Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: The Scene

Media Credit: Chanel Martinez With the Chabot Library displaying an altar to honor the holiday of Dia De Los Muertos, Chabot student Kate Eisler takes a look.

Dia De Los Muertos is a holiday that is celebrated all over the world by a number of cultures and countries. The earliest records of this holiday can be traced back to the Olmecs and Mayans in regions of what is now Mexico. The holiday is a combination of many different cultures that were present in the molding of Mexican culture throughout history.

The celebrations are held from Nov. 1 through Nov. 2, which are also known as All Saints and All Souls Day to most Christians and Catholics. To outsiders, Dia De Los Muertos may look morbid, perhaps even evil when it's really a celebration of life and our ancestors.

In Mexico, the tradition is that family members go to grave sites to clean and decorate the tombstones of their loved ones. Offerings are placed around the grave to welcome the spirit of the deceased after their long journeys from the land of the dead.

Candles and incense are burned to lead the way while marigold flowers bring color and beauty to the site. The family leaves a bowl of water for the spirit to wash up in, along with the person's favorite foods and beverages.

In another tradition, families erect altars at their homes or churches. Pictures and favorite objects are placed in the altar. Food and favorite drinks are still placed among other things, such as round shaped "dead bread" signifying the cycle of life and death and tequila for adults.

For children, for instance, favorite toys are set out, for adults favorite pastimes are represented. Tiny skeletons doing everyday jobs represent the person and the tasks they occupied while they were living, and they also represent a bit of comic relief for the spirit.

Typically, the alters are colorfully decorated to honor the loved one for functionality as well as beauty. "Papel picado" is draped along the top as well as colorful blankets to keep the spirit warm upon their visits. Sugar skulls are brightly decorated with colored sugar and icing often printed with the remembered loved one's name on it.

All of these traditions are meant to cherish the memory of those loved ones deceased over the years. Their souls are only allowed two days out of the year to visit their families and friends tradition has it. These traditions have nothing to do with evil; most people would like to believe that death is not the end of them that some part will live on.

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