day of the dead in mexico essay

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Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos)

By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 24, 2023 | Original: October 30, 2018

The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos), is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration.

A blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture, the holiday is celebrated each year from October 31-November 2. While October 31 is Halloween, November 1-2 is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on November 2.

Origins of Day of the Dead

The roots of the Day of the Dead, celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage in the United States and around the world, go back some 3,000 years, to the rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life.

Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, a journey of several years, could the person’s soul finally reach Mictlán, the final resting place. In Nahua rituals honoring the dead, traditionally held in August, family members provided food, water and tools to aid the deceased in this difficult journey. This inspired the contemporary Day of the Dead practice in which people leave food or other offerings on their loved ones’ graves, or set them out on makeshift altars called ofrendas in their homes.

Day of the Dead vs. All Souls Day

In ancient Europe, pagan celebrations of the dead also took place in the fall, and consisted of bonfires, dancing and feasting. Some of these customs survived even after the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, which (unofficially) adopted them into their celebrations of two Catholic holidays, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, celebrated on the first two days of November.

In medieval Spain, people would bring bring wine and pan de ánimas (spirit bread) to the graves of their loved ones on All Souls Day; they would also cover graves with flowers and light candles to illuminate the dead souls’ way back to their homes on Earth. In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadores brought such traditions with them to the New World, along with a darker view of death influenced by the devastation of the bubonic plague .

How Is the Day of the Dead Celebrated?

El Día de los Muertos is not, as is commonly thought, a Mexican version of Halloween , though the two holidays do share some traditions, including costumes and parades. On the Day of the Dead, it’s believed that the border between the spirit world and the real world dissolves. During this brief period, the souls of the dead awaken and return to the living world to feast, drink, dance and play music with their loved ones. In turn, the living family members treat the deceased as honored guests in their celebrations, and leave the deceased’s favorite foods and other offerings at gravesites or on the ofrendas built in their homes. Ofrendas can be decorated with candles, bright marigolds called cempasuchil and red cock’s combs alongside food like stacks of tortillas and fruit.

The most prominent symbols related to the Day of the Dead are calacas (skeletons) and calaveras (skulls). In the early 20th century, the printer and cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada incorporated skeletal figures in his art mocking politicians and commenting on revolutionary politics. His most well-known work, La Calavera Catrina , or Elegant Skull, features a female skeleton adorned with makeup and dressed in fancy clothes. The 1910 etching was intended as a statement about Mexicans adopting European fashions over their own heritage and traditions.  La Calavera Catrina was then adopted as one of the most recognizable Day of the Dead icons.

During contemporary Day of the Dead festivities, people commonly wear skull masks and eat sugar candy molded into the shape of skulls. The pan de ánimas of All Souls Day rituals in Spain is reflected in pan de muerto, the traditional sweet baked good of Day of the Dead celebrations today. Other food and drink associated with the holiday , but consumed year-round as well, include spicy dark chocolate and the corn-based drink called atole. You can wish someone a happy Day of the Dead by saying, “Feliz día de los Muertos.”

Movies Featuring Day of the Dead

Traditionally, the Day of the Dead was celebrated largely in the more rural, indigenous areas of Mexico, but starting in the 1980s it began spreading into the cities. UNESCO reflected growing awareness of the holiday in 2008, when it added Mexico’s “Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead” to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In recent years, the tradition has developed even more due to its visibility in pop culture and its growing popularity in the United States, where more than 36 million people identified as being of partial or full Mexican ancestry as of 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau .

Inspired by the 2015 James Bond movie Spectre , which featured a large Day of the Dead parade, Mexico City held its first-ever parade for the holiday in 2016. In 2017, a number of major U.S. cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Fort Lauderdale, held Day of the Dead parades. That November, Disney and Pixar released the blockbuster animated hit Coco , a $175 million homage to the Mexican tradition in which a young boy is transported to the Land of the Dead and meets up with his long-lost ancestors.  

Though the particular customs and scale of Day of the Dead celebrations continue to evolve, the heart of the holiday has remained the same over thousands of years. It’s an occasion for remembering and celebrating those who have passed on from this world, while at the same time portraying death in a more positive light, as a natural part of the human experience.

Día de los Muertos: A Brief History, National Hispanic Cultural Center Giardina, Carolyn, “‘Coco’: How Pixar Brought its ‘Day of the Dead’ Story to Life,” Hollywood Reporter , December 12, 2017 Dobrin, Isabel, “Día de los Muertos Comes to Life Across the Mexican Diaspora,” NPR, November 2, 2017 Scott, Chris. “Day of the Dead parade - Life imitates art,” CNN , October 28, 2016 Mictlantecuhtli, Ancient History Encyclopedia

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Day of The Dead — Halloween In Mexico Or Dia De Los Muertos

Halloween in Mexico Or Dia De Los Muertos

• Categories: Day of The Dead Mexico Tradition

About this sample

Words: 693 |

Published: May 14, 2021

Words: 693 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Works Cited

• Koch, G. (2006). Days of the Dead: Traditions and Rituals. Groundwood Books.
• Perez-Torres, R. (2010). The Mexican day of the dead and the art of José Guadalupe Posada. The Americas, 66(4), 459-488. doi:10.1353/tam.2010.0022
• PBS. (2003). The Day of the Dead: A Mexican Celebration. [Documentary]. In The American Experience series.
• Mexican Day of the Dead. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mexican-folk-art-guide.com/mexican-day-of-the-dead.html
• Thompson, K. (2015). Symbolic representations of death in Dia de los Muertos. International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2(1), 215-228.
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History. (n.d.). Day of the Dead: The Art of Remembrance. Retrieved from https://americanhistory.si.edu/latino-history-and-culture/day-of-the-dead
• González, J. L. (2018). Dia de los Muertos: The cultural politics of death in Oaxaca, Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Research, 74(2), 159-177.
• Negrín, M. A. (2012). From Posada to Cueva: The transformation of the Mexican Calavera. Visual Resources, 28(2), 169-187. doi:10.1080/01973762.2012.666820
• Flores, A. (Speaker). (2017). Dia de los Muertos: The history and symbolism behind the holiday. [Video]. TEDx Talks. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE9qXzABORw
• Velasco, N. (2016). Rituals and symbolism in Dia de los Muertos: A comparative analysis of Mexican and indigenous perspectives. Paper presented at the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America Annual Meeting, Asunción, Paraguay.

