Cempazuchitl: The Day Of The Fragility Of Life

    Dias de los Muertos is a Mexican Holiday that honors and celebrates friends and family who have passed away. The celebration originated nearly 3,000 years ago when the Spaniards arrived in Central Mexico and viewed a similar ritual being celebrated by the Aztecs.  Through the years Dias de los Muertos has evolved and flourished beyond Mexico, and now it is even celebrated in certain regions of the United States, Guatemala, Brazil, and Spain. Every November 1 (All Saints’ Day) and November 2 (All Souls’ Day), the celebration takes place. On the first, which is called Dia de los Inocentes (Day of Innocents), children who have died are honored and their graves are decorated with toys, sweets, white orchids and baby's breath. On the second, which is called Dia de los Muertos, the adults are honored and their graves are decorated with bright orange marigolds, the Mexican flower of death. During the celebration, family members go to the gravesites and clean and decorate their loved one’s grave with beautiful flowers, food, drink, and a photo

The Virgin ordered Diego to collect Castilian roses around the hill and she helped him arrange them into his cloak. On December 12 when Diego returned to the Archbishop, he opened his tilmátli or cloak in which the image of the Virgin appeared. In response, the archbishop honored the Virgin’s request and built an altar in her honor. Today, The Basilica de Guadalupe in Tepeyac stands in dedication to the Virgin’s first appearance and remains the most visited Catholic shrine.

In Mexico, fiestas occur frequently throughout the year as a custom. Mexicans gather on these holidays to eat dance,take part in parades, and remember historic or religious events. Mexican Independence Day celebrates the separation of the country from Spain on September 16, 1810. Another famous celebration is Day of the Dead which is celebrated on the first of November. Although it may sound scary, this celebration is a cheerful time of remembering friends and family members who have died.

The lighting within the restaurant was dim and brought a nice essence to the place. There was a lot of artwork displayed throughout the restaurant. The restaurant had old Mexican wrestling posters of Lucha Libre, bullfighting and the Day of the Dead posters and old Mayan artwork on the walls. These are well known things and celebrations in Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead is a traditional holiday that celebrates the lives of friends and family members who have died, and help them support their spiritual journey. Lucha Libre is a term for professional wrestling in Mexico that a lot of families gather around to watch together. There were countless old bullfighting posters and some newer versions.

In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is a celebration to honor the dead. This holiday was made for people struggle with losing loved ones, and celebrating it was found to be a good way to help them cope. Families can be seen in the cemetery bringing festive gifts to memorialize lost members.

´ El Dia De Los Muertos.’ Mexicans have many unusual traditions that they celebrate. Mexicans eat a lot of different foods, for example, most Mexicans eat menudo pozole, and tamales. That's all part of Mexican culture. For fun, most Mexicans like playing soccer. Read furthermore, to Mexican culture.

Day of the Dead is some thing I have been learning about in Spanish class. Now I am going to tell you some facts about Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead is celebrated by Mexicans and some Hispanic cultures around the world. It’s a celebration remembering their dead loved ones. This year the Day of the Dead will be November 1 and 2.

Halloween and Dia de los Muertos are very interesting holidays in there own different ways. Halloween and Day of the Dead can be similar but on the bottom line they are very different by the way they decorate, what they eat, and how they celebrate the holidays. The two holidays may seem similar at first but after understanding the complexity of the ideas behind both holidays actions, your opinion can change. For example during Halloween some kids might go trick or treating but in Mexico during the Day of the Dead, people would go to grave sites and have picnics with people who have passed on and a famous sauce they would eat is mole sauce which is like a spicy chocolate sauce. There are a lot of differences to explore about the two

On Dia de los Muertos, the people who celebrate this holiday celebrate death. The Mexicans and Central Americans who celebrate Dia de los Muertos think that death is just another part of life, and that the people who die go to the afterlife. During Dia de los Muertos, the families of the loved ones who’ve died will create an altar for the dead person’s spirit. The families will make the altar, and cover it with food, decorations, and things that the person had once liked. Objects like a drink or food they liked, or a colored cloth representing the color, or even toys or games that the person liked before the death. The altar is covered in Las Flores. This flower is something that everyone has on their altars. Las Velas light and guide the souls to the altar.The people also celebrating Dia de los Muertos dress up like what the person looked like, or what job they had. On Halloween, people dress up as whatever they want to be to get candy, and go Trick-or-Treating. On Halloween in Europe in medieval times, the people would go out in costumes because they were scared that there were spirits roaming around. They didn’t do this “holiday” because it was fun, instead they did it out of fear. Halloween started with the Celtic pagan ritual known as Samhain. During “Halloween” in medieval times, the people believed that barrier between our world, and the spirit world was at its thinnest, and people could communicate with the dead.

Mexican culture celebrates their independence with a holiday and fireworks on Cinco de Mayo. The American ritual for independence is celebrated on July 4th also with a holiday and fireworks. Another ritual that is participated in annually by both Mexican and American cultures is the celebration of Christmas. Gift giving is a common ritual during the Christmas season. There are also some very unique rituals specific to each culture. For starters, one the most distinctive rituals in all of the World takes place in the Mexican culture, Dia de Los Muertos. Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration with masks like skulls and dancing honoring late ancestors. Another ritual specific to the Mexican culture is the holiday recognizing the Lady of the Guadalupe. The ritual feast remembers the sightings of her near present day Mexico City. American culture also contains some unique rituals. A very patriotic ritual takes place in the grade school class everyday; it is called the Pledge of Allegiance. This ritual instills patriotic values as well as teaching loyalty to thy nation. Thanksgiving is another example of a ritual not in Mexican culture that is in American culture.

Therefore, she did not require the purification process of baptism. This holiday is usually celebrated by Holy Mass, parades, fireworks, processions, ethnic foods, and Spanish cultural festivities. This day is also generally considered a “family day” to be spent at home with your loved ones.

The ofrendas is something most to all Latino families put up in their house. Some families keep it up year round to always have the remembrance of their ancestors. Others make it a tradition and family bonding time to make their ofrendas more meaningful. In an editorial about The Day of the Dead the ofrendas are a big part of the tradition. “People who celebrate the holiday prepare ofrendas, or altars, in honor of their departed family

They are generally absolutely admirable creations, complete with adulation and care. Creating these altars is one of the a lot of important traditions during Day of the Asleep in Mexico and in Mexican-American communities about the globe.

In the Latino death rituals are influenced by their catholic beliefs. They have a continuing relationship with the dead through prayer and visits to the grave. Grief can be expressed by crying. Women are allowed to wail while men are not to a lot of emotion. Death for Mexicans in Mexico has more understanding of death because the country is religious, real, poor, and young. Death is shown by statues, art, literature, and history portray death. Mexican children start at an early age to accept death. Mexicans and Latinos celebrate “Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) to remember and honor the dead Lobar, Youngblut, & Brooten, 2006, p. xx-a)

As I now celebrate Halloween in America, going out and dressing up, I don’t forget about “el Dia de los Muertos”, although I am not in Mexico I have brought the celebration back home, I pray for my great grandparents and other late family members and friends. I try to incorporate both cultures in my life and I have realized that I am creating my own traditions with combining