Pinterest Image

Traditions give us a sense of belonging, is something to look forward too, something that stays with you and that can be in your family for generations with out you knowing, here in my country we have a lot of them but one that stands out here and internationally for it's beauty it's The Day of The Dead.
"Dia de Muertos" or Day of the Deads is a tradition that comes from way back before Cristobal Colon discovered America and we had the Catholic institution, this day was created to remember and commemorate our beloved ones that left early, this is a celebration.
It's believed that on the night of the 31 of October the gates of heaven are open letting the spirits of the children come down to visit their families for 24 hours and of the night of the 1 of November the same opportunity is giving to the adults, for them to enjoy what their families prepared for them.
Every family celebrates it in a different way, some families go to the cementery, to clean the grave and spend the day with them, some other families, like mine, enjoy going to the cementery and coming back to set up an "Ofrenda"
An "Ofrenda" is an altar where you put candles (in my case, one for every family member that is gone) photos of them and food or treats that they enjoyed when they lived, it can be anything from candies to cigarettes if the smoked, we also add some food and water because the trip they made was too long. Another thing are "cempasúchil" that are believed to keep the light of the sun, that way their way can be lighten.
Finally on the night of the 2 of November the festivities began, they are really different from place to place but one that is well known happens in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, where you can see and enjoy a lot of activities that come from our ancestors like the ball game and many other things, that's one thing you really have to experience to understand why we love it so much.
This is a tradition that has grown and everyone does different but at the end of the day the bases are always the same, all of this is worth preserving, that's why every year I enjoy setting up the altar and remembering all of those that left us behind.