Dia de los Muertos

Day of the Dead:A Celebration of Life and Death

Susan Waddington

Oaxaca is a state and a city in Mexico.

Everywhere there are beautiful sights to see.

Music can be heard wherever you go.

Oaxaca is famous for delicious foods to taste.

These are some of the ingredients for chocolate.

People have lived in Oaxaca for a long, long time. There are many old traditions.

Spanish settlers brought other traditions.

In one village it is traditional for every family to weave.

In this village everyone carves and paints animals.

Families make and paint clay figures in this village.

In October everyone gets ready for Dia de los Muertos, a holiday tradition for honoring people who have died.

Special treats and toys are sold in the markets.

Marigolds brighten every home and business.

Skeleton decorations are meant to be funny, not scary.

Huge colored sand art is created in the zocalo...

…and smaller versions on the floors of shops.

Designs are cut out of paper – papel picado.

Ofrendas are set up in homes to honor loved ones who have died.

Flowers, fruit, photos, and the Christ child are symbols of life, death, and life after death.

Shops, churches, and cemeteries have ofrendas, offerings dedicated to remembered loved ones.

In cemeteries, flowers and candles make the graves beautiful.

Families gather to visit and remember their loved ones.

It is now a tradition to create an ofrenda every year at Parish to celebrate Dia de los Muertos.

Paper marigolds color our ofrenda like those in Mexico.

We make clay figures of skeletons doing what we do.

Skeleton prints are another traditional art form.

We cut our own papel picado banners.

Some of us even get to make real sugar skulls!

We write remembrances of family and friends who have died.

In Mexico, children learn about our Halloween!

I hope everyone enjoys Dia de los Muertos!