Día de Los Muertos: All Dead People Welcome!

Welcome to Scary Mystery Surprise, where we talk about creepy things that surprised us around the internet. That Medwyn, I'm Michelle, are we ready? We gotta get ready, we gotta warm up. I'm ready. I already did my my voice warm ups. That was a thing that I learned at Inquire what the yeah and the doing alarm sounds and everything, and like back, like h see, I can't reach that limit. I'm gonna just do. I meant sirens, not alarm. So that's my fault. That's on me. You're right, it is your fault. But anyway, so Michelle, I feel like I always I said this last time, but this is such an interesting topic to me. Thee lits moretos. Day of the Dead it's here, It's gonna hope it's it would stay the whole year. Are you ready? I'm ready? Tell me everything. So the Day of the Dead is a holiday that's celebrated in early November, usually the first couple of days. It comes from Mexico, so this is where it's mostly celebrated. Now for those who have traveled and they live in New York or Texas, La and other places in the US, it basically went with everybody. So now you see parades and you see all these celebrations of the same thing, just kind of like tequila, it flowed with people the others. Martos also has a more like solemn tone, you know, remembrance and supposed to be kind of like a happy thing. Like it's not meant to be a sad oh no, like funeral. No, it's supposed to be like you're happy, you're joyful, you're celebrating, dancing like you're doing a joyful thing. And like I said, some people celebrate it differently than others, So don't expect to go party when you get invited to one of these events. Family and friends they gather and they go to each other's houses and they have a good time. I'm and they celebrate the life of the person who has died. You're gonna notice all these colorful statues and colorful skeletons, dressed up flowers everywhere. It's probably as Mexican as a guest. It's really cool. And also families whenever they're celebrating this, they built altars inside of the house and they put food all over the place. And these are literally just like tables decorated with cloth and flowers and candles and pictures of those who have passed. It goes deeper into if it was a dead child, they bring long toys and presents and all these really cool things. If they're adults, let's say they're an older person, a grandparent or something, they bring a tole which is like this, it's a hot drink, imagine coffee, but thicker, thickened with some type of flower or corn flower, something like that. I don't know how I feel about what you've just said. You should try it, Michelle. You know what, when we try, we're going to have to do this on like an Instagram live or something. Yeah, you're gonna love it. You're gonna love it. I mean, it's it's so different. And I'm so surprised when people is there caffeine in it? No, there's no caffeine. I mean they're okay, No, there's no caffeine. Okay, it's not a coffee drink. It's not. Then I'm in. I'll try it. You're not gonna see it at Starbucks. Well, you never know, you never know. Oh, this is so political, just kidding, an political it's cultural appropriate. Yeah, cultural path When it ends up at Starbucks. Something weirdess happened. Poor pumpkins. That happened to them, right, poor pumpkins. They just were replacing headless guys heads and now they're a drink. Now they're drink and they have to spice everything. It's just what a life they've been reduced to. We got to stand up for those pumpkins. Not cool, not cool, but yeah, it goes along with the which is the bread of the dead. Sugarsulls. Have you ever eaten one of those candy skulls? I don't think, I mean a bit, like I've been a part of it. Yeah, I mean you can, but like are you supposed to? I like, I think I licked one and I was like, I can't eat this, like I know, depending on it. If they made it with like sharpies, like they decorated it, I don't think you should eat it. This one didn't have sharpies. It was handled by a lot of people. You know. It was in my hotel room. It was to celebrate Day of the Dead. I was like, do I eat this? That question has like popped up swaften with things. If it was small and it looks like candy, then I guess, but I mean I'd be worried just because when I see the actual skulls, like they're decorated to look like a certain thing or with certain colors, and usually they go into contests and there's like glitter stuck on them. Sometimes the bedazzle like there's glue, but it's sugar, and they're like leaving it for you to eat. But you're not gonna eat glue. So what do I do? You should have asked, You should have asked, Michelle. I feel terrible. Call it Fred desk. Now, Hi, what do I do with this candy skull? I tried to eat it, but uh there's like glue on it. Uhhh did I do it right? Oh god, I'm just imagining that. Sure, Okay, this