The Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey.

The holiday is sometimes called Día de los Muertos in Anglophone countries, a back translation of its original name, Día de Muertos. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a public holiday. Prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration took place at the beginning of summer. Gradually, it was associated with October 31, November 1, and November 2 to coincide with the Western Christianity triduum of Allhallowtide: All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas, honoring the deceased using calaveras, aztec marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Visitors also leave possessions of the deceased at the graves.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The holiday has spread throughout the world, being absorbed into other deep traditions in honor of the dead. It has become a national symbol and as such is taught (for educational purposes) in the nation’s schools. Many families celebrate a traditional “All Saints’ Day” associated with the Catholic Church.

Originally, the Day of the Dead as such was not celebrated in northern Mexico, where it was unknown until the 20th century because its indigenous people had different traditions. The people and the church rejected it as a day related to syncretizing pagan elements with Catholic Christianity. They held the traditional ‘All Saints’ Day‘ in the same way as other Christians in the world. There was limited Mesoamerican influence in this region, and relatively few indigenous inhabitants from the regions of Southern Mexico, where the holiday was celebrated. In the early 21st century in northern Mexico, Día de Muertos is observed because the Mexican government made it a national holiday based on educational policies from the 1960s; it has introduced this holiday as a unifying national tradition based on indigenous traditions.

The Mexican Day of the Dead celebration is similar to other societies’ observances of a time to honor the dead. The Spanish tradition, for instance, includes festivals and parades, as well as gatherings of families at cemeteries to pray for their deceased loved ones at the end of the day.

In Belize, Day of the Dead is practiced by people of the Yucatec Maya ethnicity. The celebration is known as Hanal Pixan which means “food for the souls” in their language. Altars are constructed and decorated with food, drinks, candies, and candles put on them.

Día de las Ñatitas (“Day of the Skulls”) is a festival celebrated in La Paz, Bolivia, on May 5. In pre-Columbian times indigenous Andeans had a tradition of sharing a day with the bones of their ancestors on the third year after burial. Today families keep only the skulls for such rituals. Traditionally, the skulls of family members are kept at home to watch over the family and protect them during the year. On November 9, the family crowns the skulls with fresh flowers, sometimes also dressing them in various garments, and making offerings of cigarettes, coca leaves, alcohol, and various other items in thanks for the year’s protection. The skulls are also sometimes taken to the central cemetery in La Paz for a special Mass and blessing.

The Brazilian public holiday of Finados (Day of the Dead) is celebrated on November 2. Similar to other Day of the Dead celebrations, people go to cemeteries and churches with flowers and candles and offer prayers. The celebration is intended as a positive honoring of the dead. Memorializing the dead draws from indigenous, African and European Catholic origins.

Guatemalan celebrations of the Day of the Dead, on November 1, are highlighted by the construction and flying of giant kites in addition to the traditional visits to grave sites of ancestors. A big event also is the consumption of fiambre, which is made only for this day during the year.

In Ecuador the Day of the Dead is observed to some extent by all parts of society, though it is especially important to the indigenous Kichwa peoples, who make up an estimated quarter of the population. Indigena families gather together in the community cemetery with offerings of food for a day-long remembrance of their ancestors and lost loved ones. Ceremonial foods include colada morada, a spiced fruit porridge that derives its deep purple color from the Andean blackberry and purple maize. This is typically consumed with guagua de pan, a bread shaped like a swaddled infant, though variations include many pigs—the latter being traditional to the city of Loja. The bread, which is wheat flour-based today, but was made with masa in the pre-Columbian era, can be made savory with cheese inside or sweet with a filling of guava paste. These traditions have permeated mainstream society, as well, where food establishments add both colada morada and gaugua de pan to their menus for the season. Many non-indigenous Ecuadorians visit the graves of the deceased, cleaning and bringing flowers, or preparing the traditional foods, too.

Usually people visit the cemetery and bring flowers to decorate the graves of dead relatives. Sometimes people play music at the cemetery.

In many American communities with Mexican residents, Day of the Dead celebrations are very similar to those held in Mexico. In some of these communities, in states such as Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, the celebrations tend to be mostly traditional. The All Souls Procession has been an annual Tucson, Arizona event since 1990. The event combines elements of traditional Day of the Dead celebrations with those of pagan harvest festivals. People wearing masks carry signs honoring the dead and an urn in which people can place slips of paper with prayers on them to be burned. Likewise, Old Town San Diego, California annually hosts a traditional two-day celebration culminating in a candlelight procession to the historic El Campo Santo Cemetery.

The festival also is held annually at historic Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Sponsored by Forest Hills Educational Trust and the folkloric performance group La Piñata, the Day of the Dead festivities celebrate the cycle of life and death. People bring offerings of flowers, photos, mementos, and food for their departed loved ones, which they place at an elaborately and colorfully decorated altar. A program of traditional music and dance also accompanies the community event.

The Smithsonian Institution, in collaboration with the University of Texas at El Paso and Second Life, have created a Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum and accompanying multimedia e-book: Día de los Muertos: Day of the Dead. The project’s website contains some of the text and images which explain the origins of some of the customary core practices related to the Day of the Dead, such as the background beliefs and the offrenda (the special altar commemorating one’s deceased loved one).

