Day of the Dead in Chiapas, Mexico – gallery
gallery January 1, 2006 by Craig ‘Cisco’ Dietz © 2009
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Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition in Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca – gallery
Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition in Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca by Stephen Dyer Wells Photo Gallery
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What is the mariachi?
The only thing more Mexican than tequila is the mariachi and it seems a shame to have one without the other. Mariachi goes beyond music, it is the sum of a cultural revolution expressed through a group of musicians, dressed in popular clothing (most recently charro suits) which encompasses the essence of Mexico and its […]
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Los Dias de los Muertos (the Days of the Dead)
Foreigners have more trouble understanding Los Dias de Los Muertos than any of Mexico’s other fiestas. At first glance, Day of the Dead decorations, colored paper garlands, little skeletons performing daily tasks and sugar skulls inscribed with names remind visitors of Halloween. Other tourists discover that much like Memorial or Remembrance Day back north, families […]
Continue ReadingDid You Know? Mathieu de Fossey
Mathieu de Fossey was born in France in 1805, and educated in Dijon. Politically disillusioned following the end of the reign of King Charles X in 1830, Fossey responded enthusiastically to an intriguing pamphlet he read publicising the challenges and opportunities for French settlers in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. At that time, most Europeans […]
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Mexico’s Huichol resource page: their culture, symbolism, art
Descendants of the Aztec, the Huichol number about 18,000, most of whom live in the sierra of Jalisco and Nayarit. Having withstood the Spanish Invasion, they are still striving to keep their culture alive and viable, despite the ever increasing physical and cultural encroachment of their Mexican neighbors. Peyote is a focal point for their […]
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La Virgen de Guadalupe – Mother of all Mexico
Strolling through street markets, browsing the tourist stalls, visitors to all parts of Mexico see mountains of goods featuring the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. As tourists observe the impossibly colorful image repeated endlessly on caps, T-shirts, key chains, sequined appliqués, mud flaps, decals, bibs, murals, bumper stickers, tiles, candles, religious art, mirrors and […]
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The food of Easter in Mexico: a seasonal celebration of popular cuisine
Semana Santa — Holy Week — is the observance of a solemn religious occasion. But the mood in most of Mexico during Easter time is far from solemn. With the exception of the Good Friday reenactments — passion plays and processions that take place on some level in even the smallest village — the atmosphere […]
Continue ReadingMexico’s popular sayings: A taste for dichos
Walking the Walk, Talking the Talk O.K. I admit it! I love ‘dichos’ (sayings or proverbs). Not, ‘nachos’ or ‘ponchos’, but dichos! Yes, those little nuggets of folk wisdom distilled down through generations of wise Mexicans. O.K. I developed a taste for sayings in English even before I found their equivalent in Spanish. You know […]
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Our Lady of Guadalupe: Tonantzin or the Virgin Mary?
Mexican History Pope John Paul II named the Virgin of Guadalupe Patron Saint of the Americas on January 22, 1999 and that year her Basilica was was the most visited Catholic shrine in the world. Today the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Queen of Mexico, is celebrated on December 12th, […]
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