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Top 10 things to know about the Day of the Dead

Día de los Muertos is celebrated across Mexico with skulls, skeletons, and graveside visits—but what does this beloved holiday really represent?

Here’s one thing we know: Día de los Muertos , or Day of the Dead, is not a Mexican version of Halloween.

Though related, the two annual events differ greatly in traditions and tone. While Halloween embraces terror and mischief on the last night of October, Day of the Dead festivities unfold over the first two days of November in an explosion of color and life-affirming joy. Sure, the theme is death, but the point is to demonstrate love and respect for deceased family members. In towns and cities throughout Mexico , revelers don funky makeup and costumes, hold parades and parties, sing and dance, and make offerings to lost loved ones.

The rituals are rife with symbolic meaning. The more you understand about this feast for the senses, the more you will appreciate it. Here are 10 essential things you should know about Mexico’s most vibrant annual event.  

( See more stunning photos from Day of the Dead celebrations .)

1. The holiday dates back thousands of years.

Day of the Dead originated several thousand years ago with the Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people, who considered mourning the dead disrespectful. For these pre-Hispanic cultures, death was a natural phase in life’s long continuum. The dead were still members of the community, kept alive in memory and spirit—and during Día de los Muertos, they temporarily returned to Earth.  

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( Here are the best hotels to stay in to experience the Day of the Dead .)

Today’s Día de los Muertos celebration is a mash-up of pre-Hispanic religious rites and Christian feasts. It takes place on November 1 and 2—All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on the Catholic calendar—around the time of the fall corn harvest.

2. It has been recognized by UNESCO.

Cultural heritage is not just monuments and collections of objects. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says that cultural heritage also includes living expressions of culture—traditions—passed down from generation to generation.  

In 2008, UNESCO recognized the importance of Día de los Muertos by adding the holiday to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity . Today Mexicans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds celebrate the holiday. But at its core, Day of the Dead is a reaffirmation of Indigenous life.

3. Altars are an important tradition...

The centerpiece of the celebration is an altar, or ofrenda , built in private homes and cemeteries. These aren’t altars for worshipping; rather, they’re meant to welcome spirits back to the realm of the living. As such, they’re loaded with offerings—water to quench thirst after the long journey, food, family photos, and a candle for each dead relative. If one of the spirits is a child, you might find small toys on the altar.  

Marigolds are the main flowers used to decorate the altar. Scattered from altar to gravesite, the golden petals guide wandering souls back to their place of rest. The smoke from copal incense, made from tree resin, transmits praise and prayers and purifies the area around the altar.  

( Here's how marigolds became iconic symbols of the Day of the Dead .)

4. ...and so are literary calaveras...

Calavera means “skull.” But during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, calavera was used to describe short, humorous poems, which were often sarcastic tombstone epitaphs published in newspapers that poked fun at the living. These literary calaveras eventually became a popular part of Día de los Muertos celebrations. Today the practice is alive and well. You’ll find these clever, biting poems in print, read aloud, and broadcast on television and radio programs.

5. ...especially the calavera Catrina.

Known as the calavera Catrina, this skeletal figure is a Day of the Dead icon. There are endless variations of the Catrina sold in many forms during the holiday—and throughout the year in Mexico.

In the early 20th century, Mexican political cartoonist and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada created an etching to accompany a literary calavera. Posada dressed his personification of death in fancy French garb and called it Calavera Garbancera, intending it as social commentary on Mexican society’s emulation of European sophistication. “ Todos somos calaveras ,” a quote attributed to Posada, means “we are all skeletons.” Underneath our human-made trappings, we are all the same.

In 1947 artist Diego Rivera featured Posada’s stylized skeleton in his masterpiece mural “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park.” Posada’s skeletal bust was dressed in a large feminine hat, and Rivera made his female and named her Catrina, slang for “the rich.” Today, the calavera Catrina, or elegant skull, is the Day of the Dead’s most ubiquitous symbol. ( Learn more about the dark history of the holiday's immortal icon .)

6. Families bring food to the dead.

You work up a mighty hunger and thirst traveling from the spirit world back to the realm of the living. At least that’s the traditional belief in Mexico. Some families place their dead loved one’s favorite meal on the altar. Other common offerings:

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Pan de muerto , or bread of the dead, is a typical sweet bread (pan dulce), often featuring anise seeds and decorated with bones and skulls made from dough. The bones might be arranged in a circle, as in the circle of life. Tiny dough teardrops symbolize sorrow.  

( Read more about pan de muerto. )

Sugar skulls are part of a sugar art tradition brought by 17th-century Italian missionaries. Pressed in molds and decorated with crystalline colors, they come in all sizes and levels of complexity.

Drinks to celebrate the holiday include pulque , a sweet fermented beverage made from the agave sap; atole , a thin warm porridge made from corn flour, with unrefined cane sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla added; and hot chocolate.

7. People dress in costumes.

Day of the Dead is an extremely social holiday that spills into streets and public squares at all hours of the day and night. Dressing up as skeletons is part of the fun. People of all ages have their faces artfully painted to resemble skulls, and, mimicking the calavera Catrina, they don suits and fancy dresses. Many revelers wear shells or other noisemakers to amp up the excitement—and also possibly to rouse the dead and keep them close during the festivities.

8. Streets are decorated in papel picado.

You’ve probably seen this beautiful Mexican paper craft plenty of times in Mexican restaurants. The literal translation, pierced paper, perfectly describes how it’s made. Artisans stack colored tissue paper in dozens of layers, then perforate the layers with hammer and chisel points. Papel picado isn’t used exclusively during Day of the Dead, but it plays an important role in the holiday. Draped around altars and in the streets, the art represents the wind and the fragility of life.

