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Halloween |
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If you are looking to experience a different type of celebration for Halloween (Dia de las Brujas), you need to be here on the island on October 31st. Halloween is celebrated in Mexico and has been for the past forty (40) years. It is gaining in popularity, and unsurprisingly is especially popular among children. Mexican trick-or-treaters, however, do not shout "trick-or-treat," which is difficult to pronounce in Spanish. Instead, they chant "Queremos Halloween (We Want Halloween)!
While the "Americanized" version of Halloween has gained in popularity in the past years here in Mexico, Halloween is an important festival in Mexico and the people here celebrate it with full enthusiasm. There are variations in the celebrations from one state to another, but for most in Mexico, Halloween is celebrated as an extended holiday, which lasts for three (3) days. October 31st is celebrated as the Young Souls Day, November 1st is the All Saints Day and the last day, November 2nd is observed as the All Souls Day / Day of the Dead.
In Mexico, families start Halloween by cleaning the graves of their relatives. They use hoes, shovels and picks, to remove the weeds and completely clean the graves. They decorate the graves with pine needles and flowers and usually erect a temporary altar near the gravesite. The altars are decorated with flowers, bread, fruit and candy. Different types of food are placed like beans, chilies, salt, tortillas, meat, fruit and sometimes even alcohol! The marigold flower is prominently displayed as it is considered to have a long term association with death! The photos of the departed souls are placed on the altar. In the late afternoon, people light the special candles, which burn throughout the night. Skulls are an indispensable part of the celebration and these can be seen laid on altars as well. People will also speak to the departed souls and offer the gifts they have laid on the altars, in a way, they are assuring the dead that they are loved by their living relatives.
Halloween is believed to have originated from pre-Hispanic Mexico, when Aztecs, Mayans and other indigenous people inhabited the country. People believe that on this day, the departed souls of their near and dear ones come to visit them. It is believed that the souls eat and drink with their living relatives. The popular notion attached with the festival is that loved ones never die and they come back, at least once in a year. During Halloween, Mexicans put on the costumes of ghouls, mummies, ghosts and skeletons and walk through the town, carrying an open coffin. The local vendors put oranges, flowers, fruits and candies into the coffin, as it passes their markets.
If you are here on the island on October 31st, be prepared for three (3) days of celebrations that start on Halloween! The Mexican tradition of remembering and honoring their dead is a beautiful event and while there are many "American" aspects now with Halloween, you will still see and experience many of the original Mexican culture ways to honor departed loved ones!
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Copyright 2000 - 2024 Sherri Davis, All Rights Reserved. Contributors retain the copyright to their work. Please do not take art or written content without permission. Other graphics and reference materials are used and attributed as per the Fair Use Provision of The Copyright Act and individual terms of use.
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