Folk Healing

Running Head: FOLK HEALING
Folk Healing
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Author Note

FOLK HEALING1
Folk culture signifies a culture that is traditionally always practiced by a small,
homogenous rural group who live in relative isolation from the other groups in society. These
traditions that they follow are usually handed down to them by their ancestors. This essay will
study the folk ways of healing and the Mexican tradition ‘Dia De los Muertos’.
The ‘Day of the Dead’ or the ‘Dia De los Muertos’ is a Mexican holiday where the
Mexicans welcome back the spirits and souls of their dead ancestors (Gutiérrez, Rosengren, &
Miller, 2015). This reunion is celebrated by drinking and eating delicacies. This day is a blend of
the Mesoamerican culture, European Religion and the Spanish culture. This holiday is usually
celebrated every year on the 12th November. This day is celebrated in Mexico and as well as the
Mexican people who live in the United States of America. This ritual goes back to almost 3000
years back (Hoffmann & Rinaudo, 2014). The Aztecs and the other Nahua people who currently
reside in central Mexico hold a cyclical view of the entire universe (Olko, 2014). According
these cultures they see death as an integral part of the life. According to their culture, a dead
person was thought to travel to Chicunamictlan, which is the land of the dead. They say that the
soul has to travel to nine challenging levels, which is a journey that spans across several years.
This journey has to be taken so that the soul of the person reaches the final place of resting which
is Mictlan. In the Nahua culture, the ritual that honor the dead is traditionally held in the month
of August, family have the task of providing water, food and the necessary tools that might help
the deceased in their complicated journey. This was the inspiration behind the current Day of the
Dead. On this day, people usually leave food and other offerings on the grave of their ancestors
and loved ones and set them on a makeshift altar which is known as ofrendas among the native
people. This is what composes the ‘Dia De los Muertos’ in the folk culture.