History: Day of the Dead ~ Día de los Muertos

Day of the Dead & the Sugar Skull Tradition

Day of the Dead is quite an interesting holiday celebrated in central and southern Mexico during the chilly days of the 1st and 2nd November. Even though this coexist with the Catholic holiday called All Soul's & All Saint’s Day, the native people have combined this with their own ancient beliefs of honoring their deceased loved ones.

They believe that the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on the 31st of October, and the spirits of all children who died (angelitos) are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours. On November 2nd, the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities that are prepared for them.


In most Indian villages, beautiful altars (ofrendas) are made in each home. They are decorated with candles, buckets of flowers, mounds of fruit, peanuts, plates of turkey mole, stacks of tortillas and big Day-of-the-Dead breads called pan de muerto. The altar needs to have lots of food, bottles of soda, hot cocoa and water for the weary spirits. Toys and candies are left for the angelitos, and on the 2nd November, cigarettes and shots of mezcal are offered to the adult spirits. Little folk art skeletons and sugar skulls, purchased at open-air markets, provide the final touches.


Day of the Dead is a very expensive holiday for these self-sufficient, rural based, indigenous families. Many spend over two month's income to honor their dead relatives. They believe that happy spirits will provide protection, good luck and wisdom to their families. Ofrenda building keeps the family close.

On the afternoon of November 2nd, the festivities are taken to the cemetery. People clean tombs, play cards, listen to the village band and reminisce about their loved ones. Tradition keeps the village close. Day of the Dead is becoming very popular in the U.S. ~ perhaps because we don't have a way to celebrate and honor our dead, or maybe it's because of our fascination with it's mysticism.

In The Catholic World

Day of the Dead is celebrated throughout Mexico and the Catholic world... Italy, Spain, South America and the Philippines all celebrate All Souls and All Saints Day on November 1st and 2nd. Special Masses and perhaps cleaning of the cemetery tombs are part of the traditional activities... it's only in Central and Southern Mexico where the colorful parties take place in the cemeteries and elaborate ofrenda altars are built in the homes to honor specific family members who have passed on.

In Mexico, the colorful, much anticipated, Day of the Dead celebrations are generally celebrated in the states from Mexico City south. This includes Michoacan, Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Chiapas and the Yucatan. Northern Mexico, with its less indigenous and more European roots, spend the day scrubbing graves and going to Mass... not having music, drinks and parties in the cemeteries.
Folks in parts of Italy, Spain, Central & South America and the Philippines all celebrate All Souls and All Saints Day on November 1st and 2nd. Special Masses and perhaps cleaning of the cemetery tombs are part of the traditional activities...

Credit to Jaded

The Sugar Skull Tradition 

Sugar art was brought to the New World by Italian missionaries in the 17th century. The first Church mention of sugar art was from Palermo at Easter time when little sugar lambs and angels were made to adorn the side altars in the Catholic Church. 

Mexico, abundant in sugar production and too poor to buy fancy imported European church decorations, learned quickly from the friars how to make sugar art for their religious festivals. Clay molded sugar figures of angels, sheep and sugar skulls go back to the Colonial Period 18th century. Sugar skulls represented a departed soul, had the name written on the forehead and was placed on the home ofrenda or gravestone to honor the return of a particular spirit

There is nothing as beautiful as a big, fancy, unusual sugar skull!

Although it is a holiday from far away in southern Mexico, it's a holiday one can personalize and integrate into their own religious and cultural beliefs. It is more of a cultural holiday than a religious one. It is a wonderful way to celebrate the memories of our loved ones who are now gone... and celebrate not how the person died, but how they lived. 

This is why so many have the sugar skull or day of the dead tattoo added to their collection.

~ T

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