What are the Days of the Dead?
This is an ancient festivity that has been much transformed through the years, but which was intended in Prehispanic Mexico to celebrate children and the dead. Hence, the best way to describe this Mexican holiday is to say that it is time when Mexican families remember their dead and the continuity of life. Two important things to know about the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) are: 1. It is a holiday with a complex history, and therefore its observance varies quite a bit by region and by degree of urbanization. 2. It is not a morbid occasion, but rather a festive time. The original celebration can be traced to many Mesoamerican native traditions. In the Aztec calendar, this ritual fell roughly at the end of the Gregorian month of July and the beginning of August, but in the postconquest era it was moved by Spanish priests so that it coincided with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve (in Spanish: “Día de Todos Santos.”) This was a vain effort to transform the observanc
