Every October, store windows in the United States are filled with pumpkins, ghosts and other Halloween items. But in other countries around the world, Halloween and similar holidays are celebrated with different symbols and have different meanings.

Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday that translates to Day of the Dead. It is a day to remember those who have died. It is celebrated Nov. 1 and 2. Nathan Tanner, 21, from Springville, served his mission in East Mexico City, Mexico.

"The first day is to celebrate or remember the dead children," Tanner said. "Everyone goes trick-or-treating and people hand out candy, food and money. The second day is to remember the deceased adults. Everything shuts down. No one works. Everyone goes and spends the whole day at the cemetery where the dead family members are and have picnics."

During the week leading up to Dia de los Muertos, families create altars for their dead beloved family members in their houses. They cover a table with candles, pictures and favorite things of those who have passed away. A sweet bread, pan de los muertos, is left on the table to nourish those who have died.

"I saw one altar covered with a dad's favorite drinks and a pack of playing cards," Tanner remembered. "There was a pan de los muertos that must have been three feet in diameter. It was huge."

Carlo Bena, 26, an MBA student from Palo Alto, Calif., remembers spending Nov. 1 and 2 with his grandmother in California.

"It's a day to remember," Bena said. "My grandma would take all of us grandkids to the cemetery with her. We would go and decorate the graves of her parents and a couple of her siblings, who had also died, with flowers, trinkets and framed pictures. Afterwards, we would sit around the graves and enjoy treats and snacks she had prepared."

He said families who had lost small children would bring toys to leave at the graves. The cemetery would be full of local Mexican families coming to pay their respects to relatives who had passed away. In his hometown of Hollister, Calif., processions were held the first two days of November for all those with Mexican backgrounds. Stores sell skull paraphernalia, dolls and other trinkets to place on graves leading up to Dia de los Muertos.

"It's different in each town, but in Hollister, people would dress up in skull masks and walk through the streets holding pictures of their deceased loved ones," Bena said. "My grandma had a shrine in her house with candles surrounding pictures of her deceased family members."

Dia de los Muertos is believed to be the day spirits are closest to the earth and are most able to come and visit humans. It stems from Catholic Holy Days and centers around remembering departed family members, Bena said. Other countries with Catholic roots such as Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Spain, have similar celebrations.

In Ecuador, Halloween is known as Dia de las Brujas or Day of the Witches. Edid Martinez, 40, of Mays Landing, N.J., was raised in Ecuador. He began celebrating the holiday when he was 17 years old.

"Halloween is more of an Anglo type of thing," Martinez said. "That is why we have Dia de las Brujas. It's more about the American influence on Halloween than it is about Ecuadorian culture."

When Dia de las Brujas first began, it was not very popular. However it has caught on over the years. Trick-or-treating for children has become quite popular, but they only go to fancy, gated communities. This helps put less strain on lower- or middle-class families, Martinez said.

Not all Halloween traditions have caught on in Ecuador, though. Pumpkins are not part of the celebration due to their rarity of being grown on farmlands there.

Brazil also has a similar holiday, Finados, which is celebrated on Nov. 2. It is not as big of a deal there as it is in places such as Mexico, said Daniel Souza, a BYU graduate from Curitiba, Brazil. Occasionally toddlers go door-to-door with a bag to collect goodies. He also recalls dance parties where costumes are worn around this time of year.

Although there are some similar traditions celebrated in the eastern hemisphere, Halloween is a holiday that stems primarily from western civilizations.



Copyright Brigham Young University 31 Oct 2008