Los Dias De Los Muertios

A popular Mexican Holiday is Los Dias de los Muertos. It is a holiday that shares some origins with the likes of Halloween but at the same time is radically different. Halloween focuses on accepting death for a day and shifting the norm upside down. However El Dias de los Muertos is a holiday that uses various forms of festivities to celebrate death accept it and one could argue actually cherish it. The notion that death is cherish in Los Dias de los Muertos, which is Spanish for the day of the dead, can be seen through the practices of festivities that are done. One portion of the festivities that are done within the day of the dead is the fact that many forms of foods and sweets are created for the celebration. The origins of the day …show more content…
This differs from Judeo-Christian beliefs. According to the Christian Bible those that are dead will be sentenced to either go to heaven or to go to hell but that their souls will be within one of the two realms. There are talks about the souls returning to Earth but that is only after the final judgment spoken about in the Book of Revelations. Despite their best efforts it truly seems that the European settlers were unable to get rid of all teachings and notions of the Mayans and …show more content…
One comes to realize that these festivities are done out of the pain of losing a loved one. The sole purpose of the days of the dead and the festivals of the dead is to extend an invitation to those that have passed and request for them to return. Pain is already felt immensely when the person is originally lost. That is probably why the request for a return is shrouded in parties and festivities. One could also come to the conclusion that all the food and artwork that is done in preparation to the festival and throughout it is to try and honor the dead that are trying to be summoned. In a time where getting food was a difficult task it would make sense that the Aztecs and Mayans would wait for the times of harvest to gather as much food as possible and make the world of the living the most attractive it can possibly be to enable the return of the dead.
In addition to the festivals of the dead being used to calm down the pain of a lost loved one it can also be used to accept the fact of death. Many do not view death as an end because many of the people who celebrate the festivals of dead view death as a broke unity between the body and the soul. The moment death happens it is the body that perishes but the soul lives on and carries on for the rest of eternity.