10 facts to know about Day of the Expressionless

Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday, historic on the first 2 days of November. Its purpose is to celebrate the lives of the deceased on the days of the year when their spirits are believed to return to our world. It is a national vacation, seen by many in Mexico as second merely to Christmas in terms of its importance, and it is growing in popularity around the world thanks to the Mexican diaspora away. To assist illustrate how fascinating this holiday truly is, here are x things you should know:

1 - Day of the Dead is NOT Mexican Halloween

Contrary to what is often portrayed in popular culture, the Day of the Dead is non Mexico'south version of Halloween. Even though they fall around the aforementioned time of yr, and have similarities, the two are unlike holidays with separate origins and unique traditions. Halloween has its origins in the Celtic harvest festival of Samhain, while Twenty-four hour period of the Dead is rooted in the aboriginal religious traditions of Mesoamerica's indigenous population. Halloween, as it is practiced today, involves trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, and decorating pumpkins. Day of the Dead traditions involve none of those things. In Halloween, spirits are seen as scary, or something to exist warded off. 24-hour interval of the Dead focuses on receiving the souls of dead relatives with joy and hospitality.

​​A candlelight vigil with Mexican people dressed in traditional Day of the Dead wardrobe and intricately painted skull faces

2 - The vacation has a rich and ancient history, dating back over 2000 years.

As mentioned above, the roots of Solar day of the Dead run deep in Mexican history and engagement back to the days before the Spanish conquest. Pre-columbian civilizations had a multifariousness of celebrations aimed at honoring the dead. However, many of the traditions we know today come from the religious practices of the Aztecs, who believed unlike afterlives existed depending on how people died. One of these is Mictlán, the concluding destination for those who died of natural causes, and ruled by the goddess Mictecacíhuatl, often represented by a skull. The Aztecs believed that in order to reach Mictlán, souls had to complete an arduous journey. To assist the deceased forth this journey, the Aztecs would make offerings of useful objects at their relatives' burial sites. Several Aztec holidays involved rituals to honor the deceased, including decorating tree stumps and placing offerings for dead relatives. These traditions set the precedent for the Ofrendas, or Day of the Expressionless altars placed by Mexican families today.

After colonization, these traditions were Christianized and became incorporated into the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, producing a unique syncretism of traditions. The traditions were moved from summertime to November 1st and 2d to coincide with these two days.

​​Women with skull mask and traditional Mexican dress

3 - Mexican families place Ofrendas to honor their deceased relatives

In the days preceding the vacation, information technology is customary to build a shrine to honor one's deceased relatives. These shrines, referred to in Spanish as "Ofrendas," are bright, colorful, and ornate. They are adorned in orange and purple, the holiday'southward traditional colors, and busy with flowers, including marigolds, and busy paper crafts, including the traditional "papel picado." Placed atop these altars are photographs of the deceased, objects that were precious to them, and foods they enjoyed in life. These sit down aslope sugar skulls, candles, the traditional Pan de Muertos, crosses, and statues and icons of Jesus and Saints. Secular, and non-Cosmic Mexicans will often avoid placing this religious iconography on their Ofrendas.

During the holiday, Ofrendas are non only placed in homes, but too in schools, offices, and public squares. In cities effectually Mexico, public Ofrendas become a spectacle in itself, attracting dozens of people to view these gorgeous, big-scale altars placed within public view. They are often made past well-known artists, adopt a yearly theme, and are meant to honor important figures in Mexican history and culture.

​​Dimly lite ofrenda with candles, marigold flowers, and pan de muerto

four - Day of the Expressionless isn't somber, it is a celebration

While many would expect 24-hour interval of the Dead to be a solemn memorial day, it is actually a joyous occasion, meant every bit a commemoration of life. Instead of everything beingness dark and somber, as is normally associated with mourning rituals, the holiday is bright and colorful, with decorations filling well-nigh every dwelling and public space in the country. It is common to have celebratory meals with family, as well as street parties with music and dancing. In many towns, there are celebratory processions involving masks, puppets, and colorful costumes.

