While many recently finished celebrating Halloween, there is another holiday that takes place just one day later.
The Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, takes place every year on Nov. 1 and 2. The holiday has roots tying back to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and it aims to honor loved ones who have passed.
On this day, it is believed that the souls of the dead return for a brief period to visit their loved ones with music, dancing and feasts. The tradition aims to celebrate, honor and commemorate the lives of the deceased.
Anabella Christianson Zamora, a junior in animal science and president of UNIDAS, an Iowa State student organization for Latinx-identifying women, started celebrating the holiday more as an adult.
“My family from Mexico are traditionally Lutheran and considered the holiday pagan,” Christianson Zamora said. “As a kid, I was always interested in learning more about those traditions since I saw everyone else in the city celebrating at school, with parades and in the cemeteries.”
Christianson Zamora recalled sneaking out one night with her cousins to see the festivities downtown.
“We sat at the cathedral’s east steps watching flocks of people in and out of costumes...