( These Mexican paper crafts bring the party during Day of the Dead .)

9. Mexico City hosts an iconic parade.

Día de los Muertos is more popular than ever—in Mexico and, increasingly, abroad. For more than a dozen years, the New York-based nonprofit cultural organization Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders has staged the city’s largest Day of the Dead celebration.  

But the most authentic celebrations take place in Mexico. If you find yourself in Mexico City the weekend before Day of the Dead this year, make sure to stop by the grand parade where you can join in on live music, bike rides and other activities in celebration throughout the city.

10. Other communities celebrate in unique ways.

Countless communities in Mexico celebrate Day of the Dead, but styles and customs differ by area, depending on the region’s predominant pre-Hispanic culture. Here are a few places that stand out for their colorful, moving celebrations:

Pátzcuaro:   One of the most poignant Day of the Dead celebrations takes place each year in Pátzcuaro, a municipality in the state of Michoacán about 225 miles west of Mexico City. Indigenous people from the countryside converge on the shores of Pátzcuaro Lake, where they pile into canoes, a single candle burning in each bow, and paddle over to a tiny island called Janitzio for an all-night vigil in the cemetery.

Mixquic:   In this Mexico City suburb, bells from the historic Augustinian convent toll and community members bearing candles and flowers proceed to the local cemetery, where they clean and decorate the graves of their loved ones.

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Tuxtepec:   This small city in the northeastern part of Oaxaca state is best known for its sawdust rugs. For days, locals painstakingly arrange colored sawdust, flower petals, rice, pine needles, and other organic materials in elaborate, ruglike patterns on city streets. Traditionally made for important processions, Tuxtepec’s sawdust rugs are judged in a contest held during Día de los Muertos.

Aguascalientes:   Located roughly 140 miles north of Guadalajara, Aguascalientes—birthplace of engraver José Guadalupe Posada—stretches its Day of the Dead celebrations to nearly a week during its Festival de Calaveras (Festival of Skulls). The event culminates in a grand parade of skulls along Avenida Madero.

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Celebrating Día de los Muertos : Humanities Research on Mexican History, Literature, and Culture

 “Dia de los Muertos Altar Scene.”

Gift of Janice and Glenn Hatfield. Available at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

The Day of the Dead (or, in Spanish, Día de los Muertos ) is a commemorative holiday observed annually on November 1 and 2, both in its native Mexico and among Mexican people around the world. On the Day of the Dead, celebrants honor their deceased loved ones by leaving offerings at home altars ( ofrendas ), writing playful poems ( calaveras literarias ), and wearing colorful costumes, often including the holiday’s signature skull masks ( calacas ). Ahead of this year’s festivities, learn about thirteen projects funded by the NEH Division of Research Programs that explore Mexican history, literature, and culture.

Published Books

Bueno, Christina. The Pursuit of Ruins: Archaeology, History, and the Making of Modern Mexico (University of New Mexico Press, 2016).

During Porfirio Díaz’s thirty-one years as president in the late nineteenth century, Mexico’s state-sponsored history came to feature indigeneity more prominently, as Díaz sought to symbolically bind modern Mexico to the “great civilizations” of pre-colonial times. Yet, as Christina Bueno catalogs in The Pursuit of Ruins , even as Díaz’s government went to great lengths to preserve archaeological evidence of Mexico’s Indigenous past, the process of reframing the nation’s history excluded and denigrated its modern Indigenous population. Learn more about Bueno’s work here .

Burkhart, Louise M. Staging Christ's Passion in Eighteenth-Century Nahua Mexico (University Press of Colorado, 2023).

While living under eighteenth-century Spanish colonial rule, the Nahuas, a Mexican Indigenous group, performed their own versions of Christian “Passion plays” in the Nahuatl language. In Staging Christ’s Passion , Louise Burkhart characterizes the Nahuas’ dramaturgical modifications, which included depicting Jesus as a Nahua man, as an expression of Indigenous resistance to Spanish occupation. Learn more about Burkhart’s work here . Burkhart was also part of a team at SUNY Albany that was awarded an NEH grant to prepare digital translations of ten Nahuatl-language Passion plays.

Chowning, Margaret. Catholic Women and Mexican Politics, 1750-1940 (Princeton University Press, 2023).

Throughout Mexico’s history of sustained anti-clericalism, women have been the key to the Catholic Church’s resilience, as Margaret Chowning argues in Catholic Women and Mexican Politics . For nearly 200 years, women ensured that Catholicism remained a central element of Mexican civil society by forming lay associations, which bolstered the church’s political influence. Consequently, Chowning demonstrates that women have long been in the vanguard of Mexican conservative politics. Learn more about Chowning’s work here .

Graziano, Frank. Miraculous Images and Votive Offerings in Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Exploring the role of artwork in contemporary Mexico, Frank Graziano’s Miraculous Images and Votive Offerings analyzes numerous Mexican statues and paintings that are believed to have “miraculous” capabilities. Along with analyses of the artworks themselves, the book discusses votive offerings, which are left at shrines dedicated to individual artworks as thanks for performing miracles. Thus, Graziano’s project not only offers insight into Mexican artwork and art history; it also provides insight into a distinctive dimension of the nation’s spiritual culture. Learn more about Graziano’s work here .

Rashkin, Elissa J. The Stridentist Movement in Mexico: The Avant-Garde and Cultural Change in the 1920s (Lexington Books, 2009).

In the turbulent decade after the Mexican Revolution, the Stridentist Movement gained traction in multiple Central Mexican cities before, eventually, finding the most success in Xalapa, Veracruz. The Stridentists championed modernity and technological innovation by publishing books and manifestos, staging theatrical performances, and producing artwork and literature. In The Stridentist Movement in Mexico , Elissa Rashkin illustrates that while the Stridentist Movement disbanded by 1928, its message reverberated throughout the Americas and influenced other cultural movements well after the 1920s. Learn more about Rashkin’s work here .

