Scholars trace the origins of today’s modern Day of the Dead holiday back hundreds of years to Meso-American and pre-Columbian civilizations. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors were observed by these civilizations for 2,500–3,000 years. One Meso-American civilization, the Aztecs, had a festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, Queen of the underworld, ruler of the afterlife. Like the other Meso-American civilizations, the Aztecs kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth. The Aztecs timed these rituals by using the Aztec calendar, based on the Mayan calendar. Last year on December 21, 2012, the Aztec and Mayan calendars completed its current “Great Cycle” of the Long Count.
Today the holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. 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.
In keeping with the Aztec idea of rebirth and the beginning of the next calendar “Great Cycle”, we are celebrating our 2013 Day of the Dead event at the Sun Gallery with our annual Day of the Dead Art Show called “A NEW BEGINNING”.