is get baby to cry right here? Okay. Something that I found is that the spirit of the Festivity has a lot of things in common with the European tradition called dance macaban dance macab ye. So that's also the same thing, like where they have allegories of life and death. I don't know if you've heard of this, but you know those people that they paint their faces and they look like an actual skeleton, and then they dress up in flowered hats and everything. They're called katrinas like Calavera katrina. And then you dress up as a kathrine, which is the male version of it. You dress up as like a imagine like them mariachi suit, you walk around like that, and or you can just be dressed up in a very formal suit and Thai type of thing with a skeleton face and everything you call the katrine. But yeah, it's always the same thing. The celebration, people dancing, people dressed up, and it's just it's an overall it's a good time. So people throughout the whole year they actually plan. Now the other those mortals. What I found really interesting was this one specific thing, right, it just said there's a three day period where families clean and decorate the graves and they visit the cemeteries where their family members or friends are, and that's where they decorate the graves themselves and build these altars they call alta is probably spelled the same way in English and Spanish, but they include the mirrigold. Now sometimes it's called Flora de muerto because of it, it's been associated with the day of the Dead. And now it's called the flower of the dead. By the way, this is from a Wikipedia article on the flowers, where it says that the flowers attract souls of the dead to the offerings. So then they see the flower that they go to the towards the flower, and then they see the offerings. And it's also believed that the bright petals with the ones that smell really strongly can guide the souls from cemeteries to the family home. I do have one question, what do they do with all the food and all the flowers after the celebration? Is it just going to trash? I'm pretty sure they eat the good stuff. I've heard that spirits. When spirits eat food, you're not supposed to eat it anymore once it's been an offering. So that's why I'm like, oh, and because I never even thought of that, because I know that if they were just leave it to rot, let's mess up. It seems weird to just throw in the trash too. What is done with the food when the mortos is over? It says from this guy who's a Mexican currently in Mexico answers okay, good authentic? He says, you can eat the stuff that doesn't go bad food, and the offering is not really thought of as given to the dead, but prepared so they can come for a visit, have a good time, and then go back to where they came from. It's like a banquet prepared for guests. It's just like one can eat the leftovers. Oh okay, I like that. Okay, that's a really nice answer. I'm solid with that, Like because the idea of is throwing away a bunch of food made me sad. Yeah. And you know, there's this comment here from this guy who moved to Mexico from Seattle. Let's just see his answer. Just let's see what he says. My Mexican friend who was raised in the culture of the day of the dead, Okay, tell me that the food has no flavor as a dead have taken it. Interesting. Okay, that's interesting, that says I suspect no alcohol ghost to waste though. Mm okay, Well, I'm glad his friend told him that Michelle Michelle, that's Michelle's friend. Look, just because they're from Seattle doesn't mean I know them. You know. It's so rude to just assume that all people from Seattle know other people from Seattle, you don't so anyway, the story of Mexico's traditions have this amazing combination of European and indigenous. I ney to them, and like I said earlier, there's a lot of debate all the time, and I had to like really filter articles here, and they're trying to get Mexico to have its own identity and then lean more towards the indigenous aspect to it. But the truth is that it's a combination. It's just a mix of everything. I mean, the other those mortos is based a lot on European tradition, and that's true from what I read. Though there are a lot of arguments about it, and we're not going to argue today, Michelle. I mean, we just got to take a break from arguing, you know. Yeah, I just want to hear the story. Okay, So I said, we get more into more of the creepy stuff that surrounds Mexico and some of these figures that are seen in the altars, right, So one of them is La Santade, which means Holy death, or if you want the little literal translation, it's Saint Death Santa Marta. And I want to emphasize that it's Las Santa Meda, which is like a female version of it, like Lasante, And if you want to say it that way, it's kind of like the personification of death itself. So is it that one figure that is dressed