This weekend we observe two cultural/religious days: Halloween and All Souls’ Day (Día de Los Muertos in Spanish). The celebrations are related but not identical.
Día de Los Muertos, observed on Nov. 2, is a day to remember loved ones who have died. In Mexico and in other parts of Latin America it is observed with a mixture of Christian and Indigenous elements.
UNESCO has declared Día de Los Muertos part of the cultural heritage of all humanity.
The observance usually includes building small altars (called ofrendas) in the homes with pictures of the deceased and food for them, usually their favorite food and drink. The altar will also have candles, a crucifix and bouquets of Cempaxochitl, bright-orange marigolds.
Visiting the graves of loved ones and taking food and eating at the cemetery is also traditional on this day. Masses will often be celebrated in cemeteries as well.
The origin of el Dia de Los Muertos is complex and there is no agreement among scholars on the subject. It is possibly a blending of Spanish Catholic and Pre-Hispanic Indigenous practices.
The Catholic Church celebrates All Souls Day on Nov. 2 as a day to remember all those who have died.
Almost all the indigenous cultures of Latin America had some type of celebration to remember the dead. It usually included sharing meals on the graves of loved ones. Sharing food at tombs occurs not only in Latin America but in many other cultures as well, both in Asia and in Africa.
This is not an official Catholic belief or practice, but an acceptance of a popular belief widely observed in many cultures. Remembering the dead—remembering our dead—is very human and consoling. We remember, we celebrate and we believe.
Halloween, “All Hallow’s Eve,” is originally just the name given to the evening before All Saints Day. All Saints Day is Nov. 1 and the eve of All Saints Day is Oct. 31. The Halloween observance as we know it probably originated in northern Europe.
As with Dia de Los Muertos, scholars are not in agreement about its origin. It is thought that in pre-Christian times some European tribes believed that the dead came back once a year. Among the possible explanations for some of the customs and costumes are that people lit candles so that the dead could find their way to the homes of their families and left food for them. Wearing costumes might have been so the living would not be recognized by the dead, lest they harm them.
Another explanation of the origin of costumes is that it was traditional to perform plays based on the lives of saints on that day and that the actors would dress up as the saint they were portraying. After the reformation, it was often taught that it was not the dead who came back but rather evil spirits who came to harm people.
Thus, the modern imagination of Halloween proceeds from many sources: Christian customs, native traditions and gothic and terror literature and movies.
It is unfortunate that it is associated with the macabre because this has led some people to label Halloween as demonic and to discourage children from wearing costumes. But witches, goblins and fairies do not exist, and we all pretend to be what we are not. Why begrudge children who want to pretend to be what they are not?
Thus, though in reality Dia de Los Muertos and Halloween are only tangentially related, a neo-syncretism has connected the two. No pure culture exists, cultures and religions can coexist and to some point this syncretism enriches all of us. Happy Halloween! ¡Feliz Dia de Los Muertos!
Father Jose Rubio is the Retired in Residence pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Parish in Gilroy. He is one of the original members of the Interfaith Clergy Alliance of South County. Father Jose can be reached at jo********@*sj.org.
