{"id":10906,"date":"2017-10-25T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=10906"},"modified":"2017-10-24T17:20:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T21:20:03","slug":"day-of-the-dead-dia-de-muertos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/day-of-the-dead-dia-de-muertos\/","title":{"rendered":"Day of the Dead (D\u00eda de Muertos)"},"content":{"rendered":"

While people in many western countries attend parties and go trick-or-treating to celebrate Halloween, Mexico begins its traditional celebration of\u00a0D\u00eda de Muertos<\/strong>\u00a0(Day of the Dead). Although the two holidays happen at the same time, they are actually quite different. Today we’ll take a closer look at this important holiday, starting with its origins.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n
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Image by Pelle Sten from flickr.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s believed that the origins of\u00a0D\u00eda de Muertos<\/em> go back thousands of years to an Aztec festival dedicated to Mictecacihuatl. She was the goddess of the underworld, with a name meaning “Lady of the Dead.” This festival took place in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, which was usually in August. After Spanish colonization, the holiday began to be associated with the end of October so that it would coincide with the Christian celebration of Allhallowtide.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The multi-day holiday is meant to remember and honor the dead. This is not a mournful time, though – it’s meant to be a celebration of the people and the lives they lived. The idea is that if the dead returned to find everyone all sad and depressed, they would be quite disappointed. As you will soon find out, Day of the Dead is quite festive and colorful. This traditional holiday even made the UNESCO list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.<\/p>\n

It’s believed that the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on November 1st, when the spirits of deceased children are allowed to return and visit family. That’s why this day is often referred to as\u00a0D\u00eda de los Inocentes\u00a0<\/i>(Day of the Innocents) or\u00a0D\u00eda de los Angelitos\u00a0<\/i>(Day of the Little Angels). The next day, the spirits of adults will join the festivities.<\/p>\n