Dia de los Muertos Oaxaca Mexico Holiday

Dia de los Muertos Oaxaca Mexico Holiday
Reviewed by Teresita Blanco
Date: Nov 2, 2015

For most cultures, dealing with the dead is a private issue. This celebration is meant to remind Mexicans of death. Death is an inevitable fact of life, which should not be feared. Through this celebration, Mexicans get reconnected to their dead relatives. They do so by inviting the dead to have dinner with them.

To outsiders, this holiday seems like the Mexican Halloween.  However, this celebration has nothing to with vampires or werewolves. This holiday is about honoring the dead. Families either visit the cemetery or set up home shrines. This celebration began 3000 years ago.

The Aztecs believed that the dead and the living coexist. During autumn, the dead are allowed to visit the living. When Cortez came, he fussed the holiday with All Saints Day and all Souls Day. All gravestones in this region are intertwined with Aztec symbols like the skulls.

With this Aztec overtone, this day families celebrate the life lived by their dead relatives. Children also participate. It is a way to help them cope with the death of a close relative. The holiday officially starts on Halloween. The women clean up the house and men set up the shrines.

In November 1, the family honor dead babies and infants. Candy offerings are placed in the altar. Dia de los Muertos is for adults. The festivals include parades and other outdoor events. People there paint their faces as skulls. Overall, it’s a pretty great celebration.