Mexico is huge as its traditions that change in its form to welcome the dead ones.
If you saw “Coco” movie (Disney/Pixar 2016) you know that The Day of the Dead is one of the most important traditions in Mexico. But there is no one way to celebrate it.
For example, in some towns of the north of Mexico, kids play all night in the street with candles and food, or families gathering together to enjoy a delicious cabrito, after the visit to the cemetery to show their respect to the departed.
In the center of the country, we celebrated with so much joy and respect as you can saw it on that film, but with more Mexican feeling! Skulls of sugar, a lot of food (the favorite of the dead), candles, fruit, tequila, mezcal, photos of the departed and many papers of colors hanging over the altar where we settle all this elements as a show of respect and love to the soul of our families who came to visit that day. May you will think that this is something creepy, but it is not: We don’t have a death cult, it’s a celebration of life!
In the south of Mexico, especially in whole Peninsula de Yucatán, the Mayas also have a way to celebrate this day: the Hanal Pixan, which means “Feast of the Souls”, and that exactly what it is. All the Mayan communities prepared huge celebrations of 3 days; the children are celebrated on October 31st, the adults on November 1st, and all the saints on November 2nd.
For the Mayas, the famous cenotes are the main gate to the Xibalbá, the underworld (which is no hell as may you can think). There the X´men, an old and spiritual leader of the community, make a beautiful ceremony to receive the departed. For one night the doors of Xibalbá will be open to the souls who came back to this human world to share the food, the joy, and life with the living ones. That´s why all the people decorated their houses with papers of colors, prepared food, music and wait into the cenote to the precise moment when the X´men finish the ceremony and then, you can feel the presence of those who are beyond of our limits.
If you are about to came to Mexico, now you know what kind of this beautiful celebrations will enjoy. If you are planning to stay in any of our resort in the Riviera Maya, ask in front desk or with our travel agents in the lobby for the packages to Hanal Pixan in one of the several communities near Playa del Carmen, Tulum or Cancun.
