Showing posts with label Day of the Dead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Day of the Dead. Show all posts

November 1 - Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos)

 Posted on November 1, 2021


This is an update of my post published on November 1, 2010:



All Saints' Day, today, is a Catholic holiday that honors all the saints, known and unknown. Tomorrow is All Souls' Day, a Catholic holiday that honors all the “faithful departed”—in other words, all the Catholics who have died.


Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) connects with these two holidays for many Mexican and Mexican-American families. It is a day to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. Many people take sugar skulls (yes, they are candy and can be eaten), marigolds, favorite foods and beverages, and memorabilia such as photos to graveyards. There people build altars or decorate the graves with these gifts.


Some people also build small shrines to the dead in their homes, visit one another, or even encourage children to knock on doors for small gifts of money and candy (which is very similar to trick-or-treating, and could be a passed-down influence). Parades and festivals are sometimes held. Of course, like all holidays, special foods are often served.






Celebrate!

Here are instructions for making crafts to celebrate Day of the Dead.



 

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November 1 - Remembrance Day in Slovenia

Posted on November 1, 2020

Today is Day of the Dead - aka All Saints' Day or Remembrance Day - in many different nations all over the world. From Mexico in Central America and Brazil in South America to Burkina Faso in Africa and Hungary in Europe, from East Timor in Asia to New Caledonia in the South Pacific - Wow! So many people remember, on November 1, their "dearly departed": their old-time ancestors and their relatives who have more recently died.

Slovenia is one of those nations. People remember their ancestors by visiting cemeteries and lighting candles at graves. The day is work-free for most (although it falls on a Sunday this year! - so many businesses and stores are closed anyway!).

There are generally ceremonies in Ljubljana's Congress Square - although this year a crowded ceremony might be a no-no because of the pandemic.


Žale Cemetery in Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana.

Slovenia is lovely in autumn!
Above, Lake Bled. Below, Ljubljana.






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November 2, 2011 - All Soul's Day



Along with the holidays called All-Hallow's Eve, All Saint's Day, and Day of the Dead, this is a day to honor loved ones who have died. It is celebrated in many parts of the world, particularly in Catholic communities, and it this celebration often lasts more than two days (hence all the different names for the evening and each day).

Offerings to the dead include marigolds, lit candles, food, incense, and photos or other memorabilia. Some people decorate with paper mache skulls or make and eat sugar skulls. There are spectacular parades of skeletons and ghouls, and cardboard coffins are rigged so that skeletons jump out at random times!



On a lighter note, today is also...


Cookie Monster Day

Today is the birthday of the big, blue, furry, goggle-eyed Cookie Monster, who (like me) LOVES cookies!

The Cookie Monster is known for his insatiable appetite. That means he never gets full and is usually sooooo hungry for cookies or anything else (he's even eaten letters and hubcaps!), he goes into a messy, noisy feeding frenzy.

To learn more about the Cookie Monster, check out Muppet Wiki. 

Doodle!

Jim Hensen, creator of the Muppets, dreamed up the Cookie Monster and other famous characters while doodling! Grab your favorite pencil or pen and start filling up some paper with doodles of your own. Be sure to doodle widely and wildly—draw everything from flowers and curlicues to animals and monsters to machines and jets to branches and gears and buttons and mountains.

A new book about doodling has been released to inspire you further: Doodling with Jim Hensen. 
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November 1, 2010




Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos)

All Saints' Day, today, is a Catholic holiday that honors all the saints, known and unknown. Tomorrow is All Souls' Day, a Catholic holiday that honors all the “faithful departed”—in other words, all the Catholics who have died.

Day of the Dead connects with these two holidays for many Mexican and Mexican-American families. It is a day to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. Many people take sugar skulls (yes, they are candy and can be eaten), marigolds, favorite foods and beverages, and memorabilia such as photos to graveyards. There people build altars or decorate the graves with these gifts.


Some people also build small shrines to the dead in their homes, visit one another, or even encourage children to knock on doors for small gifts of money and candy (which is very similar to trick-or-treating, and could be a passed-down influence). Parades and festivals are sometimes held.


Celebrate!



Here and here are instructions for making skeleton and paper flower crafts and special Day-of-the-Dead foods.



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