Dia de Los muertos
California
Dia de Los Muertos California
Dia de Los Muertos California is a new project from Sol Collective with support and input from several regional groups and leaders to support the continued practice and tradition of honoring our ancestors during these difficult times.
At the core of this community-driven project is a calendar of events to help people find local celebrations across California. This project also features a new user-generated digital ofrenda, or altar, to provide a safe COVID-19 free space to be in a community while honoring those whom have left the earth plane.
Providing a safe way to continue the Dia de Los Muertos tradition.
Día de los Muertos, which means Day of the Dead, mixes elements from ancient Mesoamerican cultures and Catholic influence. Mesoamerican cultures believed death was not the end, but rather a transition of life. Mexica (Aztec) people believed that a soul goes to the underworld; it needs help to travel across each of the levels before reaching Mictlan, the realm of the Death god, a place of eternal rest. Help was provided by the living by burning offerings or ofrendas. Additionally, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are the Catholic celebrations that influenced the Day of the Dead.
In our current culture, Día de los Muertos is mostly celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. It is a festival to welcome the souls of the departed loved ones, as it is believed that once every year those souls can visit the world of the living. It is a custom to prepare altars in honor of loved ones. The altars contain food, flowers, candles, candy, sugar skulls, and other elements the deceased liked when alive.
Sol Collective is devising strategies to support Californians through a challenging year.
Dia de Los Muertos California is a project by Sol Collective with support and input from several regional groups and leaders who have welcomed this tradition into communities around the state for decades.
The Sacramento-based Sol Collective is an arts & cultural center that established in 2005 with a mission to promote cultural understanding, and to engage community around priority issues. Specifically, their mission is to provide artistic, cultural, and educational programming, promote social justice, and empower youth of color, marginalized, and underserved communities through art, activism, music, and media.
Partnership with Listos California is supporting community in many ways, specifically to deliver disaster preparedness and steps to slow the spread of COVID-19.
In 2019, Sol Collective was selected as a grantee of Listos California, an emergency preparedness campaign by Gov. Newsom and state lawmakers, to help ensure authentic and effective cultural competency in an effort to provide hard to reach communities with the steps to prepare for public health emergencies, wildfire and other disaster. Together, the two entities are working to transform how to engage communities and deliver disaster preparedness information.
