Celebrating Día de Los Muertos: Traditions and Significance

1. Día de los Muertos **Remember in order to watch any links from the actual slide show you must have it in the slide show mode to full screen, then click on the link. 

2. ¿Qué es el Día de los Muertos? Día de Los Muertos Video • What is it? • El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is a traditional mexican holiday honoring the dead. El Día de los Muertos is not a sad time, but instead a time of remembering and rejoicing. • When is it? • It is celebrated every year at the around the same time as Halloween , on November 1st & 2nd, which marks the Christian holy days of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. • Where is it celebrated? • It is celebrated in: Mexico, some Central and South American countries such as Guatemala and el Ecuador.The Day of the Dead is also celebrated in areas of the United States, such as California, Arizona, Texas and surprisingly in North Carolina, Washington D.C., and many others, in which the Mexican/American heritage exists.

3. Tradicional Altars (“Ofrendas”) • Weeks and months prior, the majority of México, certain U.S. states and Latin American countries gear up for this special holiday, especially “los comerciantes” (business owners). • Families prepare “ofrendas” or (altars) to remember the dead weeks ahead as well. Altars are decorated with: • Flowers • Papel picado • Day of the Dead Bread • Fruit • Holiday specific candy • A picture of the one being  remembered • Cherished Items • Something to snack on • Gifts • Candles : In the late afternoon special all night burning candles are lit - it is time to remember the departed - the old ones, their parents and grandparents.

4. Traditional Food • Pan de los Muertos: • Special loaves of bread are baked and called pan de muertos, and decorated with "bones.”

5. Traditions: Flowers Wild orchids are commonly seen as well: Baby's breath: Ruby Coxcombs: • Many flowers are used to decorate the altars and graves for the remembered lives of the dead. They are offered as adornment and enticement for the returning spirits.Wreaths made of flowers, both real and plastic, are often placed on the grave sites. • The yellowmarigold symbolizes the short duration of life: • The white amaryllis:

6. Traditions: Papel Picado • Papel Picado is a traditional art used to decorate homes, businesses, markets and altars in preparation for the Day of the Dead. • The thin tissue paper images are usually cut in large quantities and hung in repetitious patterns.

7. Traditions: Skeletons • Handmade skeleton figurines, called calacas, are especially popular. Calacas usually show an active and joyful afterlife. Figures of musicians, generals on horseback, even skeletal brides, in their white bridal gowns marching down the aisles with their boney grooms. • Skeletons and skulls are found everywhere. Chocolate skulls, marzipan coffins, and white chocolate skeletons.

8. Links • Día de los Muertos Youtube Video (San Andreas 3:12 mins) • Día de los Muertos Youtube Video (Michoacán 3:13 mins) • Día de los Muertos: For Teachers and Students • http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/teachers/ • Common misconceptions about the Day of the Dead • http://www.inside-mexico.com/noes.htm • History, Traditions, and Significance • http://www.nacnet.org/assunta/dead.htm

9. Class Project: Color Calacas & Make Flowers (Assign names of deceased loved to the flowers!) Tarea: Check HW Board

10. Comida típica del Día de los Muertos