<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  First of all, let me say that I&amp;#039;m all for cultural exploration and celebration, in every form. But before you start tracing your skull pattern, please understand that painting your face is NOT just a cool hipster costume. \u00A0 I get it: You saw a cool vintage poster, a dope Mexican diorama, or a snap of iconic revolutionary figure &amp;quot;La Calavera Catrina.&amp;quot; And now you want to get all face-painty chic for an alty Halloween look. But this celebration isn&amp;#039;t just a folksy fashion trend. It&amp;#039;s a deeply spiritual practice that bonds people of Mexican heritage together. And it would be tragic to see that turn into just another &amp;quot;adorbs&amp;quot; costume idea destined for the discount aisle of Wal-Mart come Nov 2. \u00A0 For me, the significance of Dia de los Muertos hit home when I lived in Guadalajara for a year during college. I was on a weekend trip away from the city my first month, and I was surprised the sudden crack of fireworks and the sound of a parade coming down the small cobblestone street. A procession filled the street as it passed by. In the center there were two men carrying a tiny casket, barely larger than the breadth of a mother&amp;#039;s arms. But what really shocked me was the music and the mood of the crowd that followed: there were firecrackers, bands and people singing, even though tears pouredfrom their eyes. My own brother had had several recent death scares, and I felt visibly shaken by the joy I saw there. That November, I traveled to Janitzio, an island off of Michoac\u00E1n where a large celebration of &amp;quot;Dia de los Muertos&amp;quot; happens every year. My whole life I&amp;#039;d heard about &amp;quot;wetbacks&amp;quot; and their\u00A0 &amp;quot;shitty&amp;quot; values, but here I encountered something startling beautiful I didn&amp;#039;t know existed: an entire community cooking delicious meals for their beloved dead, celebrating the lives they missed, and warming the journey to the unknown. \u00A0 I spent most of that life-changing evening lying in a graveyard and watching the candlelit homes with altars on the hill that rose in the town above me, questioning life and death and why fear dictated so much of the conversation back home. The night has never left me, and it was one of the first moments of my life I felt truly blessed to be a Mexicana-Americana. \u00A0 All I ask is that you learn the meaning of this ancient, beautiful tradition, rooted in the indigenous traditions of our culture, before you choose it celebrate it on your own. It means too much to fall into the clutches of disposable pop. \u00A0 As the lead singer of La Santa Cecilia, the Chicana band that sound-tracked the pachanga I attended last night, put it, &amp;quot;This is the culture of our families, and that&amp;#039;s why we&amp;#039;re celebrating now.&amp;quot; \u00A0 \u00A0 Follow Michelle on Twitter. \u00A0 \u00A0 \u00A0 \u00A0 \u00A0 \u00A0 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/news/a16271/what-is-dia-de-los-muertos/>