Dia De Los Muertos: The Day of the Dead

Post date: November 14, 2025

By Peter Wolff

The Day of the Dead (or Dia De Los Muertos) long predates the Spanish Conquests of present day Latin and South America. The earliest written records of the Day of the Dead can be traced all the way back to the Early Aztec Empire, in which the Aztecs practiced preservation of their burial grounds. By cleaning up the burial sites of their dead and through remembrance of those long since passed, the Aztecs believed that a Lady of the Dead (a goddess of Aztec origin) who was responsible for the oversight of the departed would protect those who preserved those past through death and would give life to new beings through use of the deads decaying bodies.

Following the Spanish Inquisition of the late 15th through early 19th centuries, the Conquistadors of Spain slowly grew to adopt the practices of Aztecs, blending elements of the Day of the Dead with those of Christian Holidays, shaping it into the practice recognized today. Spanning approximately 2 days (with some celebrations lasting upwards of a week), households of South America can often be found creating altars lined with tributes for the deceased as well as baking goods in memory of their loved ones. Traditional altars are typically constructed with the four Earthly elements in mind to provide the spirits with memories and feelings of the physical world.  Paper banners represent the element of wind, candles represent the element of fire, water represents its elemental self and Earth is represented by food, possessions and photographs. Sugar skulls round out the altar with the name of the departed being engraved upon the skull's forehead to help guide them back to the realm of the living.

For the Day of the Dead's duration, traditional dances can be found in the streets like that of, "the Old Man" or the popularized, "Deer Dance" which brings humor to stories of ancestral struggles. Music can be heard everywhere you walk with the genre of Mariachi being the most common variety. Traditional instruments are put on display, traditional cuisine is put before tables.  Strangers can be found acting out folktales in big parades. Neighbors can be found dancing hand in hand. Relatives can be seen united once more. All in the name of celebrating the value of life and connection.

When all is constructed, danced, remembered, and done, the altars are taken down and any food yet touched is either consumed or discarded as the dead make their way back to the spiritual realm. Copal incense and candles depict this transition, as their wicks burn closer to the base and their physical fluid turns to smoke, rising with the ancestors not forgotten, ready to be called upon once more the following year.