✝ The Day of the Dead ✝: October 2013

10/29/2013

10 CELEBRACIONES DE DÍA DE MUERTOS EN EL MUNDO

10/27/2013

"Altar de muertos"

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An altar is a table, platform or even an entire room in which there are flowers, food, photographs, sugarcane, candles, confetti, a cross of salt and sugar skulls, among other things. "Altar de muertos" represents the Mexican way to celebrate this fest and is an icon of meanings that make this tradition something magical. An altar can have as many levels as the family want, but the most common are:

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· Altar of two levels: Means the division of heaven and earth, which means the fruits of the earth and the goodness of heaven.

· Altar of three levels: Means heaven, earth and the underworld, although to catolic religion represents the holy trinity.

· Altar of seven levels: This one is the most popular; means the seven levels that the soul must need to pass through to get rest. In Otomi culture, the seven steps represents the seven deadly sins. Number seven is associated with the number of destinations that according to the Aztec culture existed for different types of death.

México

In almost all Mexican homes, the Day of the Dead is an important tradition and families create an altar with flowers, candles, sacred images, sugar skulls, and the deceased’s favourite food and drink.

The popular belief is that the souls of our loved ones that we miss, returns from the grave during The Day of the Dead. For this reason, they are greeted with an altar. Also, death is represented in a very peculiar way. Mexicans use sarcasm to mock her. One example is the popular "La Catrina": a skull wearing different clothing as a sign of the presence of death. During this celebration, Mexicans realize several activities that are very unique.

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Create “calaveritas” is very typical. It´s about a rhyme of popular and unpopular characters using the theme of death.

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Bakers work overtime to make a special bread called “pan de muerto". These loaves are shaped like mummies. Some families stay overnight at the cemeteries to have a picnic at the graves of their loved ones. They tell stories and talk to the dead while eating their favorite food. Children also roam the streets carrying small coffins or plastic pumpkins. They knock the doors and ask for money, a similar practice to the American Halloween tradition of trick-or-treat.

China

The Ching Ming festival is to the Chinese what The Day of the Dead is for Mexicans. On this days, families go to visit the grave of their deceased relatives. This festival took place in the evening of April 4 and April 5. The festival may last a month.

Scotland

One of the traditions left by the Celts in the highlands of Scotland, is a ritual in which young men walk around their farms during the night with torches to protect their family from evil spirits that roam that night. Meanwhile, women peel an apple in front of a mirror illuminated by a chandelier, if they can do it in a single strip of peel, they will see the image of her future husband in the mirror. It is also celebrate on October 31, the end of the harvest.

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Ireland

This country performs a celebration called "Samhain", which give rise to the current Halloween. The "Samhain" is celebrated on October 31, which is the date when the ancient Celts gathered supplies and sacrifice cattle to prepare for winter. The Celts believed that on the night when they were doing this festival, the spirits of the dead returned to visited the mortal world, so they lit bonfires to ward off evil spirits.

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India

The Mahalaya is very important to the Hindu community; it marks the beginning of a peacefull year. The religious rite consist in pray for the loved ones who have died. At the ceremony, people pray for souls and ask several wishes to get peace for the rest of the year.

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South Korea

The "Taeborum" (Big Moon) is the day in which Koreans pay tribute to their ancestors and keep away the demon and bad luck. The full moon indicates the beginning of the celebration. As in the Christian tradition, families gather and pray in the cemetery remembering their loved ones. In the night, locals run to the top of a mountain to watch the moon and the first to arrive is rewarded with good luck for the rest of the year. The celebration takes place around mid-February or March.

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Haiti

In this Caribbean island, on November 2 is celebrated the Fet Gede or All Souls Day. The streets of "Puerto Príncipe" are full of people who dress in red and black (the colors of the spirits ), and head to the cemetery to participate in a sacred rite. There, people gather under the high cross of Baron and Maman Brigitte (typical places of the country). Families visit the graves of their friends and family, and they talk as if they could hear from their graves.

Thailand

In Thailand they celebrate the "Phi Ta Khon". It consists on a kind of celebration with music, songs and costume parade. Young boys dress up as spirits and ghosts to play tricks on the villagers, while the monks recite the story of the latest reincarnation of Buddha. This festival is celebrated in the first day of Buddhist holidays known as "Boon For Wate" and it may be in May, June or July. It lasts three days; in the first day, people dress up as monsters; in the second day, they dance and turn off the candles to mark the end of the procession; and in the last day, the villagers gather at the temple Wat Ponchai to hear the message Buddha recite by the monks.

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United States of America

Halloween is The Day of the Dead for Americans. It is celebrated on October 31. It refers to the day that the dead returns from the grave. For Christians it is a demonic celebration. This day is associated with ghosts, witches, monsters and other characters. Halloween´s typical activities in the U.S. are the famous trick or treating, costume parties, visit haunted houses, jokes, read scary stories and see horror movies.

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10/24/2013

Origin

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The Day of the Dead is a mexican celebration since 3000 years ago. Nowadays this celebration is an oral and intangible patrimony. The first people who celebrated this day was the mayas and aztecs. This cultures celebrated it to remembered the warriors who died in the war.

To make honors to warriors, they used to create altars in which they placed personal items that had relation with the dead people, they also put food, because they believed that they would needed in his trip to the heaven.

When the spanish soldiers arrived to Mexico (prehispanic), they decided to mixed both religions to make a new way to celebrate The Day of the Dead. Spanish brought the "pan de muertos", candles and the symbols of the catholic religion, while the prehispanic cultures preserved the "cempasúchil" flower and several items that represented the dead.

✝ The Day of the Dead ✝