like the Virgin Mary but with a skull face? Yes? Is that one? Okay? And it's that like skeletal being with the robe and kind of like what we see the Grim Reaper to be sort of, but it's not a dead person. In fact, some people worship it for protection, for job security, if you're sick. It's not uncommon to go somewhere and then they have an altar for you know, La Santi and flowers on it and candles on it, and people are just like whatever about it, just like, oh, it's like it's a saint. It's a figure of a saint and that's it. But it has been in a lot of ghost stories because it is kind of it's creepy looking thing. When you see people like carrying it in a procession or something, it's a little it's a little discon I kind of get where your mom is like, maybe not for me. Yeah, when I see it, I'm like, oh, creepy stuff. But really it's supposed to be like a saint funny story. I actually for my birthday back in two thousand and fifteen or two thousand and fourteen, I don't remember anymore. I was in Peru at the time, and one of the people from the hostel was like, she was one of the workers there. She's like, hey, I want to take you somewhere for your birthday, and I was like okay. And then we went through the streets of this you know, this big city, this this Cusko which but it's like this really well known touristy city and it's awesome and I always want to go back there. We went through these streets and zig zag through everywhere, and then we ended up at this door and she did like somebody peeked through a little door, a little window on it, closed it opened the door. We went in and then we see this. I want to be respectful about it, but is this mummified baby? Huh? And it was like in this altar and people were just silent all around it, and there was this lady in the front selling candles and they gave me one and I was like okay. So then they lit in. We were just standing there and the whole time, By the way, I get no explanation to what this is. Weird birthday surprise I'm gonna say, I mean, like really weird birthday surprise. Yeah, And I was like, I liked it, it was like it was interesting after but the time, I'm just confused. I'm like, is everyone to sing happy birthday? Or what's the deal here? Like, what's going on? The weirdest surprise party you could ever be out? It was imagine they just turned around hot surprised, happy birth But you know, it turns out the story of it was they try to keep this away from the Catholic Church. So it's supposed to be the secretive thing. Oh, supposedly that thing has granted miracles to the people of the city. People would go there, and you know, they would say thank you, pay their respects, give money to it, give whatever to it, try to support that thing. And I think they might have moved this to different places. I don't know, because they try to keep it secret from the church. So I guess it's it's just one of those things that I this is why I like this. Oh that's so cool, that's so cool. So I left the good story for that, you know, because it was like wow. But anyway, well, she got you a good story for your birthday. That's nice. She got you a good story. Yeah yeah, right, yeah, that was nice of her to do. Now it's nice of her as opposed to like when you were in it and it's like, oh, is this what you think I'd like? Or happy birth ju really creepy for fitting fitting it makes sense with me. I mean also, you know that story could have gone the other way where I'm like, oh, and this is where Edwin says his kidney's got stolen, like this, this is how that happened. Okay, just a person I met at all. I still wanted to show me something for my birthday. And I woke up in the hospital. They didn't even in the hospital in the back of a car. Oh yeah, I woke up in the back of a car and you know, I was bleeding, but you know whatever. But anyway, some of these stories that come with that, you know, they're they're interesting to me because of that tradition, but they're creepy at the same time. Some of these they do have their set of ghost stories. There's people that are saying, you know, they're driving out in the middle of the night, and all of a sudden the car breaks down and they're left with no one around to help, and they end up waiting on the side of the road by themselves, and then suddenly they see Lamuerte, which is this like a death thing, and it's coming toward them, and you know, this is a sure way to like pee your pants on the spot, imagine that. Like, and usually you hear these from drunk people, you know, going home after you know, coming back from the bar or whatever. It appears and then it freaks them out and it's just one of those one of those types of tales. So this is why, Like there's this whole history behind it where there's a traditional stuff, there's the political stuff, and then there's the creepy Oh this is a ghost type of thing. So