This year for the Halloween season, shake it up a bit. Try celebrating the ancient Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos or The Day of the Dead which takes place on November 1st (All Saints Day) and 2nd (All Souls Day.)

500 years ago when Spanish Conquistadors invaded what is now Mexico, they found natives practicing this ritual that seemed to celebrate, not fear death. As with any Colonial European power, they tried to “Christianize” the native peoples by eradicating their ancient cultural beliefs. Día de los Muertos is a survivor and a successful marriage of Christian and Aztec rituals that is fast spreading into the United States as more immigrants come north of the border.
 
Today people all over the world use skulls, dance and feast to mark the occasion. In rural Mexico, people still visit the cemeteries. They decorate gravesites with marigolds and candles. Toys are offered for dead children and bottles of liquor for adults. Picnics next to gravesites and the favorite foods of their loved ones are enjoyed.

In the United States and Mexico's larger cities, families build altars in their homes, dedicating them to the dead. They surround these altars with flowers, food and pictures of the deceased. Candles are then placed next to the altar. This is done so that the spirits of the dead can find their way back home for a visit.  

Día de los Muertos offers us a chance to glimpse into a world where the mighty Aztecs once flourished. Sugarskulls with loved ones names written on them,pan de muerto’s are decorated with sugary icing in lively skull patterns, papier-mâché skeletons dance in every window and of course the best rare and expensive blue agave tequila make this a fun, festive and holy holiday.  

Halloween is a European invention from the time of the Black Death and Danse Macabre with people fearing death and the sprit world. The Day of the Dead is not about fear but the celebration of life, with themes of birth, life, death and resurrection continuing a never ending circle.   

To take part in this ancient celebration you can try your hand at making fun sugar skulls, hang a happy skeleton in a window or simply just remember your loved ones that have moved on to the next phase of life.  
For more information you can visit http://www.dayofthedead.com/