Worldwide, almost every culture has a special day to honor their dead as special rituals found throughout the world. It is interesting to analyze within the sociological spectrum as well the semantic components how humanity ritualizes death and the process of healing. Humans use religious and personal rituals to mourn the lost and accept that death is not only an ending but rather a new beginning.
One of those ritualistic celebrations is called El Dia de los Muertos or as is known in English, The Day of the Dead. Probably the most well known celebration is the Mexican one. Many don’t know that almost every culture in the world has their own Day of the Dead as well as Mexico. They aren’t well known because they aren’t consider a patrimony of humanity as is the Mexican celebration.
To think about the modern celebration of El Dia de los Muertos , we have to go back to the conquistadors who brought Christianity to the continent during the Colonization Period. To be more exact, El Dia de los Muertos has a link to the All Souls Day (a Catholic festivity). Some features of the All Souls Day can be seen in El Dia de los Muertos, such as praying to God so the souls can have a good eternal rest, or the bringing of relics that once belonged to the departed so they could “use” the favorite things they had in life.
The traditions change from country to country due to the different cultures, but as in many Hispanic countries the influence of the Catholic Church is clearly seen, so some patterns in traditions can be seen in different celebrations.
Variations according to the Countries
Ecuador: In Ecuador the celebration is similar to Mexico: there are not many differences; people go to the graves of their relatives and leave local food and drinks like the Purple Colada, a beverage made of purple corn and local berries.
A tradition that is mostly seen in the rural areas is the Piruruy, the Ouija version of Ecuador; the game is played with dice carved from llama bones and is used as a method of communication with the departed.