Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

How much do you know or remember about Día de Los Muertos? We will review and play as we go. ¡Buena suerte!

Multiple Select

Where is Día de Los Muertos celebrated?

• South America

• Parts of Central America

• Mexico

• In the Mexican Countries.+

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

Contrary to popular belief, Día de Los Muertos is not celebrated throughout Latin America.

Most Latin American countries do not celebrate Día de Los Muertos, or celebrate something similar to Día de Todos Los Santos in Spain, where people go to the cemetery, clean up graves, and put fresh flowers.

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

How much do you know or remember about Día de Los Muertos? We will review and play as we go. ¡Buena suerte!

Multiple Select

What are the two main celebrations during El Día de los Muertos?

• El Día de los Inocentes on November 1st

• El Día de los Muertos on November 2nd

• El Día de los Santos on October 31st

• El Día de los Muertos on November 1st

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

A celebration of loved ones who passed away in Central America and Mexico.
November 1st is El Día de los Inocentes (day of the innocents) for infants and children.
November 2nd: El Día de los Muertos (day of the dead) for adults. Celebrations start two days earlier as people start getting their homes ready.

Poll

Día de los Muertos is a sad, gloomy remembrance of those who are not with us.

• Cierto

• Falso

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

¡FALSO!

Día de los Muertos is a celebration of life and the legacy left by loved ones who passed away.

Multiple Choice

The belief behind this celebration is that in those days, the separation between the world of the living and of the dead becomes thinner.

• Cierto

• Falso

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

¡CIERTO!

The belief is that on these two first days of November, the separation between the world of the living and the world of the dead dissolves.

The spirits of those loved ones who passed will "come to earth" and visit the living on these two days.

The presence of those spirits is felt nearby as they are remembered.

Multiple Choice

Día de los Muertos and Halloween have this in common:

• Nothing

• The date

• Some Christian traditions

• They're the same thing

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

Día de los Muertos is not “Mexican Halloween."

However, both celebrations share some Christian traditions, such as those of All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Day.

Multiple Choice

Día de Los Muertos originated in Mexico and Central America with...

• The Nahuatl/Aztecs

• The Mayans and the Toltecs

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

Día de Los Muertos has two origins:

One is Aztec/Nahuatl (Mexico and Central America). These civilizations revered the Goddess of Death, Mictlantecuhtli, and believed in helping the passage of souls to the Land of the Dead, Mictlan

The other origin is European and Celtic, with All Hallows' Eve and All Saints Day.

Multiple Choice

Who brought the traditions of All Hallows' Eve and All Saints Day to the Aztec/Nah people?

• The Pilgrims, led by William Bradford

• The Conquistadors, led by Christopher Columbus

• The Explorers, led by Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

Christopher Columbus being the first European to make contact with the natives and their culture was the one to introduce traditions regarding celebrating and remembering the dead.

The Aztec celebrations were actually in August instead of November.

Today's celebrations are a combination of both European and Native traditions.

Multiple Choice

What is the centerpiece of Mexico's Day of The Dead celebration?

• Cementerios y velas

• Altares y ofrendas

• Calacas y calaveras

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

The centerpiece of Day of the Dead celebrations is the altares, where people put ofrendas for the deceased.

These two words are often used interchangeably as if they are the same thing.

Multiple Select

What are the things often found in the ofrendas, on the altares?

(check the three that apply)

• Candles, pictures, personal belongings

• Favorite foods and drinks, religious objects

• Marigolds, papel picado, sugar skulls, fruit and water

• Stew, flour, and the ashes of the deceased

• Vinegar, letters to the loved one, and pumpkins

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos Altars

Common elements found on altars during El Día de Los Muertos include:

• Photographs and personal belongings

• Water offerings and religious symbols

• Food and drinks

• Candles and sugar skulls

Multiple Choice

What four things are represented in the ofrendas?

• The four seasons

• The four cardinal points

• The four elements of nature

• Heaven, earth, the spirit world, the underworld.

Reviewing El Día de Los Muertos

• Elemento de fuego: Represented with candles, sage, copal, and incense. The smoke and smell guide the spirit of the deceased back to earth.

• Elemento de aire: Represented with papel picado, it symbolizes wind, which connects the worlds of the living and the dead.

• Elemento de tierra: Represented with earth itself, fruit, and bread, made of grains.

• Elemento de agua: Represented with water and other favorite drinks, it is offered for the spirits to quench their thirst after their long journey earthside.

Multiple Choice

Calacas (skeleton figurines), calaveras de azúcar, and la Calavera Catrina are the same thing.

• Falso

• Cierto

Poll

Reflection (be honest): How many of these things did you really remember?

• I remembered most everything.

• I started to remember when we discussed it.

• I did not remember anything.

• I did not know some of these things.

• I did not know any of these things.