29/10/2025
D I O • D E • L O S • M U E R T O S | 💀
Greeting and salutations …..
The Day of the Dead celebrations actually run over several days from 28th October until 2nd November across countries such as Mexico.
DIA DE LOS ANGELITOS
The DAY OF THE LITTLE ANGELS starts the holiday at midnight on 1st November, where the spirits of all deceased children are believed to be reunited with their families for 24 hours. Families construct an altar, known as an ofrenda, with the departed child’s favourite snacks, sweets, toys, and photographs to encourage a visit from their departed children. The names of the departed children will often be written on a sugar skull.
DIA DE LOS DIFUNTOS
At midnight of the following day (2nd November), the celebrations shift to honour the SPIRITS OF DEPARTED ADULTS. The night is filled with laughter and fun memories, much like the night before.
However, the Ofrendas take on a more adult-like theme with tequila, pan de mu**to, mezcal, pulque and jars of Atole. Families will also play games together, reminisce about their loved ones, and dance while the village band plays in their town.
DIA DES LOS MU***OS
From noon on the 2nd of November is the grand finale and public celebration of the SPIRITS OF ALL THE DEAD. In more recent times, people come together in their cities, dressed up with Calavera painted faces (Skeletons) and have parades in the streets. Cemetery visits are also common on the last day as families will go to decorate the grave sites with Marigold flowers, gifts, and sugar skulls with the departed’s name on them. It’s customary to clean the grave stone and restore the colour.
h o w t o c e l e b r a t e …..
CALAVERAS are ubiquitous during Day of the Dead. The skulls are often drawn with a smile as to laugh at death itself. They take many forms such as sugar candies, clay decorations, and most memorable: face painting. Sugar skulls are decorated and placed on ofrendas of loved ones. A Calavera, or sugar skull, is a decorative skulls made (usually by hand) from either sugar (called Alfeñiques) or clay which are used in the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead.
FLOR DE MU**TO (Spanish for ‘flower of the dead), are believed to be the pathways that guide the spirits to their ofrendas. The marigold’s vibrant colours and scent attract the departed souls, as they return to feast on their favorite foods. They symbolise the beauty and fragility of life. Marigold flowers include around 60 annuals and perennials that are native to Mexico and Central America.
LA CATRINA is one of the strongest and most recognizable symbols of The Day of the Dead celebrations. She is the tall female skeleton wearing a fancy hat with feathers and the essence of her story goes deep into Mexican traditions and roots.
It is believed that the Aztecs worshipped a goddess of death that they alleged protected their departed loved ones, helping them into the next stages.
The skeleton with the hat that we see today came to life in the early 1900’s by artist José Guadalupe Posada. Posada was a controversial and political cartoonist that was liked by the people and who drew and etched skeletons (calaveras) in a satirical way to remind people that they would all end up dead in the end. It is said that he drew the dandy-looking female skeleton with a fancy feathered hat because some Mexicans had aspirations to look wealthy and aristocratic like the Europeans at that time. A satirical drawing to remind people to be themselves and to stop trying to be something that they weren’t. No matter how rich or poor you were, no matter the colour of your skin, and no matter what society you belonged to, you would all end up skeletons …..
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