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Watch this to answer the third question on the rubric.

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Dia de los Muertos, Origin of the Day of the Dead

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hello and happy Halloween or Dia De Los Muertos

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hello and happy Halloween or Dia De Los Muertos

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los Muertos

i hope you have fun! :)

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happy Halloween

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Difference Between Halloween & Dia de los Muertos

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Difference Between Halloween & Dia de los Muertos

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The Day of the Dead celebrations may coincide with Halloween and seem similar. Both celebrations involve costumes, skeletons and treats as well as graveyards and death imagery.

But according to HalloweenHistory.org, there are some big differences.

The Day of the Dead holiday, referred to in Spanish as Dia de los Muertos due to its South American origin, is about celebrating the dead, not being afraid of the dead. It's a holiday for people to honor their ancestors and loved ones who have passed away and invite those spirits back into their homes to be part of the family once more. It's a celebration of family and a show of respect for those who have passed away.

The practice of celebrating the dead goes back thousands of years in South American cultures. In the Aztec culture the celebration of the dead was in August and went on for a month. During that time the people paid tribute to Catrina, the Goddess of Death, who was portrayed as a skeleton.

Rather than displaying grim or gory decorations, Day of the Dead celebrations involve paying respects to loved ones. Families tend graves and leave offerings, plant flowers and trees, wear the clothes of their deceased relatives, and build altars in their homes to honor their loved ones.

Perhaps the most popular part of the holiday is people turning themselves into skeletons using elaborate makeup and masks. The skeletal appearance highlighted with flowers, bright colors and artwork is a striking image that has now become an icon of the Day of the Dead. These looks are based partly on the decorated sugar skulls that are left on altars as offerings to the spirits and as well as to Catrina.

I must say, that I much prefer Day of the Dead celebrations to Halloween in my older age. Part of it is that I've grown more disturbed by the evolution - or perhaps devolution - of Halloween decorations into what are sometimes quite offensive portrayals of horror. But I have a daughter who delights in dressing up, attending the town parade and indulging in candy. I do enjoy those innocent pleasures. So I will happily take my 8-year-old daughter through our neighborhood to ask for candy on Halloween. But I will also honor the memory of my mother in the coming days.

Will you celebrate anyone? What are your family's traditions around Day of the Dead and Halloween?
This post originally appeared on the ThinkTank12 blog.
Image Credit - Larry Lamsa / CC by 2.0

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The Difference Between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos - Learning Liftoff

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The Day of the Dead celebrations may coincide with Halloween and seem similar. Both celebrations involve costumes, skeletons and treats as well as graveyards and death imagery. But according to HalloweenHistory.org, there are some big differences.

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This site has a chart to help you compare / contrast the two holidays!

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Halloween (or All Hallows' Eve) is celebrated on October 31 in several countries. It has its roots in pagan celebrations for the end of the harvest season, various festivals of the dead, and the Celtic Samhain festival. Day of the Dead (or Dia de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday, also celebrated in parts of Latin America and the U.S., to remember and pray for family and friends who have died. It is on November 1.

Comparison chart

Day of the Dead

Halloween

Religion
Christianity
Paganism, Christianity (All Hallows Eve); now modernized and embraced universally as a fun festival

Origins

Day of the Dead can be traced back to indigenous cultures in Mexico dating back 2,500 to 3,000 years, who had rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors. The festival originally occurred in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar and lasted for the entire month.

Halloween is believed to have pagan roots, and is linked to the Celtic festival Samhain, when the "door" to the Otherworld was believed to be opened so that the souls of the dead could enter this world. It was also influenced by Christian All Saints' Day, which honors saints and the recently departed.

This National Geographic Channel video takes a look at the history of Halloween and how it came to be known as an appreciation of the afterlife.

Celebration

The Day of the Dead celebrates and remembers friends and family members who have died. In most parts of Mexico, the Day of the Dead is used to honor children and infant family members that died. Adults are honored on November 2nd. The atmosphere is rather that of a picnic or celebration than mourning. Mexicans embrace death and celebrate the deceased for the time they lived.

This video takes a look at the festival of the Day of the Dead, which is believed to be a celebration of life itself.

Day of the Dead is a national holiday in Mexico, and all banks are closed. It takes place on November 1st. People visit cemeteries and build private altars with the favorite food and drinks of the deceased, as well as photos and other memorabilia, to encourage the souls to visit. Graves are often decorated with orange Mexican marigolds. Toys are brought for dead children, and bottles of tequila, mescal or pulque are brought for adults. Some people wear shells on their clothing, so that the noise when dancing will wake the dead. Rituals vary from town to town.

In contemporary times, Halloween is celebrated by both children and adults. Children dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating from house to house for candy. They ask the traditional question "trick or treat," implying that they will cause mischief if no treat is given. Costumes are traditionally supernatural or frightening, but over time, they have changes to be costumes on any theme. Popular games include apple bobbing and visiting haunted houses. Adults also enjoy Halloween with costume parties, often with varying themes that aren't necessarily related to the horror genre.

Symbols

The Day of the Dead is commonly represented by a skull. People celebrating wear skull masks, called calacas. Sugar skulls are given as gifts.

Symbols of Halloween include pumpkins and various tropes of horror literature, including vampires, ghosts and mummies.

References

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What's the difference between Day of the Dead and Halloween? Halloween (or All Hallows' Eve) is celebrated on October 31 in several countries. It has its roots in pagan celebrations for the end of the harvest season, various festivals of the dead, and the Celtic Samhain festival.

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Halloween is meant for scaring people and putting out scary decorations and you go trick or treating or is it?

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Halloween is meant for people to dress up and go trick or treating with there friends and family and see people house decorated with colorful and and scary decoration

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Watch this to get more information about the history of Halloween!

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Adrian & Fiona

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Edwin & Willey

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Read the first paragraph.

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Skeletons are scary, right? Not if you're celebrating Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

REMEMBERING RELATIVES

Day of the Dead combines the ancient Aztec custom of celebrating ancestors with All Souls' Day, a holiday that Spanish invaders brought to Mexico starting in the early 1500s.

The holiday, which is celebrated mostly in Mexico on November 1 and 2, is like a family reunion-except dead ancestors are the guests of honor. Day of the Dead is a joyful time that helps people remember the deceased and celebrate their memory.

TREATS FOR THE DECEASED

First, people set up a candlelit altar in their homes so spirits can find their way back to their relatives. The altar also offers some of the favorite foods of the deceased-just in case they get hungry. Items that were important to the ancestors when they were alive, such as a favorite book or musical instrument, are placed on the altar as well.

Then it's off to the graveyard for a big party. Families bring a huge feast to eat while they clean tombstones, sing songs, and talk to their ancestors. Parents might even introduce a baby to a grandparent who died before the baby was born.

FUNNY BONES

And don't forget the skeletons. During Day of the Dead, life-size papier-mâché skeletons and miniature plastic or clay skeletons are everywhere. Why? Mexicans honor their ancestors on Day of the Dead, but they're also reminding themselves that death is just a part of life. Hanging out with skeletons reminds people that one day they will be skeletons-but not for a very long time!

The skeletons are posed doing all sorts of wacky things, such as playing guitar, taking a bath, or making tortillas. Apparently people aren't the only ones who get to have fun on Day of the Dead!

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Skeletons are scary, right? Not if you're celebrating Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead combines the ancient Aztec custom of celebrating ancestors with All Souls' Day, a holiday that Spanish invaders brought to Mexico starting in the early 1500s.