Last updated by Madison Carter
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In Mexico, death isn't kept at arm's length: it gets a seat at the table. Every year, at the end of October, families cover graves with flowers, light candles and cook their loved ones' favorite dishes, certain that the departed come home to visit for one night.
It isn't Halloween, and it isn't Samhain either, even though the dates are close. Where does this celebration come from, what goes on the altar, and what do its symbols mean?
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Its roots reach back to Mexico before the Spanish conquest. The Mexica solar calendar had eighteen "months" of twenty days, and two of them, at the end of summer, were devoted to the dead: the Little and then the Great Feast of the Dead (Miccailhuitontli and Hueymiccailhuitl). People offered flowers and food, and called out to the dead from their rooftops.
These feasts honored Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacíhuatl, the couple who ruled Mictlan, the land of the dead. In the 16th century, the Spanish brought All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, and the two worlds blended instead of erasing each other. Día de los Muertos was born of that meeting.
👉 It has become a shared treasure: the Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead, proclaimed by UNESCO in 2003, has been on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2008.
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The dates come from the Christian calendar: All Saints' Day, set on November 1 in the 8th century, and All Souls' Day on November 2, spread by the Abbey of Cluny around the year 1000. In Mexico, they took on a meaning of their own:
The day of the angelitos: children's souls arrive first. They are offered milk, candy, toys, flowers and white candles.
The day of the adults, more solemn: their favorite food and drinks, their photos and the things they loved fill the altar.
According to tradition, the gates of the afterlife open at midnight on the night of October 31. Halloween, for its part, descends from Samhain, the Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest: one keeps spirits away, the other invites them to dinner.
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The ofrenda, the altar of the dead, isn't decoration: it's a path home. Every element has a role.
Candles light the souls' way back home. The smoke of copal, a sacred resin, purifies the space and carries prayers, just as incense does.
The glass of water quenches the soul's thirst after its long journey. A pinch of salt purifies and protects the home.
This bright orange "flower of the dead" guides the departed with its color and scent. Its scattered petals mark the road from the cemetery to the altar.
Pan de muerto, beloved dishes and a photo of the departed all say: "I remember you, and what made you happy."
Don't worry, there's no need for a big altar: a candle, a glass of water and a photo, placed with love, are enough.
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This elegant skeleton in a wide hat was engraved around 1910 by José Guadalupe Posada, who mocked Mexicans who denied their roots. Diego Rivera dressed her head to toe in 1947: rich or poor, we all end up equal.
Brightly decorated sugar skulls often bear the name of someone who has passed, or of someone living. Placed on the altar, they make death familiar, almost tender.
These garlands of cut tissue paper flutter above the altars. Their lightness speaks of life's fragility, and the wind that stirs them, of souls passing through.
In early November, millions of monarchs arrive in the forests of Michoacán. For the Purépecha people, they are the souls of the ancestors coming home: the butterfly remains a messenger from the beyond.
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You don't have to be Mexican to live the spirit of this celebration: you only need to make room for those who are gone. And if sadness shows up, let it in: here, nostalgia and joy dance together.
In the days that follow, watch for signs of a presence: a vivid dream, a familiar scent, "their" song at just the right moment, a butterfly that lingers. And if nothing comes, it isn't a lack of love: signs sometimes take their time.
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Key takeaways 📌
A word from our editors: staying connected with those who are gone
Día de los Muertos reminds us that love doesn't end with death. If grief weighs on you, or if you feel a loved one is trying to reach you, a psychic can help you ease and listen to that bond.
Talk to a psychicSources: UNESCO, "Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead" (2008); Arqueología Mexicana, "Miccailhuitontli y Huey miccaílhuitl"; H. G. Nutini, Todos Santos in Rural Tlaxcala, Princeton University Press, 1988; S. Brandes, "El día de los muertos, Halloween y la búsqueda de la identidad mexicana", 2003; E. Matos Moctezuma, "La muerte en el México prehispánico", UNAM, 1975.
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Article presented by
Madison Carter
"Psychic Healer & Angelic Channel for MyAstro ✨ As a psychic healer and angelic channel, I translate loving guidance from the divine into practical wisdom. My work is dedicated to delivering messages from guardian angels that bring clarity, comfort, and deep spiritual healing. Through MyAstro, I aim..."
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