The Origins & History of the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos)

Popularly known for its bright-colored decorations and ornamental sugar skulls, the Day of the Dead is among the most celebrated and highly anticipated holidays in Mexican culture. With origins in the Catholic All Saints’ Day, el Día de los Muertos is a celebration of the dead influenced by both Spanish culture, imported from Europe, and ancient Aztec customs dating back centuries. Today, Day of the Dead celebrations involve days-long festivals during which celebrants visit the graves of deceased ancestors and spend time with friends and family.

What Is the Day of the Dead?

By far the most famous and iconic Mexican holiday, the Day of the Dead takes place on November 1 and 2. As the name implies, el Día de los Muertos is a celebration of the dead. Friends and families gather to honor deceased relatives, loved ones, and even long-past ancestors. It is believed that during this time, the dead can come back to Earth to visit the living. And the living welcome them with open arms.

While the subject of death may seem a rather dark theme to foreigners, the Day of the Dead is a colorful, joyful, and generally light-hearted holiday. The streets are decorated with brightly colored papel picado (“perforated paper”), and painted sugar skulls are made and exchanged between friends. Homemade altars with skull imagery are set up in the home to welcome the dead with offerings (ofrendas) such as food, alcohol, and toys.

Over the centuries, el Día de los Muertos has expanded far beyond the theme of honoring the dead to become a community celebration that celebrates life as much as death. Festivals are held where sweet treats are abundant, particularly the aptly named pan de muerto or “bread of death,” and people dress up as the dead with painted faces. In its essence, Día de Muertos celebrates the balance between life and death, acknowledging their relationship without dread.

An Age-Old Tradition: History & Origins of Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead falls close to Halloween because it comes from the traditional Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day (November 1st) and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd). Dating back to the Middle Ages in Europe, November 2nd was set aside to commemorate the dead and perform special prayers in their honor. Meanwhile, Halloween evolved out of the Celtic festival of Samhain and made its way into the Catholic calendar on All Hallows’ Eve, October 31.

But what makes Mexico’s holiday unique is the indigenous influence of Mesoamerican customs. European conquistadors brought the Catholic traditions of Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day with them, and they were combined with Aztec traditions surrounding death to create something completely new in a process known as syncretism.

The Aztec origin of Día de los Muertos was a spiritual holiday celebrating the Lady of the Dead, Mictēcacihuātl, Queen of Mictlān (the underworld). The Aztecs believed that she watched over the bones of past lives, which were used to create new life in the land of the living. Once a year, she ascended to the land of the living to make sure the bones were being cared for properly. Upon her arrival, the Aztecs held celebrations for the death with dance and food to thank her for her protection.

When the Spanish arrived and began forcing conversion, they fused Aztec traditions with their own Catholic holidays for the dead, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. It was a Spanish tradition for families to decorate graves, bring food for the dead, and light the way for the dead to return to their families.

In modern Dia de los Muertos celebrations, Mictēcacihuātl has been replaced by La Calavera Catrina, a skeleton woman wearing a European hat adorned with flowers and feathers.

Honoring the Dead: Día de los Muertos Celebrations & Customs

The “Day” of the Dead actually spans the period from October 31st to November 2nd. On the last night of October and into the early morning hours of November 1st, groups of families and friends will march together to local cemeteries to hold vigil through the night at the graves of those they’ve lost. Candles, flowers, and other personalized goods and food are brought to the graveyard to be offered at the resting places of the deceased.

The living sit among the dead for hours to welcome them back to Earth. In some places, this vigil is held on the 2nd of November instead and is known as La Llorada (“The Mourning”). When morning comes, the living and the dead both return to the home for more light-hearted observations of the holiday.

The home is the site of the most beloved cultural custom associated with this holiday: the ofrenda. Home altars dedicated to dead relatives and ancestors will feature images of lost loved ones along with offerings like food and toys. This will lead the visiting souls into the home to spend time amongst their living counterparts.

In urban centers like Mexico City, blow-out celebrations can include parades and concerts in colorfully decorated streets teeming with tourists looking for an authentic experience. Friends will write humorous poems for each other, known as calaveritas (“little skulls”). These playful verses will poke fun at or honor the living subject as though they have already passed away. Calaveritas can also be written about celebrities, public figures, and even politicians as a form of comedy or satire.

Heart of the Celebration: The Ofrenda

By far, the most popular way to celebrate the Day of the Dead is by creating an altar dedicated to loved ones who have passed.

These home altars are called ofrendas in reference to the offerings that are left for the deceased, welcoming them into the home on the day they return to earth. Families will come together to assemble food, drinks, trinkets, and toys for those they’ve lost. In addition to pictures of those who have passed, the ofrenda typically includes local fruits, fresh flowers (especially marigolds, the “flower of the dead”), herbs, sweets, and pan de muerto, which resembles white bones.

These treats are typically personalized, for example, featuring a late grandmother’s favorite meal or a bottle of a dead great uncle’s favorite tequila. Since it is generally believed that the returning spirits cannot actually eat or drink the offerings, the idea is that their souls will bask in the familiar aromas they enjoyed in life. Fresh flowers and home-cooked meals are the best for this. It is easy to imagine how the deceased would relish the strong smell of freshly picked marigolds, or hot tamales put out for them by their loved ones.

As well as making offerings in the home, public displays are curated for community members, historical figures, and modern celebrities who have passed away. Ofrendas have appeared in schools, historic sites, and even museums and art galleries, where they have become more like exhibits. This cultural practice has even been imported into the United States in recent decades by Chicano and Mexican communities throughout the country.

Día de los Muertos & Halloween: Rival Identities

The Day of the Dead has a lot in common with the American celebration of Halloween. Taking place on October 31st, Halloween is based on the millennia-old pagan holiday of Samhain. Celebrated by the Gaelic peoples in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, Samhain was a New Year holiday held on November 1st. The Celtic belief was that Samhain was the one day of the year on which the spirits of the dead were allowed to return to Earth to roam amongst the living.

Although Samhain was celebrated on the 1st of November, it technically began at sunset on October 31st. This long-held pagan belief that the dead would return on the last night of October lasted through the transition to Christianity, eventually becoming what is now playfully celebrated as Halloween.

In recent decades, the American tradition of Halloween has begun creeping into Mexico. Because the Day of the Dead has become so closely tied with Mexican identity, Halloween is viewed by many as America’s influence encroaching on Mexico’s unique culture. Urban communities have begun embracing the American customs, while rural Mexicans stick by El Día de los Muertos and reject the foreign influence of Halloween.

Institutions like churches and local governments have, in the past, discouraged Halloween celebrations. They instead encourage Day of the Dead celebrations like public ofrenda displays. Others, however, continue to embrace the merging of the two holidays and accept the influence of their neighboring country as a harmless addition to their long-practiced festivities.

Regardless of these influences, el Día de los Muertos remains a uniquely Mexican holiday that embraces death with open arms, and fresh tamales.