Day Of Death In Mexican Culture

All over the world there are many features that make up a culture. Culture can be defined as the characteristics, attitudes, knowledge and beliefs of a group of people, relating to language, cuisine, religion, interaction, lifestyle, and more which is learned through socialization. These aspects of cultures are what distinguishes it from others. It is interesting to explore and learn about new cultures. I will be focusing on the Mexican culture, their religion, death, family life, weddings and ….

As a little girl, I learned a lot about my Mexican heritage. I even joined my parents in their dance group and still involved in it today. Over the years it’s been so fun, and it helped me learn a lot about different Mexican counties. Who would've thought that I would learn so much just by dancing. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. Also being a little girl I learned about “Day Of The Dead” which in Spanish is called “dia de los muertos” which is a two day celebration. The day’s in which this takes place is September 1 and 2nd. September 1st we honor the children and September 2nd we honor the adults. When I was little I never fully understood why we celebrated people deaths. I always thought when someone dies we show our respects and grief about it, but throwing a whole

I. Attention getting device: When most people think of how to honor the dead, right away they think of mourning but the indigenous people of Mexico had a different idea. Instead of mourning, they think of honoring the dead as a celebration with dancing, food, and reminiscing. The name of this celebration is called Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead in English.

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 belief in the afterlife involved with this holiday is very similar to that of the mesoamericans. The aztecs in particular had a month long celebration, very similar to that of Day of the Dead, in which they honored and delivered offerings to the deceased. When the spaniards arrived they did a fair job of popularizing their faith among the mesoamericans. The mesoamericans moved their month long celebration of death to coincide with the catholic holidays of All Saints and All Souls(November 1st and 2nd). Today, Day of the Dead is about celebrating death by creating altars carpeted with offerings to the souls of loved ones. Today, an iconic symbol of Día de los Muertos is the skeleton, one of the most significant skeleton characters is La Catrina. Day of the Dead is now picking up bits and pieces of Halloween tradition. Children are now participating in pedir los muertos, or ask the dead, during which children dress in costumes and meander, receiving candy as well as things from people’s day of the dead altars, in some places.

Death, and the skeleton represented as Death, is seen in a much different way by the Mexicans than by most other cultures. It is seen in a mocking, cheerful light. A symbol that can be as playful as it is serious, it appears everywhere during dia de muertos as wood, paper mache, sugar, and plastic.

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.

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.

Aztec view of the afterlife and its significance was the driving force of their life. Aztecs strongly believed in an afterlife. The journey to the afterlife entailed many things. It was believed that the way you died decided how your afterlife would go, not the way you lived. If you didn’t die in the specific ways which sent you to specific gods, you would go through the nine levels hell; in the ninth you would serve for eternity. “They are not places of bliss or damnation, merely multiple levels of existence divided in purpose.”

First, celebration and remembrance of loved ones that have passed on takes varying forms. Hispanic culture has the tradition of the Day of the Dead: two days set aside for celebrating the memory of the deceased by making altars laden with objects to represent and invite spirits of dead family members. The culture believes that the way to celebrate

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.

When death occurs, Mexican Americans are not uncomfortable with the presence of the body of a loved one. Frequently, family members desire to assist with cleaning and arranging the body before the funeral. However, the most important part of this process is to ensure that the body is shown respect by everyone involved. Although autopsy and organ donation are allowed in Mexican American culture, many families prefer that neither occur. Also, stoicism is no longer expected at the funeral;

From the people of Mexico’s view on death is to recognize it as a natural part of the human experience, a continuation of birth based on childhood experience of growing up and becoming a contributing member of the community. The indigenous people in Mexico believes that the soul is external and has the gift of traveling back and forth which allows the dead to re-live again. On that day, the soul of the dead will come back and visit the family and community. The people see the day of the dead as a loving ritual full of joy and remembrance. There are four main elements of nature that are represented: wind, flowers symbolizes earth, water, and candles to symbolize fire. This custom is uniquely celebrated within other cultures depending on the

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)

Relationships are very important in the Hispanic culture. The majority of the Hispanic culture are Roman Catholics which means they believe that the soul is eternal and continues on after the physical body has died. Roman Catholics consider human life sacred. The Hispanic culture takes family very seriously. Most people resist of the idea of putting a loved one in the nursing home because they want a family member to be there for their last breath. Many times, religious values keep an ill person from feeling comfortable because their religion does not allow pain medication. When a person is on their death bed, last rites are given by a priest, ill person gives their last confession, and the priest offers absolution. When a loved one has passed away the family will hold a wake. A wake in the Hispanic culture is a time for family members to share memories of the deceased. A funeral is held in a church and the casket is carried to the final location. A burial is followed by the church service. According to the