To understand what Dia de los Muertos is about, one has to look into the history of the celebration, which has it's roots in the ancient Aztec civilization. This is obviously a very annotated version of  that history.

           The original celebratoin took place in the Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli and was presided over by the Goddess Mictecacihuatl (Lady of the Dead). It was a two month celebration, beginning on the ninth month which was set aside for infants and the tenth month which included a big feast for the spirit of dead adults. In terms of our Georgian calender, this time frame would go from the end of July to the beginning of August. the Aztecs believed that when they died, they would have to travel through 9 levels before reaching their final destination, Mictlan - The place of the dead. the also believed that destiny was founded at birth and the soul depended on the type of death that one had, rather than the life they lead. The type of death also determined what region in those 9 levels that they would go to. there they would stay and await transformation or linger, waiting for the next destiny. The celebrations of the Aztecs included human sacrafices (considered to be a great honour) and feasts.

             After the Spanish conquest of 1521, Catholic priests moved the the celebrations up to October 31, as to coincide with All Hallows Eve (Oct. 31), All Saints day (Nov. 1), and All Souls day (Nov. 2). Kinda sounds like the same thing they did with Christmas, so the motives weren't all that altruistic. Still, the festival continued and evolved into Dia de los Muertos, which has elements of both catholicism and indigenous rituals of the natives. Though it was not made clear during my search, I have something here about November 2. The choice of November 2nd is attributed to St. Odilom the fifth abbot of Cluny, which is a city in France that is famous for the Abby. He wanted to follow the example of Cluny in offering special prayers and singing the office of the dead following the feast of All Saints. What is unclear to me is whether it was talking about the creation of All Souls day or the length of Dia de los Muertos. It's something I'll have to look up.

           What freaks people out about Dia de los Meurtos is either the concept of death itself or that they believe it to be a morbid holiday. it is actually a cheerful celebration with the emphasise on death as a part of  the cycle of life.  The celebration itself begins on October 31 with the cleaning and decorating of the various raves and alters.  The Picture below is an example of such an alter.

 The alters are covered with favourite toys (if the spirit was a child), cigarettes ( if it was a smoker), candy, pan de muertos (bread of the dead), Marigolds (the flower of the dead), Sugar Skulls (calavera), Candles, etc. Anything that was familiar to the spirit and enjoyed by them during life.  The candles are arranged around the alters (called ofrendas) as a way to guide the spirit to the alters. Folklore goes, if nothing is offered, the spirit will go away weeping. The spirits of children arrive just before dawn on November 1st, but they only stay for a few hours. The are church services and family feasts to celebrate the arrival of these honoured guests. To mark the departure of the spirits, relatives and friends participate in the ritual of blowing out and removing candles from the alters. By November 4th, all decorations and alters are removed.
La Catrina                Panteon de Calavers

           Dia de los Muertos is no considered to be a time a deep mourning, but a celebration of life.  What we westerners would consider to be either a mockery of death or just a reall cool way to celebrate Halloween, much of the folk art, such as the skeleton you see above, is a satire of  life. La Catrina is a satire of Upper Class women and there are statues of weeding parties and political figures, all in skeletal form.  Mexicans even have fun with the alters, which can be found in public places such as city hall. If you walk down a street in Mexico during Dia de los Muertos, don't be surprised if you see a coca-cola alter or a Bicardi rum alter.
 

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