it has one of those other kind of bloody merry situations here where it's just all these things. Yeah, it's got a bunch of levels, yeah, levels to it, but this is probably a good place to take a break. Cool, all right. The other creature here, not a creature, but like another thing is Lordona, which is pronounced your dona like yo, like yo. There's a ton a ton of stories about Laodona, but like I said, it appears a lot this image like Youodona on the other those mortos, which I mean, it's starting to turn into like this creepy thing about it, and I think it's because it's a ghost figure thing that appears. We're gonna get into that, into like a whole full on, you know, episode, but just to keep it short here. Yeah, you keep teasing it, You keep teasing it, and then you know you'll have to do a full episode at some point. I will. Liona has a bunch of origins and people have claimed to hear her, but primarily all these stories have a river, and in different regions it varies into you know, she's just walking down these old streets. Really, it's tied more into like the original story that I know and that I heard, and it's pretty intense. In one of the versions, this is a woman that drowned her children after getting pissed off at her husband, who may or may not have been cheating on her. We have no proof. But then she changed her mind after I think she killed them too, maybe, and now she roams along the shore of a river forever, mourning her children and feeling terrible for doing such a thing. I think it comes down to a story of more of you know, guilt and sadness and tragedy. Yeah. I think regret, which I mean is super scary. Yeah, and universal. So it's pretty clear why that story keeps getting retold over and over again and adapted to whatever you need it to say. Yeah, and you know, there's also all these YouTube videos that pop up. Oh, here's like you don' I hear her and you could hear because literally likea means the crier like or the crying It doesn't say the crying woman is like you means like you can call let's see your kids just crying all the time. You could just say, hey, your dona shut up, you know, because it's it's a crier. It's a person who cries, and it's the female version of it. Youodna you know it suits her Welsh. I mean, she just cries and you can they say that you can hear her and it's this ah me see so she means all my children, Oh so scary to hear. Yeah. My cousin says she heard it. And you know, when she was visiting one of those areas in a different region in Mexico, further south, and she was creeped out. She said, I mean it could have been somebody playing around. It's a thing. But the guard of the area said that, yeah, you know, we hear her too, Like we hear noises and we don't know where they're coming from, and we look around and there's no one there. But there's a ton of these stories, Like I said, right, so is it real? I don't know. Maybe we make it real because we believe in it. All of these dark Lord topics come up during the other those mortos, and there's a lot to it. This is not to talk down on Halloween or anything, but compared to the others, Moertos like, it has this level of awesome that I like, Sorry, Halloween, You're still cool. You know, I love it, Right, but come on here in La at least, it's like the same thing every year. Yeah, you just go you get drunk in your sexy costume and that's it. Yeah. In West Hollywood, or at least to a certain age demographic, that's all you do. For help. You just go to a bark, get drunk in your costume, and that's it, and that's it. Yeah, So you end up seeing a bunch of sexy nurses costumes people just walking down the street. One time, I was the sexy log lady from Twin Peaks. I was trying to do all these sexy, unsexy costumes. So one year I was the log Lady and then the next year I did a Charlie Brown. I tried to do a sexy Charlie Brown, just sexify thing. Yeah, that was the point. I don't know what tangent I was on. And then I stopped dressing up, and then life got substantially easier when I didn't have to think of theme costumes for my friends. I know, it's the same thing. It's just okay. So a new scary movie comes out, so you have to go watch it. Then you go to Universal Studios Horror Nights or whatever. You dress up, and then you go trigger treating and are told neighbor after neighbor that you're too old and to get your life together. Yeah. I hate it with that, you know. I had this idea for Halloween recently, and instead of going around for Halloween with little kids and stuff, like, why don't we dress up our dogs and go around the neighbor Oh my god, and that would be Genie. Why aren't we doing this exactly? People love that dog treats candy and your dog gets to walk dog Halloween and make friends probably, I don't know, depending on what kind of dog you have. Oh yeah, I'd love making I mean Robbie going