The Made For iTunes multimedia e-book version provides additional content, such as further details; additional photo galleries; pop-up profiles of influential Latino artists and cultural figures over the decades; and video clips of interviews with artists who make Día de Muertos-themed artwork, explanations and performances of Aztec and other traditional dances, an animation short that explains the customs to children, virtual poetry readings in English and Spanish.

Santa Ana, California is said to hold the “largest event in Southern California” honoring Día de Muertos, called the annual Noche de Altares, which began in 2002. The celebration of the Day of the Dead in Santa Ana has grown to two large events with the creation of an event held at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center for the first time on November 1, 2015.

In other communities, interactions between Mexican traditions and American culture are resulting in celebrations in which Mexican traditions are being extended to make artistic or sometimes political statements. For example, in Los Angeles, California, the Self Help Graphics & Art Mexican-American cultural center presents an annual Day of the Dead celebration that includes both traditional and political elements, such as altars to honor the victims of the Iraq War, highlighting the high casualty rate among Latino soldiers. An updated, intercultural version of the Day of the Dead is also evolving at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. There, in a mixture of Native Californian art, Mexican traditions and Hollywood hip, conventional altars are set up side-by-side with altars to Jayne Mansfield and Johnny Ramone. Colorful native dancers and music intermix with performance artists, while sly pranksters play on traditional themes.

Similar traditional and intercultural updating of Mexican celebrations are held in San Francisco. For example, the Galería de la Raza, SomArts Cultural Center, Mission Cultural Center, de Young Museum and altars at Garfield Square by the Marigold Project. Oakland is home to Corazon Del Pueblo in the Fruitvale district. Corazon Del Pueblo has a shop offering handcrafted Mexican gifts and a museum devoted to Day of the Dead artifacts. Also, the Fruitvale district in Oakland serves as the hub of the Día de Muertos annual festival which occurs the last weekend of October. Here, a mix of several Mexican traditions come together with traditional Aztec dancers, regional Mexican music, and other Mexican artisans to celebrate the day.

Europe

As part of a promotion by the Mexican embassy in Prague, Czech Republic, since the late 20th century, some local citizens join in a Mexican-style Day of the Dead. A theatre group produces events featuring masks, candles, and sugar skulls.

Asia and Oceania

Mexican-style Day of the Dead celebrations occur in major cities in Australia, Fiji, and Indonesia. Additionally, prominent celebrations are held in Wellington, New Zealand, complete with altars celebrating the deceased with flowers and gifts. In the Philippines “Undás”, “Araw ng mga Yumao” (Tagalog, Day of those who have passed away), coincides with the Roman Catholic’s celebration of All Saint’s Day and continues on to the following day of All Soul’s Day. Filipinos traditionally observe this day by visiting the family dead to clean and repair their tombs. Offerings of prayers, flowers, candles, and even food, while Chinese Filipinos additionally burn joss sticks and kim. Many also spend the day and ensuing night holding reunions at the cemetery, having feasts and merriment.

Your wondering why I posted this ? Well as you know, I did a skull art project that I posted on my blog this week. And it for me wondering about the start of these colourful skulls. So with the help of Wikipedia 😁 I found all this amazing facts. And after reading I just thought I’d share.

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What affects our mental health

Some of us are more deeply affected by events than others. How we deal with things can also depend on how well other parts of our life are going or how well supported we feel.

There are lots of things you can do and organisations that can help.

Our personal lives and relationships

Caring for someone else

Looking after someone else can be a positive and rewarding experience, but it can also be mentally and physically draining.

Helping someone else gives you less time for your own needs and thoughts. Although you may really want to care for them, you may also find it difficult and upsetting, or might feel overwhelmed and unable to look after yourself properly.

The impact of bereavement

Over our lifetime we’re all likely to experience the loss of a friend or loved one. Whenever it happens, it will be a difficult time.

Grief affects us in different ways. There’s no right or wrong way to feel.

When we are bereaved, we are likely to feel waves of emotions as we come to terms with loss. These can include sadness, guilt, shock and anger. All are normal after a death.

Loneliness and mental health

Loneliness can affect anyone, young or old, and can happen in any situation. We may live in a busy city or a rural location, on our own or with others and still feel isolated.

We may be isolated physically or feel alone in a crowd, or we might be emotionally isolated because of something we have experienced that’s difficult to share.

Sometimes important life events make us lonely, like leaving school or work, moving home or having a baby. We may also face discrimination, which can make us feel lonely or excluded.

Discrimination and mental health

Discrimination can come in many different forms and can have a big effect on our mental health.

An act of discrimination could be losing out on a job or promotion because of who we are or what we believe in.

It may also mean not getting the support you need, feeling threatened or being excluded from a group.

Money, work or housing

Work and unemployment issues

Having a job can help us feel a sense of achievement, give us a feeling of belonging and connect us to others, on top of the obvious financial benefits.

But if we face stressful situations in the workplace or are unable to work, it can have a big impact on our health and wellbeing.

