Day Dead (Día de los Muertos)

1.

The roots of the Day of the Dead go back some 3,000 years, to the rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life. Are you familiar with the Day of the Dead celebration?

Yes, I celebrate it

4%

103 votes

I don't celebrate it but I know at least a bit about it

34%

808 votes

I don't celebrate it but I have heard of it

37%

885 votes

I've never heard of it

25%

604 votes

2.

El Día de los Muertos is not, as is commonly thought, a Mexican version of Halloween. On the Day of the Dead, it's believed that the border between the spirit world and the real world dissolve. During this brief period, the souls of the dead awaken and return to the living world to feast, drink, dance and play music with their loved ones. In turn, the living family members treat the deceased as honored guests in their celebrations, and leave the deceased's favorite foods and other offerings at gravesites or on the ofrendas (offering placed in a home altar) built in their homes. If you have never celebrated the Day of the Dead, do you think it sounds like a good way to honor the dead?

Yes

56%

1334 votes

No

44%

1066 votes

3.

If you do celebrate it, what do you do?

Attend community events/parades

3%

60 votes

Attend family events

3%

77 votes

Leave candles, flowers and the favorite foods of the deceased the grave or home altar

4%

85 votes

Creating ofrendas (altars)

1%

29 votes

Decorating with cempasúchil (marigold) flowers

1%

32 votes

Bake pan de muerto (Pan de Muerto ("Bread of the Dead") is a traditional Mexican sweet bread that is commonly made during Day of the Dead )

2%

36 votes

Make your own sugar skulls (a common gift for children and decoration for the Day of the Dead)

1%

34 votes

Dress up as a Catrina or Catrín (La Catrina is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Day of the Dead. She's an elegantly dressed skeleton that has inspired many men and women to put on skull makeup and imitate her during the Mexican holiday.)

1%

32 votes

Tell family stories about those who have passed

4%

86 votes

Other (please specify)

0%

7 votes

Not Applicable

88%

2117 votes