Dia de Mu***os or Day of the Dead is one of the most respected holidays in Mexico and across Latin America. On All Souls Day, the Mexican people honor their deceased loved ones with much fanfare. It is a time of great happiness and remembrance, not sorrow. Dia de Mu***os Ohio's celebration honors that tradition. Pre-Columbian in origin, historians believe the celebration took place during the months of September or October and that it was primarily a harvest festival. Each year, the first crops of bean, corn and squash were set aside and later prepared as offerings to Tonantzin or Mother Earth, thanking her for all she had bestowed. This was also a time to honor one's ancestors who were believed to make their way back from the underworld for their yearly visit. As they did for Tonantzin, food and drink were prepared and placed on ofrendas or altars. This tradition continues to this day, though you may now find personal items of the deceased mixed amidst the bounty of their favorite foods and beverages. With the introduction of Catholicism following the Spanish conquest, Catholic rituals were incorporated into the long-standing harvest tradition. The cosmology of the Catholics was parallel in many ways to that of the Aztecs', so eventually All Souls' and All Saints' days (November 1st & 2nd) merged with the pre-Columbian harvest rites and became known as the holiday: Dia de los Mu***os or Day of the Dead.
