Preparing for Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Dead is coming soon. Festivities in Oaxaca will begin in the next few days, and people are now gathering what they need for home altars to honor their deceased loved ones: palm branches to create an arch over the altar through which loved ones pass from the otherworld — a gateway to […]
Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca: Day of the Dead Cemetery Before Dark
Before the crowds descend on the cemetery, before the tour buses and vans arrive, before the photographers with strobe flash and tripods begin their crawl among the gravesites at dusk, I arrive in Xoxocotlan. Marta and Citlalli are with me today. It is the perfect time, the magic hour between day and night, when there […]
Night, Xoxocotlan Cemetery: Day of the Dead, Oaxaca, Mexico
Copal incense fills the air. Candlelight guides us. Faces are illuminated in the shadows as they lean over the graves of loved ones. The two cemeteries in the village of Xoxocotlan just about 15 minutes outside of Oaxaca city are aglow as night falls and the October 31 celebration begins. We arrive in late afternoon […]