Many Latin Americans and Mexicans believe that on the Day of the Dead, relatives who have passed away return to feast with those who remain alive. The people of Central America and Mexico held special ceremonies each year for the souls of their departed relatives. The Aztecs that went to Mexico in 1325 inherited these traditions. They believed in several different kinds of gods. There was a god for almost everything. There was a god of fire, god of maize, god of Death, god of wind, and many more. The Aztecs always admired and respected the gods. They were scared because they knew that the gods controlled what happened on Earth. (Hoyt-Goldsmith 10).

          One of the Aztecs many beliefs included the belief that how a person died would affect that person’s afterlife and their destination after death. There was a different afterlife if a person died a natural, violent, or while drowning. People would enter Mictlan (MEEK-tlan) “the place of the dead” if they died a natural death. They would have to experience a different journey through nine levels of underworld facing many dangerous trials and tribulations. Once buried, individuals heading towards Mictlan were armed with articles and useful objects that would be essential to survive the nine levels. Among the supplies they carried with them were food, pets, clothing, and toys. (Hoyt-Goldsmith 10).

Image courtesy of Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith

          According to the Aztecs, people who have died violently or as warriors do not set out to Mictlan. Those spirits who have experienced such violent deaths travel “directly to one of the thirteen celestial levels in heaven” (Hoyt-Goldsmith 11). Warriors who died during battle were accompanied by the sun god, Tonatiuh (TOH-nah-TEE-ooh). Babies and young children who died went to Chichihuacuauhco (chee-chee-hwa-KWAH-ooh-koh). Once in Chichihuacuauhco, the children and babies were fed milk, which dripped from the branches of trees. Individuals who died while drowning attended Tlaloc (tla-LOK), where the only season that existed was spring. (Hoyt-Goldsmith 11)

          The Aztec year was made up of eighteen months. Each month had five "useless days" and during this time the Aztecs held festivals called veintenas (veh-THE-nahs) "in honor of the gods" (Hoyt-Goldsmith 11). These veintenas led to the celebration of what is known as Dia de Los Muertos, Day of the Dead. Spirits always came back to feast with their families and to make sure that they were still being remembered. (Hoyt-Goldsmith 11).