around in the neighborhood. He loves everybody. It would be an excuse for him to go up to every and if everyone gave him a treat, he would do that every day for the rest of his life. Just an idea, because only sees little kids and I'm like, come on, so nothing against kids. You know. I love telling kids' stories and I love hanging around them, and they're funny and they actually believe the stories that I tell, so makes it really cool. I don't know. I think something's going on there. It's supposed to be a children's holiday, but soon, like the children aka Millennials, we grew up and are now taking over Dizzeyland and we want trick or treating and we want that stuff. The other day, Michelle actually saw a sign at the McDonald's drive through when I was getting a breakfast sandwich, and it said we are all out of adult happy meals, sorry for the inconvenience, and I was like, adult happy meals, and I was like, so, of course, Like I'm waiting in the drivet to right, so I'm like, I pulled on my phone and I just voiced it in. I thought it was going to get it wrong because it's like it didn't make sense adult happy meals. Plus I was afraid of what the results were going to be because you know, adult in there. But it turns out that these were the thing, and of course we ruined it, of course, because they started trading the toys for enormous amounts of money. Of course, you know they're trying to like use these as like NFTs or something. I don't know, Oh my god. Not that I was pro happy meal. Well, I heard the buckets were back, you know those Halloween buckets. Oh yeah, I heard those were back this year. So that's why I'm sure there was a big nostalgia push for the Witch, the Ghost, and the pumpkin buck That's why McDonald's was doing it. Because once I found out that McDonald's was trying to get the millennial people that you know, gen zs are not that gen zs are not into McDonald's buckets. Yeah, and I guess it worked. What I saw was just a normal burger, A big old drink, like extra large American Science for those of you who are listening outside the US. But I forgot they call it that. I forgot. Yeah, if you need to drink like two gallons of soda, it's called American size. But anyway, Halloween kind of grew up. I feel like millennials really want that thing. You don't want to stick with it. So yeah, I do have friends that want to dress up and go trigger treating just for the heck of it, even though they're not supposed to, because I guess there's some unwritten rule that you can Well, it's creepy when adults come to your door at night dressed in costumes. What is this the purge? Now? I appreciate that my neighbors and I all have an unspoken agreement where we just turn off all the lights on our street to make sure no trigg or treaters go down here. I don't know how. We always would never talk about it, but just somehow we all turn out the lights. Nobody gets candy, there's no decorations out, No children come down here. That's hilarious. I thought you were gonna say, just to make it extra creepy. No, it's just like, oh no, no, no, you have a bonfire. We legit keep kids out of here. Also, our street doesn't have any street lights, you know, it only helps to make it even darker. So it's like, kids miss our street. There's a bunch of kid friendly streets on either side, but our street we make it particularly uninviting menacing even that's awesome. And that concludes the day of the day. Obviously, it's a short summary, and so I highly highly recommend if you're interested in looking up any of this stuff, make sure you check your sources. I don't trying to say because there are a lot of people making things up or leaning onto one side this is all you know, European holiday and it's not a Mexican and all these things. And then there's the other side that say this is an indigenous thing and it's a doubt that it is just my opinion on it. But there are people that study viz and they make really solid arguments. That's all I got. Obviously, if you know of any any other Mexican legends that are really, really big and around this the others Martos topic. I want to learn about it personally, so send it to me. Oh yeah, email us, that'd be great. Please hello at Scary Mystery Surprise dot Com. Also in the description of the episode, and oh yeah, and be sure to review. Let we need some more like juicy reviews about stuff you like. Oh yeah, that's right, Michelle, and I like, can I want to say it, Michelle, we kind of like read everything every single review. Yeah, we read everything, and you know, the show's so new. We want to hear what you like and what's resonating with you. So just let us know. I want to know. I want to know. Leave five stars, please, five stars. What are we talking about next week, Edwin? I don't know. I think it'll be a surprise, Okay. Anyway, ye guys, ye, we'll see you next week. You mm hmm.