Rodríguez-Alegría, Enrique. How to Make a New Spain: The Material Worlds of Colonial Mexico City (Oxford University Press, 2023).

Stevens, Donald Fithian. Mexico in the Time of Cholera (University of New Mexico Press, 2019).

Although its title alludes to public health, Mexico in the Time of Cholera offers an expansive history of daily life in Mexico's early years of independence. Using the second cholera pandemic as his book’s axis, Donald Stevens explores the everyday experiences of Mexican citizens as their nation confronted contagion, emerged from colonial rule, transitioned into the modern era, and disestablished the Catholic Church. Stevens is particularly interested in Catholicism in mid nineteenth-century Mexico, and the book cites parish archives to probe the role of religion in Mexico at a time of national crisis. Learn more about Stevens’s work here .

Townsend, Camilla. Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs (Oxford University Press, 2019).

In Fifth Sun , Camilla Townsend recounts the Spanish conquest of Mexico solely from the perspective of the Aztec people. To accomplish this feat, Townsend uses infrequently referenced Nahuatl-language sources, in which the Aztecs not only cataloged their experience of Spanish colonization, but also their history prior to European incursion. By relying exclusively on these self-narratives, Townsend provides a revised account of Mexico’s early history. Learn more about Townsend’s work here . Additionally, Fifth Sun received the Cundill History Prize, awarded annually by McGill University to the best book of history, in 2020. As part of this award, Townsend gave the 2021 Cundill Lecture, which can be viewed here .

Wright, Amy E. Serial Mexico: Storytelling Across Media, from Nationhood to Now (Vanderbilt University Press, 2023).

Originating in oral tradition, serial narratives are fixtures in Mexican popular culture. Amy Wright, in Serial Mexico , explains how these time-honored stories document both change and continuity in Mexican culture. While serial narratives’ characters and story arcs may remain relatively fixed, their transmutation in the digital age—into forms ranging from comics to telenovelas—reflects evolving social and political beliefs in Mexico. Learn more about Wright’s work here .

Upcoming Books

“Revolutionary Forms: U.S. Literary Modernism and the Mexican Vogue, 1910-1940” by Geneva M. Gano

Analyzing artwork and writing produced by Mexican and U.S. artists in the early twentieth century, Geneva Gano’s upcoming book will highlight the Mexican Revolution’s influence on literary modernism in the United States. Unlike canonical scholarship on modernist literature, which typically exalts European impact in the U.S., Gano’s study will situate the works of prominent modernists in the context of the Americas, demonstrating the under-documented confluence of U.S. and Mexican literature. Learn more about Gano’s work here .

“Mexican Soundscapes of the Colonial Era” by Alexander Hidalgo

Although Alexander Hidalgo’s upcoming book will draw on print archival sources, his subject cannot be fully captured in written media. Focusing on Mexico’s colonial era, Hidalgo will explore the varied “soundscapes” of early Mexican history, from the cannon blasts that colonizers used to enforce obedience to the riotous shouts of anti-colonial protestors. With sound as its focal point, Hidalgo’s book promises to provide an account of Spanish colonialism in Mexico unlike any written previously. Learn more about Hidalgo’s work here .

“Protestant Women and Political Activism in Mexico, 1900-1955” by Kathleen Mary McIntyre

In what will be the first history of its kind, Kathleen McIntyre’s upcoming book will document the distinct forms that Protestant women’s citizenship took in post-revolutionary Mexico. Despite prevailing beliefs that politics were antithetical to both Protestantism and femininity, these women organized numerous civil society groups—including suffrage clubs and temperance organizations—that advanced both evangelical and feminist aims. McIntyre will also discuss contemporary relations between Catholic and Protestant Mexican women at a time when their nation’s religious culture was exceptionally fraught. Learn more about McIntyre’s work here .

“Making Paper in Mexico: A Material, Political, and Environmental History” by Corinna Zeltsman

In her upcoming material history, Corinna Zeltsman will explore the wide-ranging implications of papermaking in Mexico’s past. While paper was a source of political power during the nation’s early years of independence, it quickly became a locus of economic and political contention in the nineteenth century as various industries—from logging to paper mills, to newspapers—became increasingly dependent on paper for their prosperity. Learn more about Zeltsman’s work here .

Division/Office

Writing on the Día de Muertos

| By Gale Staff |

Día de Muertos, Day of the Dead, is observed in Mexico on 2 November, the final day of a celebration that begins on Halloween. Though practices differ from city to city, the holiday is generally an opportunity to honor deceased loved ones, for whom families prepare ofrendas, or altars, which are decorated with candy skulls, marigolds, and incense. As the day proceeds, observance often takes place alongside revelry, with eating, drinking, and costumed dancing in cemeteries and in the streets. With its distinctive practices and macabre, often surreal, imagery, the holiday has been mined by literary authors for its thematic power.

Readers interested in the creation of a proper ofrenda can refer to Delia’s Song , the semi-autobiographical first novel of Mexican American writer Lucha Corpi, treated in Contemporary Literary Criticism   418. That work describes the transmission of cultural traditions among Mexican women. As Delia prepares an altar along with her Aunt Marta:

They made the traditional candy skulls and the bread for the dead while Jack [Marta’s huband] made the shelves…. They made the papel picado cutouts and Delia glued them on long sticks to be installed at the ends of each shelf. There were also tiny pictures of Kennedy and Pope John next to a medal of the Sacred Heart; two embroideries Marta had made years ago showing the heads of Tiburcio Vásquez and Joaquín Murrieta hung on each side of the picture of the Virgen de Guadelupe. Marta was a great admirer of both folk heroes, and their feats and exploits were part of her storytelling repertoire.

According to scholar Carol E. Pearson, “in this description, the detail and the work of the every day is tied together with much of Delia’s heritage—the culture, the tradition and the (his)stories of both her family and her people.”

