The mystic of the underworld, and the idea that spirits return to the living for just one night, not to mention the decorations, trick or treat and fancy-dress parties. So, what fascinates us with celebrating death, apart from the array of costumes one can dress up in?
Looking at some history of Day of the Dead which is celebrated for two days over the same period as Halloween, National Geographic has a good article about the top 10 things you need to know about Day of the dead, and that is it is not a Mexican version of Halloween.
Halloween is said to go all the way back to a pagan festival called Samhain. The word “Halloween” comes from All Hallows’ Eve and means “hallowed evening.”
Hundreds of years ago, people dressed up as saints and went door-to-door, which is the origin of Halloween costumes and trick-or-treating. History.com provides a good read on this if you want to know more.
Day of the Dead typically occurs 1 -2 November which is the same as All Saints Day and All Souls Day in Christianity. The celebrations are colourful and life-affirming joy. While these days are a celebration and one is a public holiday in Mexico, a day is dedicated to honouring deceased children and another day is for honouring deceased adults.
Where the Day of the Dead is seen as passionately festive, Halloween is typically seen as the darker of the two events, but is still celebrated in many countries.
* The hat was made out of a toilet roll tube, spare cardboard and electrical tape for stability. It was painted with normal acrylic paint, a ribbon was added with a glue gun along with a veil or mesh net and a decorative black rose. The skulls were created with resin.