Eclectic Elementary: Haunted Holidays

If one spooky holiday isn’t enough for you, then you’re in luck! Halloween and Dia de los Muertos are perfectly timed to stir up all kinds of spooky spirits and lots of learning. Halloween is celebrated on October 31^st. On midnight of the same day, people in Central and Southern Mexico believe that the gates of heaven open. This allows the spirits of the dead to return between November 1^st and 2^nd to visit their relatives and friends. The first spirits to arrive are the angelitos, or the spirits of deceased children. Then on November 2^nd, the spirits of adults are allowed to return.

All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, as it’s commonly known, is one the largest commercial holidays in the world. The only holiday that out spends Halloween is Christmas! Whether it’s attending costume parties, dressing up as crazy characters, or watching little faces light up as you ply them with sugary sweets, there are a lot of reasons why people love this haunted holiday.
Halloween originated as a Celtic festival called Samhain. The holiday was full of spooky specters roving around. Many of our current traditions stem from activities done during Samhain. For example, do you know why people originally dressed in costume? It wasn’t to get candy! Long ago, people dressed up to disguise themselves from evil spirits that may have been roaming around during the festival. Eventually the Christian church changed the name of the holiday to All Hallows Eve and dedicated it to the remembrance of the dead and saints of the church, in order to try to Christianize the pagan holiday. The name was shortened over time to Halloween, and is now one of the most popular holidays around!

Dia de los Muertos is one of the most important celebrations in many towns and villages in Mexico. In fact, some people will spend about two months of what they earn preparing to welcome the dead. The families create ofrendas, or altars, to their dead relatives. Typically the ofrendas will be decorated with pictures of the deceased, candles, and orange marigolds. The family will also leave gifts for the dead such as: pan de muertos (bread of the dead), fruit, drinks, and other things that are associated with the person that’s passed away. In some areas the families will set places at their tables to welcome back the spirits of their loved ones. Local artisans prepare papel picado banners to be used in church services during the holiday, and to decorate for Dia de los Muertos. Candy makers also prepare in advance by making a huge number of Calaveras, decorated with icing. These spectacular little skulls can be made of chocolate, but are generally created from sugar. The holiday goers can smash the sugar skulls to symbolize victory over death, before they eat the sweet treat. They also make little sugar coffins to delight the younger patrons of the holiday. Where some people view death as an end, Dia de los Muertos celebrates the beauty of the cycle of life and the lives are loved ones. Due to its colorful and fun nature, it’s also attracting a following in countries all around the world.

These holidays coincide so well that I love to take a little time to teach about both around Halloween time. It’s also the perfect time to include some global awareness for my munchkins! We generally spend a little more time on Dia de los Muertos as it’s a lesser known holiday. Then I let the kids compare and contrast the two holidays. They usually think it’s so cool how closely the two holidays parallel even though they originated in totally different areas of the world. It’s an open door to share how many similarities people have from so many different places.

If you’re interested in more info about either of these holidays, check out these great videos I found online…