November 1, All Saints Day, and November 2, All Souls Day, are marked throughout Mexico by intriguing customs that vary widely according to the ethnic roots of each region. Common to all, however, are colorful adornments and lively reunions at family burial plots, the preparation of special foods, offerings laid out for the departed on commemorative altars and religious rites that are likely to include noisy fireworks.
In most localities November 1 is set aside for remembrance of deceased infants and children, often referred to as angelitos (little angels). Those who have died as adults are honored November 2.
Mexico's Day of the Dead
These stories are descriptive
- November 2, Day of the Dead
Mexico honors those gone but not forgotten by Dale Hoyt Palfrey - Mexico conjures spirits with picturesque ofrendas
by Dale Palfrey - Raising the dead
November marks one of Mexico’s most lively traditions by Barbara Kastelein - Los Dias de los Muertos: the Days of the Dead in Mexico
by Judy King - Day of the Dead or El Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca
Beliefs and Celebrations by Maria Diaz - Mixquic: The Day of the Dead and the Day of All Saints
Readers share their personal experiences
- Mexico’s Día de Muertos celebration: is it dying?
by Yuri Awanohara - A Journey With La Calaca
A Día de los Muertos experience by Bill Begalke - Day of the Dead: a celebration
Rituals and traditions can provide a sense of place and timelessness by David McLaughlin - Celebrating the Days of the Dead
The heart speaks clearly in Michoacan by Cat Gonzalez - Day of the Dead in Mexico
A personal perspective by Cat Gonzalez - Day of the dead in the cemetery: en el campo santo
A personal view by Dale Hoyt Palfrey - Hanal Pixan, Maya Day of the Dead in Pac Chen, Quintana Roo by Jane Ammeson
- Day of the Dead: death and decoration in Oaxaca
by Stan Gotlieb - El Panteon, cemetery in Cuernavaca
by Maria Elena
- La Llorona: does she seek your children?
by Maggie Van Ostrand - Día de Muertos: the dead come to life in Mexican folk art
by Mary Jane Gagnier Mendoza - Mexican lithographer Jose Guadalupe Posada: Past and present
A look at the most famous artist of the dead by Rita Pomade - Aguascalientes’ Museum of Death welcomes you
by Diodora Bucur - Catrina: Skeletons take over the art of Capula, Michoacan
by Travis Whitehead - Day of the Dead: the calaveras of Jose Guadalupe Posada
Original short stories
- Burying Eula, a short story
by Karen Hursh Graber - Meeting the Bony Woman, a short story
A fictional encounter by Catrina Farr - The Sanchez Ghost, a short story
by Anthony Wright
Book reviews
- The Mexican Day of the Dead and The Skeleton at the Feast
by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chloe Sayer
Reviewed by Alan Cogan - Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles
by Jorge Fernández Granados
Translated by John Oliver Simon
Reviewed by James Tipton
Your own celebration
- Pan de muertos
Recipe for “Day of the Dead Bread” by Karen Hursh Graber - Your own celebration of the Day of the Dead
Creating your own altar for November 1 by Cat Gonzales - Activities associated with Dia de los Muertos
Things to do around Guadalajara and Lake Chapala by Dale Hoyt Palfrey
Articles with photo galleries
- Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition in Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca
by Stephen Dyer Wells - Day of the Dead in Mexican folk art
by Mary Janer Gagnier Mendoza - Los Dias de los Muertos: the Days of the Dead in Mexico
by Judy King
- A journey with La Calaca: a Day of the Dead experience
by Bill Begalke - Through the lens: Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
with three Oaxaca picture galleries by Geri Anderson: - Hanal Pixan, Maya Day of the Dead in Pac Chen, Quintana Roo
by Jane Ammeson - Mexico’s Día de Muertos celebration: is it dying?
Extraordinary photos of Michoacan by Yuri Awanohara - Day of the Dead decorations in Mexico
- Day of the Dead: the calaveras of Jose Guadalupe Posada
- Day of the Dead: pictures of Oaxaca
- Day of the Dead in Chiapas, Mexico
by Craig ‘Cisco’ Dietz - Day of the Dead: religious manifestations in Chiapas, Mexico
by Craig ‘Cisco’ Dietz - Chiapas celebrates the Day of the Dead
by Craig ‘Cisco’ Dietz - Day of the Dead in Mexico: altars and ofrendas
by Roy Dudley
Published or Updated on: May 10, 2021 by Index Page © 2021
