“Versions of have been around for thousands and thousands of years. 1 and 2 - which, not coincidentally, are All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in Catholicism. And they did see death as sort of like the start of a new life or a new cycle,” said Angie Jimenez, the altar program director for the Día de los Muertos celebration at Hollywood Forever, which takes place Saturday.Ĭatholicism has a knack for absorbing holidays into its liturgical calendar - it’s how we ended up with Saturnalia trees at Christmas and rabbits and eggs at Easter - and something like that happened in Mexico with this holiday. “The Aztecs did honor the dead with celebrations and rituals during what was the harvest season. The holiday originated in Aztec culture before Spanish colonizers and the Roman Catholic Church arrived. But for many Southern Californians, it’s the season of Día de Muertos. The dominant one in America is Halloween. It’s not a coincidence that many cultures around the world have celebrations and ceremonies relating to death at this time of year. In spring, food is planted and animals are born in summer they grow, in fall comes the harvest, and in winter things are dead. The days are shorter, the air crisper, the leaves changing.
