Have you seen Coco? This famous Pixar movie from a years ago was based on a beautiful Mexican tradition. El día de los Muertos (Day of the dead) is celebrated in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times, the cult to the death was actually a cornerstone of the indigenous culture in the country and this practice has remained!
You may be wondering what the tradition even is about…well, in Mexico we believe that our loved ones that pass away go to a different realm, so they never really die and every year, on November 1st, they come back to our world. There’s the cempasuchil flowers decorating the way, the altars, the tributes, the pan de muerto, and the famous Catrina, all are symbols of this beautiful tradition.
We set up altars with our relatives’ favorite foods when they were alive, candles, flowers, drinks, bread, and pictures. We also paint our faces as Catrinas, which is a fancy skeleton, and wear colorful clothes with traditional elements. It’s sad, yet joyful, it’s a celebration of our culture and our people.
It is by far the most iconic Mexican tradition, but it became even more known thanks to movies like Coco and James Bond (Fun fact: the Catrina parade was CREATED by the James Bond movie, tourists wanted to see it and the Mexican government decided to embrace it, so we now have that too).
This tradition exists to remind us death is not the end, our loved ones remain alive in our hearts and our memories, and every November, we celebrate their return. We know they’re right beside us even if we don’t see them.
Have fun learning!
