Have you ever seen the movie Coco? In the movie Miguel accidentally gets transported to the Land of the Dead and must find his great-great-grandfather so that he can help him return to his family. Coco is inspired by the Mexican holiday, Dia de Muertos. This year I got to participate in the celebration of Dia de Muertos!
Día de Muertos is a tradition that involves prayer and rememberance of people who have passed away. A big part of the holiday are the ofrendas, altars. The ofrendas are put together to honor the dead. The ofrendas are decorated with cempasuchil, marigolds. The orange flowers are placed on the ofrenda and are also used to create a path leading to the ofrenda because they are thought to lead the souls of the dead to the ofrenda. Pan de muerto is a type of bread that is baked during this time of year and placed on the ofrenda. Part of the trdaition is to place food items that the deceased person liked on the ofrenda. Some common food items are tamales, mole, frijoles, arroz and chocolate. The ofrendas are decorated with papel picado, a craft that is made by cutting designs into tissue paper.
