{"id":2385,"date":"2015-11-05T17:20:19","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T01:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pre-production.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/?p=2385"},"modified":"2015-11-05T17:20:19","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T01:20:19","slug":"dia-de-los-muertos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/blog\/2015\/11\/05\/dia-de-los-muertos\/","title":{"rendered":"Dia De Los Muertos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Day of the Dead<\/p>\n<p>by Alberto Muro<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6381.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2446 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6381-e1447525444316-1024x817.jpg\" alt=\"Male Dancer\" width=\"1024\" height=\"817\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The death of a loved one is a heart breaking experience, and to overcome the feeling of sadness people have developed methods to hold onto memories of their deceased. Memorabilia\u00a0is common, and there are many traditional ways which people honor their deceased.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6310.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2448\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6310-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Dia De Los Muertos Alter\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For thousands of years November was observed in Latin American culture as a month to honor the deceased. The ongoing tradition of honoring the dead is called \u201cDia De Los Muertos\u201d (Day of the Dead).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6317.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2450 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6317-e1447525483114-1024x624.jpg\" alt=\"Family Alter\" width=\"1024\" height=\"624\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>During Dia De Los Muertos, family members and loved ones get together to build a shrine and decorate it with items that brought joy to their deceased. Food, beverages, and music albums are\u00a0some of many items that are placed at the shrines.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6313.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2449 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6313-e1447525512126-1024x480.jpg\" alt=\"Dia De Los Muertos Alter\" width=\"1024\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Festivities are common during Dia De Los Muertos, and it allows communities to come together and celebrate the lives\u00a0of their deceased. Face painting that resembles a skull is a widely recognized feature about Dia De Los Muerto, and the creativity behind each face reflects on the cherished memories of the deceased.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6330.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2443 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6330-e1447525361925-1024x584.jpg\" alt=\"Folklorico Dancers\" width=\"1024\" height=\"584\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mexican folklore dances are also a notable trait of the festivities during Dia De Los Muertos. The dancers are dressed in colorful attire where the men wear hats, scarves, and boots while the women wear colorful dresses with bows in their hair.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6339.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2445 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6339-e1447525241407-1007x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Two dancers\" width=\"1007\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Children are also an important aspect of the dancing tradition by wearing full body skeletal suits and skull masks as they engage in perfectly choreographed steps.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6334.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2444 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6334-e1447525173570-1024x584.jpg\" alt=\"Skeletal Dancers\" width=\"1024\" height=\"584\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dance director and host of a Dia De Los Muertos event Cruz Ramos and her daughter Muriel Ramos have partaken in the tradition in Bakersfield for the last 23 years.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6323.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2447 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6323-e1447525389867-1024x740.jpg\" alt=\"Cruz\/Muriel Ramos\" width=\"1024\" height=\"740\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Every year Cruz is on a mission to ensure that people enjoy their time at the Dia De Los Muertos festival. When asked about her motivation behind hosting the tradition, she said, \u201cThe love for our people that have left us and gone, and that includes friends because there is something in their lives that impacted us, and we learn something from them and in my case the love for God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Often people are misinformed about the tradition of Dia De Los Muertos, and although it\u2019s a couple of days after Halloween, it has no affiliation. People that have not attended the event receive a history lesson about Dia De Los Muertos. Cruz is no stranger to newcomers curious about Dia De Los Muertos, she says, \u201cThey get educated, and they find out what they thought it was or what they heard. It has nothing to do with witchcraft or superstition. It\u2019s a fact of life, we are born, and we are bound to die.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Beverages, food, dancing, and familial bonds stand out at Dia De Los Muertos events, and at the end of the day, Cruz enjoys partaking in the tradition that her ancestors celebrated. We often take the time to mourn our deceased, but attending a Dia De Los Muertos event is a different story.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6318.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2452\" src=\"http:\/\/oldweb.taftcollege.edu\/tcwp\/cougaronline\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_6318-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_6318\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sadness is replaced with celebration which Cruz pointed out \u201cloved ones of the deceased are joking, there\u2019s also laughter a lot of laughter and joy.&#8221; At the end of the day, those that we miss dearly want us to be happy, and Dia De Los Muertos is one of many traditions that people celebrate the lives of their deceased.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Day of the Dead  by Alberto Muro    The death of a loved one is a heart breaking experience, and to overcome the feeling of sadness people have developed methods to hold onto memories of their deceased. Memorabilia\u00a0is common, and there are many traditional ways which people honor their deceased.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.taftcollege.edu\/echo-online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}