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Facts and Misconceptions About Mexican Día de Muertos

As Día de los Muertos has grown in popularity in the United States, so have the misconceptions surrounding it.

In researching the most common falsities associated with Muertos, we were a bit overwhelmed. There were too many! We’re going to try to clarify a few, and hopefully provide some helpful information for those seeking to learn more about this very special Mexican holiday.

• Muertos Does Not Celebrate Death

Before European contact, death for the Mexica and other Indigenous Peoples was not seen as final. Death was the place of silence, of regeneration; it was a natural part of life.

Because Día de los Muertos uses skulls and skeletons as symbols; and because, of course, it’s called Day of the Dead in English, the assumption by many is that it celebrates death. It really celebrates the lives of our ancestors and deceased loved ones.

• Muertos Is Not Mexican Halloween

There’s no such thing as “Mexican Halloween.” Halloween and Muertos are two completely separate things that aside from proximity in date, have really nothing to do with each other.

A traditional Muertos celebration includes offerings of food (pan de muerto, mole, etc.), water, tobacco, fruit, sweets (sugar skulls) and alcohol (depending on the deceased).

Blood, ghoul, spiders and spider webs, and Halloween motifs are not traditional elements of a Muertos celebration.

• Muertos Is Not Latino

Most serious scholars and news outlets refer to Muertos as Mexican Day of the Dead. However, several make the mistake of calling it a Latin American holiday; some even claim it originated in Spain.

Yes, Día de los Muertos is celebrated on the Catholic All Saints Day and All Souls Day, but let us not confuse the traditional with the colonized.

Long before our ancestors ever heard the words “Día de los Fieles Difuntos” and were forced to follow the Catholic calendar, they were following their own calendar, both solar and ceremonial, and were honoring their deceased in months long festivals.

The fact that today we celebrate Día de los Muertos on November 1 and 2 — the same days many others honor their dead — is a result of colonization, not a choice our ancestors made freely.

Nevertheless, the essence of Muertos is directly tied to the ancient ways of our ancestors. Whether it’s sugar skulls, papel picado, pan de muerto, cempasúchil, and even “La Catrina,” — all which are uniquely Mexican — Muertos is an affirmation of our Indigenous heritage. Calling it a Latin American holiday is simply inaccurate.

• Muertos Is Mexican

Día de los Muertos, or Día de Muertos, as it’s more commonly known in Mexico, is an Indigenous Mexican holiday that traces its origins to two 20-day festivals that a part of the Mexica (Aztec) ceremonial calendar.

The first, Miccailhuitontli, which means Feast to the Revered Deceased, is believed to have been celebrated between present day July 12 and July 31. It honored deceased children.

The second 20-day festival, Huey Miccailhuitontli, or Feast to the Greatly Revered Deceased, was likely celebrated from present day August 1 to August 20. This festival honored deceased adults.

In 2003, UNESCO proclaimed Mexico’s “Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead” as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

• Muertos Is Revolutionary

Artist José Guadalupe Posada’s famous Calavera Garbancera, more commonly known as “La Catrina,” was made in protest of the Porfiriato, the regime of Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz, whose repressive ways led to the Mexican Revolution. Posada was mocking Mexicans who like Díaz shunned their own Indianness for the Victorian styles of the day.

Eventually, Díaz was exiled to France and the demands of Zapata and Villa were incorporated into the Mexican Constitution.

• Correct DDLM Terminology

Día de los Muertos, Día de Muertos, Fiesta de Muertos, or simply Muertos, are all correct terms.

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In the last few days, there have been 3 major terrorist attacks that have gone hugely unreported by mainstream media: 

June 28th - Ataturk Airport Attack, Turkey - 45 dead, 238 injured

July 2nd - Dhaka Cafe Attack, Bangladesh - 22 dead, 40 injured

July 3rd - Baghdad Shopping Mall Attack, Iraq - 130 dead (the death toll so far), over 160 injured 

All in Muslim-majority countries. All during the Holy Month of Ramadan. And all committed by ISIS. 

And yet people still have the audacity to claim that “all Muslims are terrorists”, or paint those in the West as terrorism’s biggest victims. 

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this is what post brexit britain looks like, we have given in to xenophobia and racism, and it’s terrifying

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TO ANYONE LIVING IN THE UK

There is a petition to try and call another referendum about the EU, with a rule asking for a 60% majority before a decision is made. Yes this is a shitty time, but hopefully there’s still a chance to fix things. The Leave campaign have already gone back on some of their promises before the referendum, so please, if you can, can you sign this? If we get 100 000 signatures parliament have to debate it, so please. Even if you’re not in the UK if you can share this to try and get it out there, that would be fantastic. Here’s the link:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/131215

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Stark Forever ♥

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Me to my brain: Hey can I like maybe get one night where I’d rather not be dead and maybe focus on the good things I have in my life

My brain:

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Next time someone asks me to hold the door.

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happy national unicorn day!

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Eclipse y El Popcatépetl por Erick Gómez Tochimani, fotógrafo.

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there are animals called dikdiks

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