Dia de los Muertos holiday focuses on gatherings to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. In most regions of Mexico, November 1st honors deceased children, known as "Día de los Inocentes" (Day of the Innocents) or "Día de los Angelitos" (Day of the Little Angels). Deceased adults are honored on November 2nd, known as "Día de los Muertos" or "Día de los

Origins of Dia de Los Muertos

Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by indigenous peoples of the Americas dating back thousands of years, originally traced back to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as "The Lady of the Dead."

In old Mexico, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and to display them during the rituals, symbolizing death and rebirth. That is, death was not thought to be the end of life, but rather as a time when the soul is free. For them death was the end of long dream and only in death could a person be really awake.

Many people believe that during Dia de Los Muertos, it is easier for the souls of the departed to visit the living. People thus go to cemeteries to communicate with these souls, offering prayers and other commentary. Families will clean the graves where their loved ones are buried and decorate them for the occasion.

Holidays similar to Dia de Los Muertos are celebrated in many parts of the world. Observed as a public holiday in Brazil, many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray to their departed loved ones. Comparable observances occur elsewhere across Europe, in the Philippines, and in many Asian and African cultures, too.

Eros continues in the Dia de los Muertos tradition, sometimes using his art as the means to celebrate those who have gone before us.

The Other Side

“During the time that my grandfather passed," says Eros, "I began to have what I would call spiritual experiences, more attuned to that ‘real other reality,’ the land of spirits and things.

Broken Dreams

“The painting Broken Dreams, similarly commemorates a cousin of mine, Gina, who died before her time. To be more exact, Gina was kidnapped and killed.

Gina and I grew up together. She was like my sister. It was a terrible thing, a political thing, and we never found out who killed her. It’s part of the corruption of Mexico.”

“The Broken Dreams painting is about my feelings for Gina, about my communication with Gina’s spirit coming back to visit me, about my chanelling the horror itself. It is through the art that I was able to cleanse myself, as well as to help release Gina’s spirit to finally go free.”

Details from the Broken Dreams Painting (below)
Click on any IMAGE to start the Broken Dreams Slide Show

All Hallows Eve

Similar to Dia de los Muertos, Halloween also originates from a pagan holiday honoring the dead. Known as All-Spirits' Eve, or “All Hallows” Eve, it is one of four holy days celebrated from Paleolithic times by the earliest European tribal people. It was carried forward in the religious traditions of the Irish Celts.

According to the Celt’s "Druid" religion, November 1st was New Years' on their calendar. The celebration would begin on October 31st and last into the following day. During this time, the spirits of all who died the year before would rise up from the underworld to roam the villages and streets.

The underworld is the place where the spirits live. It’s not thought of as a heaven or a hell, however, just another kind of world. Its exact location (for the Celts) was – quite literally - underground, especially in the vicinity of large burial mounds left by the Stone Age people. Spirits wandered out of the burial grounds - or cemetaries, to use the modern day parlance - on “All Hallows” Eve and walked among the living doing all sorts of extraordinary things. It was even said that Lord Samhain, the Lord of Darkness himself, would arrive in search of mortals to spirit them off to the underworld.

The spirits could be tricked by a jack-o'-lantern imitation of themselves or placated by treats or gifts. So impersonating a spirit was (and still is!) the only safe way to travel about on Halloween.

The Roman Catholic Church created All Saints Day on November 1st to honor Saints and All Souls Day on November 2 to honor and pray for the souls of the dead. In fact, these holidays were created by the church in an effort to usurp the pagan traditions. With Halloween’s enduring success, however, it didn’t quite work out that way.

Currently celebrated with costumes and tricks or treats, with all the attendant superstitions, Halloween, like Dia de Los Muertos, is thus originally derived from very ancient traditions, traced far back into the mists of time.