What Is The Day Of The Dead?
Although Halloween and El Dia de Los Muertos are celebrated at the same time of year, and skeletons are prominent symbols of both holidays, people often mistakenly assume that the Day of the Dead is just a Mexican version of Halloween. The two holidays do have some aspects in common – both trace their origins back thousands of years, and both were transformed with the spread of Christianity. While Halloween evolved from the Celtic holiday Samhain, the Day of the Dead sprang from pre-Columbian Mesoamerican festivals that celebrated departed ancestors. Just as Samhain was replaced with the holy days All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day (and later, the secular holiday Halloween), the ancient Aztec and Toltec harvest festivals (traditionally celebrated in late summer) were replaced with the Day of the Dead, also celebrated on All ~ and All Souls’ Days. But the similarity between the two holidays ends there. While Halloween emphasizes fear of other worldly creatures and the ghoulish aspects o
