Today is Día de los Muertos, a day on which the people of Mexico, and people of Mexican descent in the U.S. and around the world, honor friends and family who have passed away. The day is not a macabre salute to ghosts and ghouls, but rather a beautiful celebration of life, love and humanity.
Like many rituals throughout Latin America, Day of the Dead has its roots in indigenous cultures that revered and memorialized their ancestors. The most traditional celebrations in Mexico include visits to the gravesites of deceased family members, shrines featuring items they loved while they were alive (I’ve seen shrines with cigarettes and tequila bottles!) and joyous, sometimes all-night, parties. Other essentials include sugar skull and skeleton-shaped candies, pan de muerto and lots of marigolds (on the shrines and scattered around the gravesites).
If is sounds a bit like Halloween, that’s because it is. They both have origins in ancient cultures, and they both are hugely popular modern holidays.
According the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending is up this year, at over $5 billion. Across the country, there are Day of Dead celebrations and exhibits popping up in museums, art galleries, even on college campuses, making the holiday visible and increasingly popular among non-Hispanics.
There are even do-it-yourself sugar skull kits available online and at craft stores – one of the sweetest examples of cross-cultural exchange I’ve ever seen!
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