If you were a child growing up in the U.S., you likely remember the feeling of waking up with a sugar hangover on November 1st, after walking all night to fill up your bucket with Halloween candy and eating too many, only to have a sugar rush that night, followed by a major crash. The last thing you’ll want to do that day is look at any more sugar. Unless you happen to visit Mexico, Latin America or live in one of the South-West states that celebrates Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, with traditional sugar skulls.

In this episode, we’ll be talking about the significance of skulls in remembering those who have died, combining ancient religious celebrations with traditions of early settlers, and the sweet happenstance of using sugar as a means of decoration. I’m your host, Emily Prokop, and this is the story behind Sugar Skulls.

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Media:

"Pueblo Duerme" by La Barca de Sua

“Los Besos De Mi Negra” by Lydia Mendoza

"Nova Zemja" by Ansambl Mastika

Sources: http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/memento   http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/support/dodhistory.html   http://nationalgeographic.org/media/dia-de-los-muertos/   http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/day-of-the-dead-sweets-and-treats  http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/support/faqs.html  http://www.art-is-fun.com/mexican-sugar-skull/   http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/holidays/day-of-the-dead/2014/09/24/day-of-the-dead-history/16174911/