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This weekend marks Halloween, the one day a year that we celebrate fear by inviting all of the ghosts and demons of our collective unconscious to come out and play. With roots that go back centuries, Halloween has been augmented by tales of mythological monsters, horrific historical figures such as Vlad the Impaler and Ed Gein, ghost stories, Gothic horror novels including Frankenstein and Dracula, and cinematic portrayals that spotlight the darker corners of our imagination.
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canaisplay cruzeiro - Day of the Dead
This weekend is Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, a Latin American holiday observed on November 1 and 2. Unlike Halloween, however, it’s a time for the dead to be honored, not feared.
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Día de los Muertos is a time to honor lost loved ones and make peace with your own mortality. The celebration is derived from the rituals of pre-Hispanic peoples of Mexico. Led by the goddess Mictecacihuatl, the celebration lasted an entire month. But after Spanish colonization, the holiday was moved to coincide with the Roman Catholic holy days of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.
Customs and observancesMost families build altars, called ofrendas, in their homes, using photos, candles, flowers, and food to honor their deceased relatives. Some families mark the occasion by cleaning and decorating graves as well. But Día de los Muertos is not a solemn affair—the observances are characterized by a sense of good cheer, with kids receiving sweets and toys shaped like skeletons and skulls, and joyous gatherings and celebrations.
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