The holiday becomes an occasion for personal transformation in Terry Tempest Williams’s 1991 memoir Refuge , which is the subject of an entry in Contemporary Literary Criticism  362. The book explores the endangered ecology of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on Utah’s Great Salt Lake in conjunction with the author’s personal narrative of her mother’s death from cancer. Late in the story, seeking to cope with her loss, Williams writes that she “needed a ritual, a celebration to move me from death to life.” She goes to Mexico to take part in the Day of the Dead. There, she visits a church and shares remembrances of deceased relatives among strangers. Later, she purchases a traditional mask and joins the festivities:

Wearing my owl mask, I danced in the cobblestone streets. Bonfires lit every corner. Townsfolk circled them warming their hands. Tequila poured through the gutters. In one glance, I saw both lovers and murderers kissing and knifing each other against doors. Puppet shows were performed in the plaza as firecrackers exploded at our feet. Costumed children paraded through the village, carrying illuminated gourds as lanterns. All night long there is the relentless clamouring of bells, and the baying of dogs.

According to critic A. James Wohlpart, “this ceremony, as an act of restoring Williams to herself by moving her through her grief, allows her to move beyond the worldview handed her by Western civilization and to engage an alternate worldview.” Returning from Mexico, she brings home petals from a marigold, her mother’s favorite; on a canoe trip with her husband, she sprinkles them on the lake as a memorial.

For many, the Day of the Dead is also an occasion for boozing. Among the grimmest treatments of that subject is found in Malcolm Lowry’s complex and allusive 1947 masterpiece, Under the Volcano , which is discussed in  Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism   6, 40, and 275. The novel—set almost entirely on 2 November in Quauhnahuac, Mexico—chronicles the downfall of Geoffrey Firmin, who has lost his job as a British Consul and has been abandoned by his young American wife. Over the course of the narrative, he drinks severely and is finally killed in a case of mistaken identity. Critic Dale Edmonds called the novel “a drinker’s paradise,” noting that “references to drinks, drinking, drinking places, and/or drunkenness occur on 252 of the 377 pages.” His tally of the protagonist’s consumption on the Day of the Dead totaled some sixty-one ounces of 80-90 proof alcohol—a stupefying and seemingly coma-inducing amount. And yet, Edmonds admitted, despite the self-destructiveness of his behavior, “that the Consul’s plunge has its moments of bliss and glory and that drink is the Consul’s mistress, his muse, his God, no matter what dark fate awaits him. Who is to say that on the Day of the Dead he does not realize his destiny through his long day’s drinking?”

Perhaps the best statement of the deeply ambivalent nature of the holiday comes from Lowry’s own observation, quoted in Ronald G. Walker’s essay, “The ‘Barranca’ of History”:

The Mexicans laugh at death; that does not mean they don’t take it seriously. It is perhaps only by the possession of a tragic sense of life such as theirs that joy and mirth find their place: it is an attitude that testifies to the dignity of man.

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Day of the Dead: What the Tradition Means and How It’s Celebrated in Mexico

Por Karina González Ulloa

Is there life after death? Roughly speaking the answer to this question is divided into two opinions: yes and no. While for some it’s the end of their life on earth, for others it’s just the beginning, something that a festivity like the Day of the Dead , a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, manages to frame very well.

What’s the meaning behind the Day of the Dead?

Let’s start by answering where it comes from. According to different historians, it’s impossible to have an exact date for the beginning of the Day of the Dead in Mexico , since it’s shared by pre-Hispanic cultures such as the Aztec, Zapotec, Purépecha, and Totonaca—just to name a few. It’s estimated that it’s a 3,000-year-old ritual. If we talk about one culture in particular, it would have to be the Aztecs: For them, this was a celebration preceded by festivities in honor of Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl, the lord and lady of Mictlan—nine regions subdivided into tests that the ‘dead’ has to pass, depending on how they behaved when alive and the faults they committed while walking the earth. These images later mutated until they became La Catrina that we know today. 

Day of the Dead: an emblematic celebration in Mexico.

This celebration persevered despite the Spanish conquest in Aridoamerica and Mesoamerica. In the particular case of Mexico, the violence suffered by its inhabitants during this period forced many to make their customs prevail at all costs. The civilizations of this part of the world were highly affected, not only because of the new diseases transmitted by the Europeans, but by the deep depression that they caused in the elderly who refused to change their religion and abandon something they had believed in all their lives…It was thus that some families began to keep Catholic figures in their homes with hidden spaces inside them, in which they kept small tokens of gratitude to what the Spaniards called their “old gods” or “pagan deities.” This is how it persisted until today.

Seeing that not everyone adopted the new religion as part of the culture, some priests decided to unite some of the pre-Hispanic celebrations with those of the Catholic Church, combining the Day of the Dead with the Catholic tradition of All Saints or Of the Faithful Departed in a two-day celebration on November 1 and 2.

On the border with the United States there is also the union of the Mexican traditions of Day of the Dead with Halloween, celebrated on October 31.

Por Chloé Versabeau

Por Daniel Rodgers

Por Camila Galfione

Why is death celebrated in Mexico?

Although for many just thinking about this would be creepy, the truth is that this country has an energy charged with different colors. According to Jean Chevalier’s Dictionary of Symbols, “Death has, in fact, several meanings. As a liberator of sorrows and worries, it is not an end in itself; it opens access to the realm of the spirit, to true life: mors janua vitae (death is the gateway to life). In an esoteric sense, it symbolizes the profound change that the man undergoes as a result of initiation. The profane must die in order to be reborn to the superior life that initiation confers. If he does not die in his imperfect state, all initiatory progress is forbidden to him.” Life and death, seen from a cosmogonic point of view, are cycles that mark ends and beginnings, so it’s not surprising that in the case of Mexico this is seen as a party, because it’s not a goodbye but a see you later.

