Day of the Dead and Halloween? What’s the Difference?

As Garza Blanca Preserve gets itself prepared for Mexico’s Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) on November 2nd and organizes the finishing touches for its Halloween Masquerade Ball on October 31st, Garza Blanca Signature Residences owners and potential residents may be wondering what the difference between the two festivals are. Here is a brief explanation of how the two holidays that honour the dead compare.

Similarities

The most notable similarity is that both holidays are dedicated to entities that do not exist in the physical realm; in the case of Mexico’s Day of the Dead, we are talking about dead family members and ancestors, while in the case of Halloween we are talking about all kinds of unearthly spirits and demons that come to plague the earth on the Eve of All Hallows. Which leads us to look at the dates when these holidays are celebrated, which have more in common than you might think. The Day of the Dead takes place on the Christian festival of All Souls Day, which marks the end of a three-day festival that begins on Halloween, the evening before All Saints Day (All Hallows). In fact, in many parts of Mexico, the Dead of the Dead is celebrated over 3 days rather than just one.

Differences

Perhaps the most notable difference between Halloween and the Day of the Dead is the general attitude towards death and the dead on these days. Nowadays, Halloween is more about trick-o-treating and dressing up as evil characters from horror movies, with the onus on the dead representing a malignant force. You see images of ghosts, ghouls, vampires, monsters and all kinds of living dead come to torture humanity for one night only. On the contrary, in Mexico, the Day of the Dead is a celebration of the lives of loved ones who have died, a day to remember them with fondness and celebration. The altars that are erected in honor of deceased family members will commemorate the dead relatives offering flowers, the deceased’s favorite food and beverages, photographs and candles. The candles are considered a really important part of the festivities, as the light is supposed to help the deceased spirits find their way in the afterlife.

Another difference lies in the origins of the traditions. While it is true that the Day of the Dead is celebrated on a date that concurs with a Christian holy day, the roots of its customs actually come from Aztec traditions. The original Aztec Day of the Dead came into being in honor of Mictecacihuatl, the Queen of the underworld and her husband, Mictlantechuhtli. Rather than 3 days, the festival lasted the whole month. Following the Spanish conquest, the festival was reduced to the 3 days of All Hallows, while the reference to the Aztec queen still remains in the Calavera Catrina, which is a skeleton dressed in fine clothing.