The trend of the current globalized world is to eliminate borders and merge culturally. As a consequence, Halloween arrived in our country years ago. Our friends from ActitudFem share more information about this. Day of the Dead and Halloween have the same historical-cultural root, which has adapted over time to the geographical and social situation of the place where it is celebrated. In fact, the word “Halloween” is a deformation of the phrase “All Hallow’s Eve,” or “All Saints’ Night,” which has its origin in Catholic tradition. Halloween takes up the Celtic tradition of celebrating the new year on November 1, starting the festivities the day before. In this festival, Celtic priests respectfully worshipped Samhain, the lord of death, making animal and sometimes human sacrifices, and it was the spirits of these sacrificed beings that returned from the beyond to trouble the inhabitants of the towns so that they would fulfill their demands. In Mexico, this geographical and social adaptation of traditions did not lag behind. In an attempt to evangelize the natives of the new continent, Catholic missionaries adapted the rituals that existed in pre-Hispanic culture to the celebration of All Saints. The Aztecs believed that during the first full moon of November, the dead returned to the earthly world, coinciding with the end of the corn harvest, to celebrate with the living the food that the earth had given them. The dead were cremated, not buried, so on that date, the living relatives placed food that the deceased had enjoyed in life around the urn. This arrangement of food was the end of a path made with marigold flower petals that began at the front door of the house, indicating the way the deceased should follow from Mictlán, the place where the dead reside, to the reunion with their family. When merging with the Catholic religion, the path of petals led to the image of Christ or the Virgin, indicating the way to salvation. As the tradition changed from cremating the dead to burying them, it evolved to decorate the graves of the dead or set up an altar at home to honor their memory. However, the tradition of placing food that the deceased enjoyed was not lost; elements such as photos of deceased family members, a glass of water, salt, incense, candles, among others, were even added. The little skulls also have their origin in Catholic tradition, as the first missionaries asked the indigenous people to write prayers praising the virtues or defects of the deceased and to make requests for their salvation. View original article

Halloween Cake

Sweet Ghosts