That’s why with great devotion, shortly before the end of October, a large number of families in Mexico set aside a table or a small piece of furniture to place an altar of the dead that includes photos of those who have crossed the threshold of death, showing them that, both in their homes and in the hearts of their loved ones, they continue to be remembered—something that extends to the first days of November. On the table, they put the traditional pan de muerto, candies, papel picado in different colors, fruits, sugar skulls, water (as the dead have supposedly come a long way), and flowers (cempasúchil and others in shades of purple known as moco de pavo or manta de candela). If possible, they add what the person liked most in life and, of course, candles to light the way; there are also the finishing touches: tissue paper that usually ranges between oranges, purples, and blacks.

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated in Mexico today?

People prepare weeks in advance to celebrate the Day of the Dead . Depending on where they are, this is something they may celebrate in a cemetery during the first days of November, where they go to leave flowers; in some places, they put altars and visit close relatives, while in other places, a big parade is created, like the one that takes place in Mexico City.

In 2008 the Day of the Dead was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Mexico , and although this tradition is also celebrated in some regions of Central America and the United States, there’s no doubt that it’s a distinguished Mexican celebration.

Each family makes a small (or large) altar for the dead in their home, prays a rosary or even attends a mass in memory of the deceased. Others just light candles, remember them in silence and wait until nightfall for the deceased to visit them.

One of the traditions that reaches Mexican homes, as well as the cemeteries, are the calaveritas inspired by La Catrina: a figure loaded with stories that extend from the Mixtec culture to a mural painted by Diego Rivera called Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park, and one of the most popular costumes among children and adults.

In the case of Mexico City, the main streets are filled with the joy and costumes of thousands and thousands of people who are part of the parade of Las Catrinas or just wish to see it. The famous avenue Paseo de la Reforma is filled with yellow flowers that amaze all visitors (and are only used during this time of the year), which honor the dead.

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated in San Andrés Míxquic, Mexico City?

Other states and towns have particular traditions that make them worthy of national and international recognition. San Andrés Míxquic, in the municipality of Tláhuac, in Mexico City, is known for its colorful decorations, the popular festival in the streets, and its chinampas and tombs, which are decorated with flowers and offerings.

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated in Janitzio, Michoacán?

Janitzio, Michoacán, a town of Purépecha origin, is recognized as one of the best places to celebrate the Day of the Dead . Its inhabitants make a procession to the cemetery to visit the graves of their dead, which they decorate with embroidered napkins and place offerings with the favorite feasts of their deceased.

It’s said that the returning souls fly like butterflies over the lake of Pátzcuaro and show themselves as the reflection of water ripples until they reach the island of Janitzio. It’s also said that under the lake of Pátzcuaro there’s a treasure, and on November 1, those who guard the treasure are seen as shadows over the lake.

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated in Pomuch, Campeche?

Perhaps one of the most unique traditions is that of Pomuch, Campeche, where on November 1 and 2, its inhabitants commemorate the Day of the Dead by going to the graves of their deceased to wash their bones . This town of Mayan traditions has the belief that if the bones are not washed, the deceased will haunt the town and will not rest in peace.

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated in Oaxaca, Oaxaca?

Oaxaca is also known for its Day of the Dead celebration . The traditional ofrendas and visits to the cemeteries that take place all over the country are combined with the particular customs of Oaxaca. Among these traditions are the nightly comparsas with musical bands from the region, and fireworks also known as cuetes and toritos. The residents allocate a portion of their offerings to these parades.

Another typical tradition of the region is to go house by house to give some of their offerings to their family, neighbors, and friends and then go to the cemetery to visit the dead. This tradition is known as llevar los muertos (carrying the dead).

Something feels different in the air: It’s not nostalgia for those who have left, but joy of reliving some of the best memories alongside them through altars, folk music and rituals…Perhaps these memories have to do with spending a date like this with them, as well as the joy of preserving the beautiful Day of the Dead tradition , which is one of the most important components of Mexican culture.

Por Fernanda Pérez Sánchez

Por Margaux Anbouba

Por Melisa Vargas

Por Sofía Agostini

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Day of The Dead

Day of the Dead in Mexico

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Observed in Mexico, the Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated by people of Mexican heritage. The holiday is traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2. In some places, it is also observed on November 6 and October 31. The holiday is also observed by people of Mexican heritage outside of Mexico.

Historically, the origins of Day of the Dead are found in Central America, where indigenous peoples celebrated their dead. These festivities included bonfires, feasting, and dancing. It was also a time to remember and honor the memories of the dead.

The ancient Mesoamericans of the Nahua tribe, for example, believed that the souls of the dead traveled to Chicunamictlan, the Land of the Dead, each year. They honored their dead by visiting them and giving them gifts.

These ceremonies were later incorporated into Christian holidays, such as All Souls' Day and All Saints' Day. Some of the most important elements of Day of the Dead include ofrendas (offerings) and altars. These items may be homemade or purchased. They are placed on the altars as offerings to the dead. The offerings may be accompanied by a variety of other items, including candies, flowers, and even food.

Symbolism of the Day of the Dead is celebrated every year on November 2 in Mexico. It is a holiday that honors the dead and celebrates the cycle of life. The holiday is marked with festive decorations that are colorful and bright. There are many elements to this holiday, such as skulls, skeletons, candy skulls, and sugar canes.

Some Day of the Dead symbols have an influence on Christian beliefs. Purple is often used as a symbol of death and grief. However, the color purple can also be used to represent the blood of Jesus Christ. Black is another color that is used in some Day of the Dead elements.

White is also used frequently in Day of the Dead celebrations. White symbolizes purity, innocence, and a clean slate after death. It also represents hope and peace.

Throughout the world, people celebrate the Day of the Dead, also known as Dia de los Muertos. This is a Mexican holiday that is celebrated on November 1 and 2. Families gather together and create altars to honor the dead. They also make offerings to encourage the departed to join in the celebration.

Food plays an important role in the Day of the Dead celebration. Families make food offerings to their ancestors. These foods are believed to provide sustenance for visiting families. These foods are also believed to attract the dead.

A common drink that is served on the Day of the Dead is horchata, a milk-based beverage. Horchata is usually sweetened with cinnamon and brown sugar. It is served hot or chilled.