​​Colorful skeleton figurine made of intricate pieces of paper

5 - Humour has played an important office in the vacation

Given that Day of the Expressionless is a festivity, it has become mutual to interject classic Mexican humor to add together to the light-heartedness of the occasion. Twenty-four hour period of the Expressionless fine art often features skeletons drinking, dancing and celebrating, and these skeletons are frequently depicted in humorous situations. Since the 19th Century, the vacation has become synonymous with the art of Mexican cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada, who created quirky skeleton-based art and characters, including the iconic La Catrina.

Another tradition that reflects this is the custom of writing "calaveritas" which are brusk, humorous poems virtually a living person and how they died. These are frequently shared betwixt friends and family unit, or are published in magazines and newspapers to satirize celebrities and politicians.

​​Humorous skeleton figuring of a couple that appears to be painting

6 - Information technology is customary to visit cemeteries

A key part of the holiday involves going to the cemetery and spending time at the graves of loved ones. In preparation for Day of the Dead, families will make clean and launder the graves of their departed, and decorate them with candles, and flowers such as marigolds. They will bring offerings of food that the deceased enjoyed and objects that were meaningful to them in life. In the case of children, toys will be brought to the grave site. In many parts of the country, families will share a meal alongside the graves of their relatives, while sharing stories and memories about the loved ones they have lost.

​​A women sitting in a chair in a cemetery at night for Day of the Dead

7 - Marigolds are a central component

The Flor de Cempasuchil, also known every bit Mexican Marigold is a bright orange flower that grows around Mexico during autumn. It has go an important symbol of the Day of the Expressionless. Around the time of the vacation, it is seen everywhere, from Ofrendas, to public buildings, and even parks. The reason for this is non only the fact that it is a seasonal flower, but also because of the bloom'south uniquely strong odor. This smell is believed, according to Mexican folklore, to attract spirits. For this reason, information technology is traditionally placed in Ofrendas to attract the souls of the deceased to their living relatives' homes. The flower is also strongly associated with the lord's day and rebirth, given its orange color.

Bright orange marigolds that surround two baskets in a cemetery

eight - Pastries and sweets are central to the holiday

Similar whatever special occasion in United mexican states, food plays a vital function. The traditional meal often includes Mexican favorites similar tamales and atole, but what most people look forwards to during the flavour are the desserts. The main item of food associated with the holiday is Pan de Muertos, a delicious loaf of sugariness bread, coated in carbohydrate, and decorated to resemble a pile of bones.

​​Fluffy loaf of the traditional bread pastry called Pan de Muerto

Some other staple is the carbohydrate skull. An ornately busy saccharide sculpture shaped like a skull that tin be both a cute decoration or a sugariness treat. They come in both edible and not-edible varieties. The more than decorative sugar skulls will often contain a space to write the proper noun of a deceased loved ane to be placed on acme of the Ofrenda. The edible version is simpler, and commonly made from a softer kind of sugar. Edible skulls can also be found in a chocolate version, and bakeries and sweet shops across the state make skull shaped pastries, cookies, and even gummies for the holiday.

​​Chocalate sugar skulls on a plate

9 - Unlike traditions exist in dissimilar parts of the state

Mexico is a very large and diverse land, and, as such, it is non a homogenous place. Thus, Day of the Dead celebrations tend to vary from place to place. It is not uncommon for different towns to accept their own unique traditions. Mixquic, merely exterior of United mexican states Metropolis, decorates the town with paper chains and stars in social club to guide the spirits, while in Patzcuaro, Michoacán, people travel to the cemetery past riding candle-lit boats across the lake at night. In the Yucatán peninsula, it is customary to have a holiday meal in which the main dish is pib, a tamale-like maize-based casserole.

​​Roadway paved with Papel Picado and a view of the city beyond

10 - The Mean solar day of the Dead parade in United mexican states City is a very contempo addition

Going by the opening scene in the most recent James Bond movie SPECTRE, i would presume that the Twenty-four hour period of the Dead parade in Mexico City is a pretty big deal. Nonetheless, the parade and street party seen in the film were really entirely fictional and devised by the film'due south writers. Given the interest this generated from tourists, the Mexico City authorities actually created its own version of the parade inspired by the film a few years ago. The parade became extremely popular, just it was not without its critics who chided the increased commercialization of the holiday.

​​Two girls posing with a Skeleton in a Mexico City parade