures that go along with the holiday, La Calavera Catrina is one of the most recognizable. This sketch was first published around 1910 in the early days of the Mexican Revolution, drawn by illustrator and satirist Jose Guadalupe Posada (who illustrated political broadsheets known as calaveras, or skulls!).
Catrin or Catrina comes from slang for a dandy -- frivolous and well-dressed. She satirizes the wealthy elite who followed European fashions.
The original is owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, though it is not currently on display.
This link opens in a new windowThe Aztec had Miccailhuitontli (Little Feast of the Dead, or Feast of the Little Dead Ones) and Miccailhuitl (Great Feast of the Dead, or Feast of the Adult Dead). The festival was celebrated with flowers garlanded onto temples, offerings of food and incense at temples (and left at graves, too), as well as dancing. A large tree trunk would be erected, called the xocotl (fruit), which would also be decorated with flowers (Carmichael and Sayers 29; Graulich 53).
Spanish colonizers forced Catholicism into the New World, as well as brought some of the folk traditions of Spain, which included food offerings and "feasting with the dead" that blended well with the existing traditions (Carmichael and Sayers 15). The original holiday became assimilated with the Catholic feast days for All Saints' and All Souls' (Todos Santos).
The earliest mention of something like a sugar skull dates to the 18th century by a Capuchin friar, Francisco de Ajofrin, who recorded the sales of "sugar paste" figures in all kinds of shapes leading up to the Day of the Dead (Carmichael and Sayers 46).
This link opens in a new windowMexico's indigenous heritage has helped create a uniquely Mexican cultural marker, apart from other Spanish Catholic observances as well as United States and European cultures, from the name itself to the candies and sweet breads to the humor (Brandes 363; Marchi 365). It started to appear in American communities in the 1970s, led by Chicano Movement (Marchi 272). However, Halloween keeps encroaching on the Day of the Dead, both in the US and in Mexico, even as its visibility as a distinct holiday rises in the US (Carmichael and Sayer; Brandes; Marchi). Though the holidays have similar roots (Christian assimilation of indigenous holidays), they evolved differently and are separate celebrations.
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Candied Pumpkin / Calabaza en tacha, dulce de calabaza
Bread of the dead / Pan de muerto
Atole
Mole with chicken or turkey
Coco
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The Book of Life This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window
The Halloween Tree by 
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Day of the Dead in the USA: The Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon by
Honoring relatives by tending graves, building altars, and cooking festive meals has been an honored tradition among Latin Americans for centuries. The tribute, "el Dia de los Muertos," has enjoyed renewed popularity since the 1970s when Latino activists and artists in the United States began expanding "Day of the Dead" north of the border with celebrations of performance art, Aztec danza, art exhibits, and other public expressions. Focusing on the power of ritual to serve as a communication medium, Regina M. Marchi combines a mix of ethnography, historical research, oral history, and critical cultural analysis to explore the manifold and unexpected transformations that occur when the tradition is embraced by the mainstream. A testament to the complex nature of ethnic identity, Day of the Dead in the USA provides insight into the power of ritual to create community, transmit oppositional messages, and advance educational, political, and economic goals.
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The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico by
All over Mexico, early in November, families gather to welcome the souls of the dead on their annual visit home. The smells of burning copal incense and pungent cempasúchil (marigolds) mingle with the aromas of fresh bread, new clothing, sweets, and candles. One of Mexico's most important festivals since prehispanic times, the Day of the Dead is an occasion for celebrating and feasting, cleaning and decorating graves, dancing and making music.In this unique work, the authors explore both the historic origins of this holiday and its colorful present-day celebrations in Mexico and the United States. Interviews with Mexican artists and crafters who provide goods for the festival?from personalized sugar skulls to gigantic papier-mâché skeletons?offer a fascinating glimpse into traditional and contemporary attitudes toward death and the dead.Lavishly illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs, The Skeleton at the Feast will be required reading for all who are interested in Mexican culture, art, and folklore.