Another traditional drink served on the Day of the Dead is pulque, a fermented beverage made from agave sap. It has a unique flavor profile that is not found in other alcoholic beverages. Pulque can be infused with fruits for a more palatable experience.

During Day of the Dead, food plays an important role in the celebration. The ancestors of the deceased are remembered, and the foods that they loved are offered as offerings to them. Foods are prepared using native ingredients. These foods are then placed on an altar, and served as refreshments to friends and family.

Traditionally, Day of the Dead food includes mole, a thick, spicy sauce. Mole is a complex sauce made from a variety of ingredients. Mole is typically prepared for days, and requires a lot of work.

Another traditional Day of the Dead food is tamales, a delicious Mexican snack. Tamales are prepared with corn husks and wrapped in corn-based tortillas. They come in different shapes. Some of the most popular kinds are red pork tamales and champurrado. Tamales are served as part of a meal or as a snack.

Traditions in the U.S.

Traditionally, Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a two-day celebration of the departed. The celebration is marked by colorful paper flags, parades, sugar skulls, and sweet treats. There are also religious and artistic influences.

One of the most important traditions during Day of the Dead is the construction of altars for the dead. These altars include photos of the departed, favorite snacks, and other mementos. These offerings are said to attract the souls of the dead. Some families also offer atole, a traditional Day of the Dead drink.

Another tradition of Dia de los Muertos is the use of catrinas, or cat-in-a-hat. Jose Guadalupe Posada, an early 20th-century Mexican artist, popularized the practice. During the holiday, many families visit their loved ones' cemeteries to offer catrinas and other offerings.

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Home | Culture | Holidays | Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead in Mexico

• Updated December 25, 2021
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In Mexico 2010 there were lots of drug involved killings, and problems, but during October 31 to November 2 all of this can be forgotten. On the Day of the Dead, people celebrate and grief. This is done to remember and pray for their love ones who have passed (Ward).

During this period of time the public set up ofrendas in private homes and cemeteries. These ofrendas are built to welcome spirits into their homes. They are full of food and offerings, including water to quench their thirst after their long trip, family photos and a candle for each family member. There are flowers that you will see all over are marigolds. Marigolds are spread from the ofrenda to the gravesite. This is done to guide spirits back to their proper resting place (Ward).

There are foods that the public set out for there family, because they get hungry during their trip. Some families have family members favorite foods laid out on their ofrenda. Including; pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, which is a typical sweet bread. The bread often anise seeds, plus decorated with bones and skulls made from dough. There can be symbols that the bones can be arranged in, like if they are in a circle it represents the circle of life, and tiny teardrop, this symbolizes sorrow (Ward).

A tradition brought by 17th century Italian missionaries is sugar art. Sugar skulls are one of the things that are made with sugar. They are made by pressing sugar into molds and decorated, they are decorated with bright colors. They can be all sizes and levels of complexity (Ward).

Of Course you will need something to wash all of that sugar down. One drink is pulque, a sweet fermented beverage. Pulque is made from the agave sap, a thin warm porridge made from corn flour, with unrefined cane sugar, hot chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla is added. The clothing that is worn is colorful and exquisite. Cities walk around with their faces painted colorfly, to look like skulls, and mimicking the calavera Catrina. The men where don suits and the woman where fancy dresses (Ward).

All of the celebrations are are festive and colorful. During these three days people can celebrate their loved ones that are gone. Even though they can’t see their family there family can see them during these three days. This is a very special time of year, so there is a lot of preparation that have to happen before their loved ones cross over. So don’t forget that this is a very special holiday for all of the people that celebrate it (Ward).

In my drawing the bug is a taxi, taxis are used all of the time. The taxis is lime green this is probably so that you can see it from afar. Some people can’t afford cars so they use taxis. There is a young boy carrying merrygolds to a grave of a loved one, to decorate it (Ward).

• Ward, Logan. “Top 10 things to know about the Day of the Dead” Top 10 things to know about the Day of the Dead – National Geographic.Accsesed 18 december 2018

Cite this paper

Day of the Dead in Mexico. (2021, Dec 25). Retrieved from https://samploon.com/day-of-the-dead-in-mexico/

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In Mexico, a mayoral candidate is murdered on her first day of campaigning

MEXICO CITY — A ruling party mayoral candidate was shot dead on Monday in central Mexico during an event on the first day of her campaign, despite having requested security protection from authorities and receiving no response.

A city council candidate was also initially reported as fatally shot in the incident, but the security ministry later said the person was missing.

On Monday evening, Gisela Gaytán had just presented her security strategy plan before a rally in Celaya, Guanajuato, when gunmen opened fire, killing her instantly.

Guanajuato’s state prosecutor said it was investigating the killing. No arrests have been made.

The reasons why Gaytán was targeted were unclear but Guanajuato state has in recent years registered some of the highest numbers of homicides in Mexico and experienced turf wars between criminal groups.

Security analysts say most electoral violence tends to occur at municipal level, where gangs exert pressure to influence the outcome in the hope of securing more control over drug trafficking and other criminal rackets.

“It is increasingly clear who exercises real power in the territories where there is crime, it does not matter which party is in power,” said Vicente Sánchez, an expert in security and politics at the College of the Northern Border, a think tank. “It is still organized crime groups that decide who the candidates are.”

Mexican elections have been marred by political violence for years, but figures suggest it is getting worse. Several dozen politicians and candidates were  killed  in the lead-up to the mid-term elections in 2021. According to Mexico City-based research organization Civic Data, there was a 236% increase in political electoral violence in the country between 2018 and 2023.

A report by political risk consultancy Integralia found 24 aspiring electoral candidates were killed between Sept. 1 and April 1, while the government on Tuesday said 14 people who had publicly stated they would run in elections had been assassinated since October 2023.

Gaytán, a 38-year-old former litigator, was the only female candidate in Celaya, one of the deadliest cities in the world and one of the most dangerous places to be a police officer in North America.

