Dia de los Muertos

   

 (Left)  Hi! My name is Lilly Bulski. Pronouns she/her/hers. I am from Tacoma, WA. I am a social work major. I see my future career in social work doing something that uplifts people that are mistreated and not supported by "the system. My family is from Jalisco, Mexico.

(Right) Hi! My name is Stephanie Hernandez. Pronouns she/her/hers. I am a third year nursing student. I live in Auburn, WA. My family is from Chihuahua, Mexico. Viva Chihuahua! I love my culture and am more than happy to share it with you guys! 

      Dia De Los Muertos, translated in English as Day of the Dead, is a three-day celebration that honors the passing and life of your loved ones with many aspects of celebration including putting up an ofrenda, meaning altar in English. This celebration is practiced every year, starting on October 31st and ending on November 2nd. This event is not meant to be a mourning occasion but instead a day to celebrate along with your loved ones who have passed through the ofrenda. The ofrenda, translated as the altar, is set-up to commemorate the dead loved one. There are various items placed on it that each have a significant meaning in which we will discuss below. 

    The altar is the most important piece in the celebration. It is the offering made to the dead, these offerings include their favorite foods, objects that serve as the reminder of the deceased, flowers, and pictures. It is also traditionally decorated colorfully through paper cut outs called papel picado, skulls and a picture of the dead. 

    The importance of putting up a photograph of the deceased is as a symbolism to show that they are not forgotten here on earth. It is very important to place a picture of the deceased, with the picture up it physically shows the “other side” (supernatural) that they are in fact still being remembered here on earth. It also helps the dead find their own ofrenda made by their loved ones. 

    Moving on to the flowers, they are either placed on the altar or in a form of a design. It is not just any type of flowers, it is specifically the cempasúchil, a type of marigold flower native to Mexico. If you are not familiar with cempasúchil flowers they have a strong scent and are also very bright colors, yellow and orange. With their strong scent and bright colors they are believed to help guide the dead to find their altar. 

    Lastly, let's talk about the food! The food placed on the 

table is usually their favorite food. This can be coffee, 

wine, cookies or bread. A famous bread placed on the altar 

is named “pan de muerto”, translated as bread of the dead, 

as you can see in the picture to the right. As I mentioned 

earlier Dia De Los Muertos is a celebration. During 

celebration we eat! Those on earth eat and so do those 

who have died. This is why the favorite food of the dead is 

placed on the altar, in order for them to eat it on this day 

of celebration.

    The altar is a small but very important part to the celebration of Dia De Los Muertos. More can be written on the history and beliefs behind this event but I hope this writing on specifically the altar and the objects placed on it taught you something new about this Mexican holiday. Remember Dia de los Muertos starts October 31st! 

Thank you for reading our blog. 

Stephanie Hernandez and Lilly Bulski