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Honoring the dead on Día de Muertos
Nobody can be sure what happens after you die, but on this second day of Dia de Muertos, I want to talk about how many in Southern California honor and sustain the spirits of the dead.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to honor my grandparents on this holiday. From going through old photos, to the colorful decorations and floral arrangements, it has brought comfort and even celebration to the grief of losing a loved one.
That’s where Día de Muertos comes in. Day of the Dead can be traced back 3,000 years during the pre-Hispanic era in Mexico. The two-day holiday begins on Nov. 1. The belief is that when the clock strikes midnight on Oct. 31, the gates of heaven open and spirits are able to contact the living.
Traditionally, it is celebrated by making an ofrenda, an altar dedicated to an impactful person in one’s life who is no longer here. The ofrendas are typically decorated with a photo of the person being remembered, candles, foods, cempasúchiles (marigolds), papel picado and calaveras (sugar skulls).
“Creating an altar has become a collective expression of grief and love,” Paola Briseño-González wrote in her essay for The Times. “Muertos helps us to reconnect. It brings us closer.”
Each altar is unique. A collective ofrenda honors more than one person, including the loved ones of friends. And it can be as modest or elaborate as you’d like.
(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)
For decades, Día de Muertos has had a strong presence in California, and whether you’re familiar with the holiday or want to know more, The Times has got you covered. From altars to recipes, here are all the ways The Times commemorated the Day of the Dead.
De Los’ annual digital altar gives readers an opportunity to honor their loved ones.
The L.A. Times launched its own digital altar in 2021, when public health restrictions related to the pandemic prevented many of Southern California’s in-person Day of the Dead events. We have continued to publish one every year since.
“The idea was to build a communal space where readers could still have the experience of celebrating their loved ones in public, albeit online,” De Los wrote on this year’s altar.
Like the digital altars of the past, people of various cultural backgrounds took time to write a message to their loved ones and post a photo of them.
De Los also had a physical ofrenda at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
As pandemic restrictions loosened, events came back, including Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Day of the Dead festival. The festival highlights traditional dances and musical performances, and, of course, altars. The dances originate from different regions, but maintain the same goal: to celebrate and honor the spirits.
Entering the over century-old cemetery, you walk past graves of famous actors and celebrities until you reach the vibrantly colored altars that honor family, homies and culture. The Times participated for its third year and received over 1,000 dedication cards from festival-goers looking to honor their loved ones.
My colleague Cerys Davies spoke to people who attended the festival in costume as some of the holiday’s most significant figures.
Denise Romero and her husband, Miguel, arrived as “tonas and nahuales” or spirit guides and guardians.
Miguel and Denise Romero, of Perris, Calif., dressed up for their visit to the annual Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Day of the Dead celebration.
(Angel Jennings / Los Angeles Times)
“At the end of the day, we’re all united by the one common thing, which is losing a loved one,” Denise told Cerys. “We all get to share in the passion of keeping their memory alive through dressing up.”
Other attendees dressed up as la Catrina (the iconic skeletal symbol of the holiday), la Muerte (goddess of death) and La Caridad de Cobre (Cuba’s patron saint).
What’s a holiday without food?
Among the touching messages and elegant floral arrangements, it is also traditional to offer food to the loved ones you are honoring in the ofrenda. A spirit’s got to eat, right?
“The observance offers a perfect moment to reset as we careen toward the holidays, when we start cooking and gathering with the people we love well into December,” Food editor Daniel Hernandez wrote in his piece on the holiday.
In their coverage of Día de Muertos, The Times Food section published various recipes, including Gusto Bread’s pan de muerto, and an essay by Briseño-González on how to build an altar.
Paola Briseño-González arranges the ofrenda in her home, honoring loved ones for Dia de Muertos with marigolds, cresta de gallo flowers, fruit, candles, mezcal and cherished photos of family and friends.
(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)
“I’ve witnessed how a spiritual ritual I grew up celebrating … has transformed into a cultural event and tradition for all Angelenos,” she wrote.
Briseño-González also offers four recipes: guava mole, butternut squash flautas, mixiotes de pollo and capirotada tropical.
Although much of the holiday is focused on death, it is also a time to celebrate life. Many of these recipes and activities are meant to be done with friends and family.
“Muertos is a time for reflection, but also, you can make it fun,” Daniel wrote.
Being Mexican American, I can find the humor in knowing that my family will continue to try to stuff me full of food even in the afterlife, where I hope calories don’t count.
Read more on Día de Muertos:
The week’s biggest stories
The 2024 presidential election enters its final days
California races heat up
- Californians are uncertain about increasing the minimum wage to $18 an hour, according to a poll cosponsored by The Times.
- A measure aimed at boosting the funding of homelessness services in L.A. County is close to the majority it needs to pass, a poll of likely voters found.
- Police “abolition” has emerged as a wedge issue in two L.A. City Council races.
- In scramble to flip another district blue, Democrats hope Rep. Kevin Kiley is too MAGA for Sacramento suburbs.
- If you plan on casting your ballot this weekend, you can find more information on several local races and issues in these voter guides from The Times.
Inside the night the Dodgers won their eighth World Series title
- In many ways, Game 5 of the World Series was a fitting culmination for the Dodgers as they rallied to beat the Yankees and secured a championship.
- The championship marked an appropriate end for Shohei Ohtani, who had the greatest individual season in Dodgers history, columnist Dylan Hernández writes.
- In Ohtani’s hometown in Japan, a superfan’s shrine covers the baseball star’s career — and humanity.
- A kid thought he was going to the dentist. His dad instead took him to Game 1 of the World Series and he caught Freddie Freeman’s grand slam.
- Here’s how one Yankees fan is consoling himself.
More big stories
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This week’s must reads
(Los Angeles Times photo illustration; photo by Mike Marsland / WireImage; Getty Images)
Liam Payne’s shocking death placed a tragic spotlight on the ups and downs of the One Direction member who struggled most acutely to chart a post-boy-band course.
More must reads
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For your weekend
Going out
Staying in
How well did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz.
(Times staff and wire photos)
On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series during Game 5 played at which storied venue? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
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