Dia de los Muertos - The Day of the Dead is approaching

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Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead is approaching. It is a Mexican holiday (similar to Halloween) celebrated on November 1st and 2nd.

Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl. In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals, parades, and at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

In Aztec mythology, Mictecacihuatl (pronounced ‘Mikt-eyk-as-see-wahl’ or Misk-tesk-ei-siev-alth) is Queen of Mictlan, the underworld, ruling over the afterlife with Mictlantecuhtli, another deity who is designated as her husband.

Her role is to keep watch over the bones of the dead. She presided over the ancient festivals of the dead, which evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern Day of the Dead after synthesis with Spanish cultural traditions. She is said now to preside over the contemporary festival as well. Mictecacihuatl is known as the Lady of the Dead, since it is believed that she was born, then sacrificed as an infant. Her cult is sometimes held to persist in the common Mexican worship of Santa Muerte.

Mictecacihuatl was represented with a defleshed body and with jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day. - Wikipedia