In a six-second video shared widely on social media, supporters at her rally are seen carrying party flags and shouting “Morena, Morena,” for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s ruling National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party. Seconds later, six gunshots sound and the crowd quickly disperses.

Reuters could not determine the original source of the video.

Morena candidate for city council Adrián Guerrero was reported missing by the security ministry after the attack. Another two people were injured.

Earlier in the day, Gaytán told reporters that Morena had requested security from the state for her campaign. “We are looking at the issue to see how it can be resolved,” she said. “Let’s see if they have an answer for us today.”

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez promised justice at a press conference on Tuesday and said the investigation would include an inquiry into why Gaytán had not received protection from state or municipal authorities.

She acknowledged Morena had requested security measures for all its candidates in early March from the country’s National Electoral Institute, INE. Guanajuato’s state electoral body, she said, responded it had yet to start the process needed for the security protocols.

Mayoral candidate murdered in Mexico amid rising political violence

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Central American migrants ride atop a freight train during their journey toward the US-Mexico border, in Ixtepec, Oaxaca State, Mexico, April 23, 2019. Oaxaca is a key route for migrants seeking to cross Mexico to reach the U.S. border, and accidents involving migrants there are common. Credit: AP/Moises Castillo

MEXICO CITY — Three migrants died in a highway accident in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, authorities said Thursday.

At least two of the dead — a man and a woman — are from the African nation of Cameroon, and the identity of the third is being checked. Five more migrants were injured and are being treated at local hospitals.

The country's National Immigration Institute did not immediately identify the cause of the crash, or provide information on the condition of those injured.

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In March, the bodies of eight Asian migrants were found after a boat accident along Oaxaca's Pacific coast.

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One survivor, an Asian man, was located. The bodies were found near a beach in the town of Playa Vicente, which is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

In 2023, at least 16 migrants from Venezuela and Haiti died in a bus crash in Oaxaca.

There has been a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants traveling toward the U.S. border. Because migration agents often raid regular buses, migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, like unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks.

Last year, 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were seriously injured after a freight truck they were riding in crashed on a highway in the neighboring state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala.

The National Immigration Institute said all of the dead Cuban migrants were women, and one of them was under 18.

The Institute said the driver of the vehicle had apparently been speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver fled the scene.

Mexican authorities generally prohibit migrants without proper documents from buying tickets for regular buses, so those without the money to hire smugglers often hire poorly-driven, poorly-maintained buses that speed to avoid being stopped. Or they walk along the side of highways, hitching rides aboard passing trucks.

Last week, a truck flipped over on a highway in Chiapas, killing two Central American migrants and injuring another 27. And two Central American migrants died last week after trying to board a moving train in the state of Coahuila near the Texas border.

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What We Know About the Men Presumed Dead in the Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Four men remain missing. They were working as contractors doing overnight maintenance on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed on Tuesday.

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By Miriam Jordan ,  Jacey Fortin and Eduardo Medina

• March 27, 2024

Details have begun to emerge about some of the people who were missing after being plunged into the water when the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, divers worked through dangerous conditions searching for the bodies of the six missing men. Two were recovered from a submerged vehicle, and the other four are presumed dead, officials said.

But the search was ended later in the day, after officials concluded that the other bodies were encased in the wreckage. Two people were pulled from the river alive shortly after the collapse.

Here’s what we know so far about the men, who were working as contractors doing overnight maintenance on the bridge:

The two whose bodies were recovered on Wednesday were Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Md., authorities said.

Miguel Luna, in his 40s, from El Salvador, is married and has three children, said Gustavo Torres, the executive director of the nonprofit CASA, which provides services to immigrants in Baltimore. He said Mr. Luna had been living in Maryland for at least 19 years.

Maynor Yasir Suazo Sandoval, in his 30s, of Honduras, immigrated to the United States more than 17 years ago, according to Mr. Torres, and is married with two children. In a statement provided to The Times via CASA, Mr. Suazo’s brother, Carlos, described him as having a special talent for repairing and operating all kinds of machinery, and said that he dreamed of starting his own small business. “He was always so full of joy, and brought so much humor to our family,” Carlos Suazo said, noting that the family was planning to celebrate his brother’s next birthday on April 27.

Jose López, originally of Guatemala, had gone to Baltimore lead his family toward a better life in the United States, his brother, Jovani López, told The Times on Thursday. Jovani López said his brother was married with two children, a boy and a girl, in elementary school.

All but one of the eight men worked for Brawner Builders, a contractor based in Baltimore County, the company said. The men who went missing after the collapse were all immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to consular authorities and the nonprofit.

Kirsten Noyes contributed research.

An earlier version of this blog post misidentified the nonprofit that provides services to immigrants in Maryland. It is CASA, not We Are Casa.

How we handle corrections

Miriam Jordan reports from a grass roots perspective on immigrants and their impact on the demographics, society and economy of the United States. More about Miriam Jordan

Jacey Fortin covers a wide range of subjects for the National desk of The Times, including extreme weather, court cases and state politics all across the country. More about Jacey Fortin

Eduardo Medina is a Times reporter covering the South. An Alabama native, he is now based in Durham, N.C. More about Eduardo Medina

Another day and another politician shot dead in Mexico

As more women enter politics in Mexico. more women get killed by criminal elements intimidating office seekers.   

Here is  the story :

A candidate for mayor of a violence-wracked city in Mexico has been killed just as she began campaigning, marking yet another politician to be shot dead in the country in recent weeks.   Two authorities in the north-central state of Guanajuato said candidate Bertha Gisela Gaytán Gutiérrez was shot to death on a street in a town just outside the city of Celaya. Mayorships in Mexico often included smaller surrounding communities. The authorities were not authorized to be quoted by name.

  Guanajuato has for some time had the highest number of homicides of any state in Mexico, and Celaya is arguably the most dangerous place, per capita, to be a police officer in North America. At least 34 police officers have been killed in this city of 500,000 people in the last three years.   In Guanajuato state, with its population just over 6 million, more police were shot to death in 2023 - about 60 - than in all of the United States.  

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