It has fascinated me for some time so it just had to be blogged about finally .. before I forgot ! I want to say thank you to who ever these artists are that I made this collage from .. beautiful colourful art that is simply amazing along with this holiday : )
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality of a National Holiday. The celebration takes place on November 1st and 2nd, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.
Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl. In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.
10 comments:
Interesting information here. I had heard of this holiday but didn't really know anything about it. Thanks Joy.
An interesting,(and a tad morbid) custom.
Thanks, very interesting. Loved reading this history.
Yes, that it is!! The day before All Saint's Day is Halloween ;-) (all hollows eve)
Your collage is great! The lady with roses in her hair and a cigarette *lol* *lol*
Wonderfull pics!!
Greetz!meggie
Hello Marguerite girl : ) You are welcome ! .. It is an amazing tradition and a wonderful way to honor lost loved ones .. and a little spooky to extend Halloween ? LOL
Karen girl : ) yes .. a little morbid but totally wonderful for those people that gain closure or some kind of peace from it .. North Americans tend to scrutinize foreign traditions by their own values way too much .. it is what it is no need to read too much into it !
Lola girl you are very welcome .. it is a fascinating tradition and they feel such comfort in it : )
Hello there Meggie girl : )
Thank you! the art work is totally stunning with some pieces .. so much on the net it is overwhelming but these are a good mix and some like you pointed out are FUNNY! LOL
marvelous! You must be filled with joy as the countdown to Halloween approaches the BIG DAY! Love the Inukshuk. gail
Well girl it is getting close now to your favorite day. LOL! Trick or Treat is Thursday night here but we do not have many children anymore that come to the country for treats. They go to the big cities and hope for a big haul of candy.
Have a great Halloween my friend!
Hello there Gail girl and thank you! .. actually I am very low keyed this year .. just toomany things have happened this month and I am a bit burned out .. plus the weather has been terrible .. hard tomuster up the spirit when wind and rain are whipping around .. big sigh ! haha
Lona girl they don't have Halloween on HALLOWEEN ??? Holy COW!! .. that could be the advantage to living in the country Lona .. have the candy for yourself girl !! LOL
Dear Joy,
Dia de Finados in Brazil is completely diferent than the mexican Día de Los Muertos. In Mexico exists some, errrr, "joy" (??????), but in Brazil this is a very sad day, no matter if you have or not someone to be sad.... In Southern Brazil (Porto Alegre is southest capital of the country) we are in the end of the winter/beggins of spring, so, Finados is (almost) a cloudy, grey, windy day. Sometimes cold (i think this year will be this way), sometimes horribly hot and wet, but always cloudy and windy. But in the rest of Brazil is very hot and sunny (you know, we are so big as Canada...). Well, in a way, a sad day for us.
I think Mexico is a very good place to visit in this time, especially after I've read some things about the life of Frida Khalo and seen her biofilm ("Frida") with Salma Hayek. A good book to be read is "The Blue Dress" by german writer-director Doris Dörrie, which in large part jams a strage - and sad by different causes - german couple in a Día de Los Muertos in a small mexican city.
Well, that's it. A big hello from Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
João Inácio
Hello Joao !
Thank you for stopping by my blog: ) I appreciate your comments VERY much!
I loved the biofilm of Frida .. I thought Selma H. did a fantastic job .. I could keep watching that movie on and on in fact.
Yes .. Mexico makes it a happy colourful celebration and I think that is wonderful !
I can imagine that Brazil has so many different stages of weather .. and it is odd to think our seasons are the opposite : )
Thank you so much for suggesting the Blue Dress .. I will look for that !
A BIG Canadian hello and bear hug from Ontario Canada to you in Porto Alegre,Rio Grand do Sul Brazil Joao Inacio (sorry I can't get my squiggly accents on your name properly : )
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