Dia de Los Muertos – A Celebration for the Dead

When you die, would you rather be celebrated or mourned?  For me, I would certainly prefer to be celebrated.  I want it to be a big party.  One where everyone brings flowers, eats amazing food and stays up all night telling funny stories.

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.  Lured to its symbols of frightful fun, full of ghost and goblins, costumes and parties, but most of all things of terrifying delight.

Around the same time of the year, the traditional Mexican celebration Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead has become closely associated with Halloween. Truth be told, these are two entirely different celebrations, sharing little in common except the association with the symbolic skulls and the presences of the dead. Over the past few years, Dia de los Muertos has quickly shifted my excitement about this time of the year in a different direction. Each year I take a step back in time to a tradition that dates back over 3,000 years to the pre-Christian era of the Aztecs, Mayan and various other indigenous people. They believed the dead should be celebrated not mourned and certainly not feared. Originally held during the 9th month of the year, now known as August, the celebration lasted for an entire month. Over the years, with the arrival of the Spanish and introduction of Christianity, Dia de Los Muertos celebrations moved closer to the end of the October. It is no longer a month-long event, now typically celebrated over two days.  November 1st is All Saints Day, when lost children are honored November 2nd is All Souls Day when the celebration is for the adults. Events are now held throughout the world where Latin descendants have migrated and the traditions have been adopted. Today, while it is a national holiday in Mexico, celebrations are held in various Latin American countries, the United States and even in Europe where the Czech Republic has an annual festival in honor of Day of the Dead.

In the tradition of Dia de Los Muertos, death is a part of life and the passing of a loved ones does not mean parting with them. Each year the living honor and welcome back the dead through various rituals such as building altars decorated with marigolds, known for their strong scent that leads the dead back to their home.

Altars or ofrendas can be adorned with various things including photos, personal items, favorite foods and beverages of the dearly departed. Graves are cleared and decorated as well. In consideration of the long journey the dead are required to make for their return, there are offered glasses of water to quench their thirst, incense to lead the way, candles to guide them through the darkness and pillows and blankets so they can rest after their long journey.

Sugar skulls or calaveras have become symbolic of Dia de los Muertos, often found on graves and altars, elaborately decorated and including names of the dead carved into the foreheads of the skulls. Often the living spend the night in the cemetery telling funny stories and celebrating the lives of the dead.

Several years ago I was invited to join a large group of friends in the celebration of Dia de Los Muertos at Hollywood Forever. While I knew little about the event at the time, what I did know was that it celebrated the dead and involved elaborate costuming including face painting that had become well-known in the Day of the Dead celebrations. These two things held great appeal to me so I was excited to join a fabulous group that had been participating in this event for several years already. As with any cultural tradition, with time, integration and interpretation of a new culture, things change.  Face painting has now become  one of the most  common symbols of Dia de Los Muertos where in some cultures this would be frowned upon.   Our group spends weeks plan out the theme and the costumes, meeting several times before the event to collaborate. We hire a make up artist who somehow with calm control, manages to make 12-14 people look like the dead with eloquent beauty in short 4-5 hour span of time the day of the event. Around 2 pm we would head to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.  Being a large group, with lots of planning, we garnered lots of attention.  Everyone seemed to be interested in taking pictures of us and with us.

After years of doing the event, our group as a whole decided it was a good year to take a hiatus with various other life event happening among us.  This year as the celebration quickly approaches, I am excited to be a spectator and see the event from the other end of the lens for a different point of view.  If your interested in learning more about this beautiful culture event, check your area events for upcoming celebrations.  If you are in the Los Angeles area, Hollywood Forever holds one of the largest local events where you can view alters, hear music, grab a bite, and even get your face-painted.  Best of all you are situated in just the right place as the dead are already among you at this beautiful cemetery.   As a participant or as an observer, don’t miss out on making plans to attend a celebration of the dead and experience an event that has withstood three centuries and spanned countries to become the celebration of the dead it is today.