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Day of the Dead: When Two Worlds Meet in Oaxaca by
The Day of the Dead is the most important annual celebration in Oaxaca, Mexico. Skillfully combining textual information and photographic imagery, this book begins with a discussion of the people of Oaxaca, their way of life, and their way of looking at the world. It then takes the reader through the celebration from the preparations that can begin months in advance through to the private gatherings in homes and finally to the cemetery where the villagers celebrate together -- both the living and the dead. The voices in the book are of those people who have participated in the Day of the Dead for as long as they can remember. There are no ghosts here. Only the souls of loved ones who have gone to the Village of the Dead and who are allowed to return once a year to be with their family. Very readable and beautifully illustrated, this book provides an extensive discussion of the people of Oaxaca, their way of life and their beliefs, which make the Day of the Dead logical and easily comprehensible.
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Cuando los abuelos Regresan: Origen y Simbología del Día de los Muertos en México by
En este ensayo acerca de la simbologÍa de los diferentes elementos que integran el DÍa de Muertos en MÉxico, la autora aborda el complejo mundo de la escatologÍa desde las primeras ceremonias del paleolÍtico y del neolÍtico, ejemplificadas con los cuatro modelos bÁsicos escatolÓgicos; a saber, el mas allÁ como un reflejo del mundo de los vivos, las almas del no retorno, la resurrecciÓn y la metempsicosis. Ceremonias y ritos mortuorios de los albores de la humanidad que, dentro de la multitud de culturas y de su dispersiÓn histÓrica, dan pÁbulo a los antecedentes de nuestro DÍa de Muertos cristiana y aquellas pertenecientes a los indÍgenas, que el enfrentamiento cultural con los europeos no logro desterrar y que se mantienen aÚn hasta nuestros dÍas. AsÍ pues, la autora se adentra en el arte del buen morir que rigiÓ en la Época colonial y el cambio cualitativo que se efectuÓ durante las guirnaldas independentistas, para desembocar en la Fiesta de la Muerte actual, plena de simbolismos de ese arte efÍmero e inmortal que son los altares de muertos que constituyen la estructura simbÓlica que contiene, a su vez, una gama de elementos tales como la bienvenida y despedidas de las animas, la comida, la bebida, la ropa y la iconografÍa que se encuentran insertos en ellos. Tales sistemas son ejemplificados por medio de las costumbres y tradiciones que los diversos grupos indÍgenas de MÉxico tienen acerca de este solemne dÍa. La informaciÓn es de primera mano y la autora la obtuvo por medio de cuestionarios elaborados para tal propÓsito; sin olvidar, por supuesto, las tradiciones mestizas de las ciudades pequeÑas y grandes... digamos que en la ciudad de MÉxico los chiquillos van por las calles pidiendo su "calavera". En el fondo de una caja de zapatos forman la cara de una calavera, pagan en un extremo una vela, y en el otro amarran una pita para sostenerla. AsÍ provistos van diciendo a los transeÚntes o a los automovilistas que se detienen han los altos: "¿No me da mi calavera?
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Through the Eyes of the Soul, Day of the Dead in Mexico by
MICHOACAN is one of a series of bilingual books, THROUGH THE EYES OF THE SOUL: DIA DE LOST MUERTOS IN MEXICO, so far consisting of three titles, dedicated to the celebration of this ancient festival in Mexico. Mary Andrade received the Latino Literary Hall of Fame award in 1999 in the areas of Travel and New Age Writing for her work as writer and phorographer of this unique series. This book, as OAXACA above, is lavishly illustrated with many color photos of the Day of the Dead, a holiday which has long been celebrated in Mexico and has recently become very poplar in the U.S. Includes recipes dishes from Michoac n (pan de muerto, uchepos) traditionally prepared for the Day of the Dead. Mary Andrade is co-publisher and editor of La Ofertas Review, a bilingual newspaper published in San Jose, California. Facing text in Spanish and English.
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Other holidays around the world that welcome dead ancestors back into the home for a visit and/or visiting their graves for maintenance and some social time:
Some dates are approximate or left unspecified because of how they float in the year, usually because they're tied to a lunar calendar.
Created by: Elaine Patton
First published: Fall 2021
Last modified: Fall 2023
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