The Day of the Dead sounds scary to most people who aren’t familiar with the celebration. But this beautiful and colorful holiday is an annual celebration of family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died, including pets.
For most of humanity, people understood that death was a part of life and they incorporated honoring ancestors and deceased loved ones into their life with altars, rituals, celebrations, memorials, visits to gravesites, memories shared, family trees kept, all traditions that kept their stories alive. All of these keep the living connected to the love. ❤️
The Marigold flower (cempasuchiles) used on Dias de Los Muertos offends (altars) and cemeteries is also used to create a pathway that crosses to the other side where our loved ones dwell. The marigolds - with their bright orange color and their strong scent - are said to guide the spirits of our loved ones back to the living world to join us for a day of loving celebration.
Making our loved ones who passed on our guests of honor can and should be a practice that we bring to each and every day in healthy holistic grieving.
Continuing and even developing and deepening your connection with your loved ones is emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy and as part of whole, healthy grieving.
Love never dies.
We can weave our love, our communication, our memories, our stories and offerings into a daily practice to act as the bright colors and beautiful scents of the flowers to open up the portal and lift the veil between the living and the passed, so that we can reunite connect and celebrate with our loved ones every day.
How can you honor celebrate and stay connected to your loved ones who have passed on?
November 2 is also All Souls’ Day; a Catholic tradition in which churches commemorate the dead by praying for their souls. Rituals include visiting family graves and remembering deceased relatives. However, this Christian holiday combines some rituals from the Pagan holiday Samhain as well as ancient Mexican traditions used to celebrate and remember dead ancestors. All Souls’ Day is also celebrated in parts of Europe and other countries worldwide.
Whether all or certain days of this multi-day celebration inspire you, one very important aspect of Dios de las Muertas is the humanization of death. You see skeletons dressed up in beautiful bring flowers and garb, the dead come to visit, to celebrate with their family and friends, to dine on favorite foods, and share the loving connection between the living and the dead that can never die. In this way some of our fears about death itself is assuaged. Markets and shops throughout Mexico sell toys and candy in the form of death positive symbols like skeletons, coffins, and the personification of death itself (La Muerta) along with candles, paper wreaths and bright orange marigolds. The days are filled with joyous celebration where families gather at cemeteries to honor the Day of the Dead. Graves are decorated with candles, wreaths, floral arrangements, and colorful paper streamers. Incense is lit to help the departed find their way.
Mexico’s Dios de las Muertos is not about fear of death – it is a festive occasion with parties, dancing, singing, fireworks, and loving connection.
However you honor your Loved Ones who have passed on, we wish you a fulfilling and connected Dias de los Muertos. And send you love and comfort for all your losses. ❤️
