Día de Muertos is not a season to mourn, it is a season to celebrate life. The cempasúchil is the official flower associated with Día de Muertos and was commonly used in Indigenous Aztec rituals to honor the goddess Mictecacihuatl, who is known as the Lady of the Dead. “The vibrant flowers are used to attract but then also the …
XOCHIMILCO, Mexico — Mexican artisans are struggling to preserve the traditional manufacture of paper cut-out decorations long used in altars for the Day of the Dead. Defying increasingly popular mass-production techniques, second-generation paper cutter Yuridia Torres Alfaro, 49, still makes her own stencils at her family’s workshop in Xochimilco, on the rural southern edge of Mexico City. As she has …