We sometimes face difficult issues around work, which may include:

• a lack of control of our workload
• high demands on our time and energy
• fear of redundancy
• poor line management
• difficult relationships with colleagues
• bullying or harassment in the workplace
• workplace discrimination

It’s not always clear what the best thing to do is, but if work issues are becoming difficult to deal with, there are ways you can get help.

Being out of work can affect our sense of identity and purpose, cause money worries and may make it difficult to maintain self-confidence, particularly if you’re unable to work or have been made redundant or unemployed.

It may also damage your confidence if you have missed out on opportunities or are stuck in a career rut, or do not know what to do next.

Although retirement is something many of us look forward to, it can also be a challenging time. But there are things you can do to help ease this transition from working life.

Our home environment and mental health

Damp or cold housing, overcrowding, problems with landlords and debt can all be bad for our mental wellbeing, even when we think the problem is only temporary or we know how to fix it.

Homelessness is extremely stressful and many of the things that cause it are beyond our control, such as disability and poverty.

Being homeless can make it even harder for someone with poor mental health to recover and find secure, stable housing and a job, as well as making it harder to form healthy relationships.

Life changes

Starting university

Young adults going to university can feel unsupported because their usual support network of family and friends are not around.

They may have difficulty adapting to new accommodation, the demands of the academic timetable and looking after themselves. This can naturally put a strain on their mental wellbeing.

Pregnancy and bringing up children

A pregnancy is a huge change in our lives, especially if it’s a first baby. It can be an exciting time, but physical changes can result in poor sleep caused by discomfort, and hormonal changes can result in up-and-down moods. 

Some people cope with these changes well, but others find it harder, particularly if they have to deal with morning sickness or health conditions such as diabetes.

Relationships will also be tested, particularly with a partner who may also be worried or confused.

Miscarriage or stillbirth may be a big worry for many pregnant women and those around them. If a miscarriage or stillbirth happens, it can be devastating and can be linked to symptoms of trauma.

While many people are aware you can become depressed after having a baby, it’s less well known that many women experience anxiety during and after pregnancy. In fact, it’s common to experience depression and anxiety together.

Some people may be particularly anxious about childbirth. Some people may experience postnatal depression and a small number experience postpartum psychosis.

There are lots of sources of support and information that can help if you are pregnant, have had a baby or have been through a miscarriage.

Ageing and later life

Ageing happens to us all. Later life can be full of amazing new experiences. Retirement can give you newfound freedom, and grandchildren can be a joy.

But many of us find the change hard, especially if work played a major part of our lives. Sudden loss of status and financial security, and the withdrawal from social networks and activities at work can all affect our mental wellbeing.

When children leave home, it can also be a new phase of life, but it might feel as if the house is empty. It can also put a different focus on relationships with partners or friends, and this could cause friction.

You may also find that you’re caring for an elderly, ill or disabled parent or partner.

As we age, we may find we lose our financial or physical independence. We might struggle to go out or do things alone, or may not have the money to engage in activities we once enjoyed and that connected us to other people.

Being in a care home or having a long stay in hospital can break the familiar routines of our life, causing us to feel confused and maybe even depressed.

There are also natural changes to the body that are part of the ageing process. Some of these, such as the menopause, can often result in low mood and anxiety.

It can feel like signs of depression or struggles with our mental health are an inevitable part of getting older, but they do not need to be. 

Health issues

Traumatic events and mental health

Some experiences can be devastating when they happen but also continue to have effects that last a long time.

Children who witness or experience trauma are more likely to have problems as adults.

There are many traumatic events that can affect mental health, such as:

• being neglected or abused as a child
• being sexually or physically abused as an adult
• experiencing relationship abuse
• living in areas of armed conflict
• working in the armed forces, emergency services or related professions, such as social work

Witnesses to traumatic events can also be strongly affected by them. You may feel confused, afraid or angry, and may also feel guilty, ashamed or numb about the events you have experienced.

Traumatic events can be things like serious accidents, natural or man-made disasters, or a traumatic childbirth.

When we experience traumatic events, our body’s defences take effect and create a stress response, which may make us feel physical changes or intense emotions, or behave differently.

Directly after the event, we may experience shock and denial. This can give way over hours or days to feelings like sadness, anger and guilt.

Many people feel better and recover gradually, but traumatic life events increase our risk of poorer mental health, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Smoking, drinking, gambling and drug misuse

Have to share this one today ……

Dog Walkers ……

Unless your dog is fully trained, I really don’t think you should let them off their lead. We are hearing of more and more people (especially kids) being attacked by dogs. And then there is the owner who lets his dog worry sheep, chase cows. That’s bad!!! There is no need to do that.

Please pick up after your dog has left a pile of poo on the floor ….. don’t walk away, don’t pretend you didn’t see your dog take a dump!!! The amount of times I’ve stepped in dog poo. Or on the grass, your walking through a d it’s not till you get home, you realise you’ve walked it all through the house!!! There are bins to put the poop in. Letting you dog leave a mess in the park!!! There are kids playing there!!! Seriously!!! If they fall over in it!!! 🤢

Rant over 😉

Is there anything that makes you mad? Or do you have a different opinion from mine? I don’t own a dog now, but I grew up around dogs.

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