EL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS

S.RamseyMassey High School 2004

El Día de los Muertos is a Mexican festival.

The first of November is el Día de los Santos

Inocentes (Holy Innocents) or Día de los

Angelitos (the Little Angels).

The second of November is el Día de

los Adultos Muertos (Dead Adults).

They clean the tombs in the cemeteries.

They buy bunches of marigolds which are called ‘cempazúchitl’ in Mexico.

They decorate the tombs with the orange flowers.

The cemeteries are made beautiful in honour of the dead.

They set up altars in their homes.

They put a lot of things on the altars. These are to remember the dead person and also to lease him or her when his/her

spirit comes to the house.

On the altars you will see…

velas

comida

bebida

flores

And also…

fotos

incienso

calaveras

papel picado

Skulls are made from sugar and decorated.

They also make ‘pan (bread) de muerto’.

Pan de muerto

There are processions in the streets.

They decorate skeletons.

‘Esqueletos’

El Día de los Muertos is a mixture of Christian and an Aztec traditions.