10/09/2026
The holy days known in Mexico as Día de Mu***os—Day of the Dead—are near. This beautiful tradition of honoring our ancestors holds a special place in my heart. As I do each year, I’m sharing my reflection on the meaning and spirit of Mexican Día de Mu***os.
Leading up to the days of remembrance and celebration, I will share previous DDM posts to help followers of this page better understand and prepare for these holy days.
I share this reflection because observance of Día de Mu***os, which is held throughout Mexico, is being increasingly adopted by people of other ethnicities and backgrounds who, lacking a ritual of their own, have found in our Día de Mu***os a heart-home where they can honor their ancestors and other loved ones who have crossed over.
While many of us are happy to share our beautiful ritual, Día de Mu***os must be treated with respect, reverence, lightness of spirit, and an understanding that Día de Mu***os is not Halloween but a remembering and sacred witnessing of the joys and sorrows of our ancestors, and a celebration of the strength of spirit of we, their descendants, to preserve the soul of this pre-European contact tradition.
As a result of the European/Spanish invasion, forced conversion to Christianity (particularly Catholicism), and ongoing colonization of what is now known as Mexico, Día de Mu***os now takes place on November 1 and 2, having merged with the Catholic All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.
Typically, November 1 honors children and infants, known as Día de los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels). November 2nd honors adults and is known as Día de Mu***os.
Indigenous peoples in Mexico (and in other countries in what is now the Americas, where Indigenous people’s traditional territory extends beyond contemporary borders, such as our Maya relatives) have been holding these celebrations for 3,000 years. In 2003, UNESCO proclaimed Mexico’s Dia de Mu***os Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Before the Spanish invasion of Mexico, these holy days for the Mexika (Aztec) took place in the month that roughly corresponds to today’s August/September. They were celebrated for an entire month: the first half of the month as Miccailhuitontli, the feast of deceased children, and the latter half as Huey Miccailhuitontli, or Feast to the Greatly Revered Deceased (adults). Some say the festivities were dedicated to Mictecacihuatl, known as the "Lady of the Dead," and that she corresponds to the modern-day Catrina, today's iconic character created in 1910 by famous Mexican printmaker and illustrator José Guadalupe Posada. Although Mictlancihuatl may have inspired her, no one knows for sure, and La Catrina has her own interesting story as a truth-teller and social justice warrior.
It's important to note that regional differences shape how it is celebrated, and a family's religion or tribe-specific history and customs influence how it's observed. For example, members of the Yaqui Tribe begin their tribe-specific Animam Mikwame Taiwae, Día de Mu***os, observances on October 1st.
In my circle of family, friends, and community, we prepare for weeks to properly host relatives who have walked on before us: our tatas, nanas, tias, and tios, and other relatives who will return to this realm to visit us during Día de Mu***os. As you begin your preparations, please source your Day of the Dead items from Mexican artists, bakers, and artisans.
If you are responsible for putting together a Día de Mu***os educational program or special event, please do your best to consult with and employ Mexican/ Indigenous people rather than someone who is not part of our culture and community -- and consider giving back to our community in tangible ways as a way of showing your appreciation for us sharing our culture, food, music, and spiritual traditions.
For many, Day of the Dead celebrations begin on October 31st, the night Mexicans remember deceased children, while the night from the 1st to the 2nd is dedicated to the adult dead. A pathway of brilliant marigold flowers will guide them to our home to enjoy some time with us, within whose hearts they yet live. They'll be knocking at midnight, looking at their photos on our altar, smelling the aroma of their favorite food, and cleansing themselves with the smoke of copal incense.
We build ofrendas (altars) at home to their memory and sometimes in public places. Some altares are simple, and some are elaborate. Often, we hold vigils at the cemetery, taking time to lovingly clean headstones and place candles and bouquets of cempaxochitl (Aztec marigolds) on graves, along with toys for children, delicious pan de mu**to, tamales, drinks, and incense burners filled with fragrant copal. We often take lawn chairs to the cemetery and sit for hours, sometimes all night, recounting favorite anecdotes and memories of special days gone by. We might hire a small Norteño or mariachi to play favorite songs that our beloveds enjoyed when alive. It's both a sad and joyful time as we pray, sing, laugh, and reminisce.
In the days leading up to Día de Mu***os, I will be posting photographs, videos, and articles on Mexican Día de los Mu***os and hope that what is shared helps you celebrate the life of your loved ones while at the same time respectfully preserving and honoring this important tradition that is the religious and cultural legacy of the ancestors of Mexica, Maya, Tlaxcaltec, Chichimec, and other Native peoples of what is today known as Mexico, as well as Indigenous traditional territories that today may overlap adjoining countries.
With respect, I ask that you please keep in mind that Mexican Dia de Mu***os is rooted in culture-specific spiritual/religious observances.
I realize that other countries (e.g., China and Ireland, among others) observe what may appear, on the surface, to be a similar custom, yet it often carries distinct meanings, histories, and purposes. Those observances do not share our origins or unique expression. Used out of that context, as in dressing up as La Catrina for a summer or winter solstice celebration or other non-Dia De Mu**to event, could be considered disrespectful, especially when done by someone not a member of the Mexican / Indigenous community. By this, I mean taking one or more elements of this cultural-spiritual ritual and using them in a context other than the one for which they were intended.
When people change a tradition arbitrarily, or worse, when they misappropriate it, those changes begin to erode its power and beauty. The same power and beauty that first drew you to it.
Help protect this sacred observance.
As neither forthcoming posts nor this one are meant to be scholarly articles, please understand that not every detail or aspect of Día de Mu***os is addressed. I encourage you to empower yourself by researching your family stories and delving more deeply into the origins and history of Día de Mu***os.
Con respeto y aprecio,
Maestra Grace Sesma
Curanderismo, the Healing Art of Mexico
Tlazocahmati to artist: Rick Ortega, https://rickortegaart.com, for his beautiful art and generosity in allowing its use in this post.
***os ***os
