Monday, October 26, 2009

Dia de los Muertos


This weekend we hung out at the Viva la Vida festival, celebrating Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. The festival was full of good food, good drinks, art, ritual dancing, a costumed clad procession and a TON of celebration. I love festivals rich in culture and history!


A Little History of Dia de los Muertos:

The Celebration:

This 3,000 year old ritual is a day when families honor their deceased relatives, celebrate their life and death. Aztecs embraced death and is considered a “moving-on” to a higher level of consciousness.

The Skulls:

The Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth. The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations believed came back to visit during the monthlong ritual.

Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.

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