Los Dias de Los Muertos

The “Days of the Dead” (Los Dias de los Muertos, in Spanish) are celebrated in Mexico and the parts of the United States that used to be Mexico – New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, California, and possibly a few other areas.

It can be really eerie to see some of the images from a typical celebration of Dias de Los Muertos. For example, there are life-death statuettes where a photo of a living person is shown and next to it is a skeleton. They do this because they believe that there is a duality of life and death.

Months before the holiday the gravesites are cleaned and painted. During Dias de los Muertos, many families visit cemeteries with skeletons. They decorate the gravesite with bouquets of flowers and have a picnic where they offer food and gifts to the deceased in order to strengthen their spirit. Believe it or not, the cemetery becomes a very lively place!

What I like are the altars. When a person loves someone that has passed on, it is common to erect an altar to the person. The altar is decorated with belongings of the loved one, photos of them, candles, and sometimes flowers. 

Learn Spanish and you'll be able to witness these interesting celebrations and better understand their cultural significance.

Additional Spanish cultural snippets:

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Spanish Dialects

Life in Latin America

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