Mexico's Day Of The Dead With Luisa Navarro

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Why is Mexico’s Day of the Dead such a beautiful way to remember our loved ones who have died? What are the elements that go into the altar? How can tourists respectfully experience the tradition?

In this fascinating conversation, Luisa Navarro, founder of Mexico in My Pocket and author of Mexico’s Day of the Dead: A Celebration of Life through Stories and Photos, shares her personal journey from rejecting her Mexican heritage to celebrating it, while revealing the true beauty and meaning behind one of Mexico’s most misunderstood traditions.

Luisa Navarro is the founder and CEO of Mexico in My Pocket, and the author of Mexico’s Day of the Dead: A Celebration of Life through Stories and Photos.

Luisa’s childhood struggle with being Mexican American and how she transformed from rejecting her culture to becoming its passionate advocate
The true meaning behind Día de los Muertos, its indigenous Aztec origins, and how it differs completely from Halloween
The significance of ofrendas (altars), including sugar skulls, pan de muerto, marigolds, and photographs of deceased loved ones
How different days honor different types of deaths
Traditional foods like pan de muerto, café de olla, and how families share meals with both the living and the dead
How to respectfully experience Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico while avoiding appropriation and understanding the difference between authentic traditions and commercialized parades

You can find Luisa at MexicoInMyPocket.com and Mexico’s Day of the Dead book here.

Transcript of the interview

Jo: Hello, travelers. I’m Jo Frances Penn, and today I’m here with Luisa Navarro. Hi Luisa.

Luisa: Hi. It’s so wonderful to be here with you today.

Jo: Great to meet you. Now, just a quick introduction. Luisa is the founder and CEO of Mexico in My Pocket, and the author of Mexico’s Day of the Dead: A Celebration of Life through Stories and Photos, which is fantastic.

So first up, just tell us a bit more about you and your Mexican heritage and how you bring that into your life and your business in Brooklyn.

Luisa: Yes, of course. So I was actually born in Dallas, Texas. I am Mexican American. My mom is from Tila, which is Northern Mexico, and my dad is from Michoacán, which is more central and it’s actually where Día de los Muertos is very much celebrated.

Growing up in Dallas, I struggled originally with my identity a lot being Mexican American —

because what happened was I went to school and I only spoke Spanish because Spanish was my first language. My mom insisted that all four of her kids learn Spanish first before going to school. And then when we were in school, we all struggled to make friends because we only spoke Spanish.

The teachers would criticize my mom, but my mom insisted that we would be perfectly fine and that we would learn English eventually, and she was right. And so eventually I became bilingual. And during that time, at a very young age, I discovered young kids were saying horrible things about Mexicans and I didn’t know how to handle that. I realized, wait, I think I’m Mexican.

And so long story short, I didn’t want to be Mexican at a very young age. I was about four or five years old. I have these memories very vividly. And so I came home to my mom in Dallas and I said, I’m no longer Luisa, I’m now Hannah. I think I said Hana, my mom always says I pronounced it very interestingly, but I was like, I’m Hana. And I will not respond if you don’t call me Hana. Yeah, I mean, it’s very sad.

But luckily, luckily, luckily, thank God my mom and my grandmothers all came to my rescue and they were like, no, these kids are wrong, and here’s why, and here’s why being Mexican is incredible. And so luckily for me, I did a 180. I very much embraced my culture. I became a journalist.

And during that journey as a journalist, I noticed that these negative types of stories continued to happen. But instead of getting upset with people, I never really blamed the kids who said these things because I realized they were being taught this by their parents. As you get older, you realize this is being learned.

And so when I became a journalist, I realized that the media was always covering us in a very negative light. And being American is amazing because we have mainstream media here. We have the power to tell stories, but unfortunately I have seen as a Mexican American, a lot of those stories that are told about Mexico in the US are negative.

I wanted to do something positive. So as a journalist, I started a side project called Mexico in My Pocket and it was a blog. And on that blog I would share very positive stories about Mexico and our culture, and —

I slowly started to learn more about my heritage and I became very passionate about it.

And I started that blog in 2015. So it’s been 10 years now.

So basically my journalism career brought me to New York City. I went to Columbia Journalism School and then eventually I got out of the news and I started my own company called Mexico in My Pocket, where we sell beautiful handcrafted items from all over Mexico. And I have the privilege of telling the story of how these products are made, and the stories of our culture.

Jo: I think that’s wonderful. It’s really interesting to hear about how that felt for you as a child. But of course, you’ve chosen one really interesting topic, Day of the Dead, which in itself many people struggle with negative stereotypes around Day of the Dead. So let’s just start with sort of basics.

What is Day of the Dead? When is it? And why did you choose this topic?

Because you could have chosen lots of different ones.

Luisa: I could have chosen so many different topics. And the irony is that when I was little, I also very much struggled with the fear of death. And I actually don’t think I really loved Day of the Dead as a child because my mom would decorate with skeletons during that time of year. And I feared it and I was like, this is terrifying. I don’t want to talk about death. My biggest fear was my parents dying.

But the reason that I decided to write a book about Day of the Dead, and for those of you who don’t know what Day of the Dead is, is once a year. It’s a Mexican tradition, it’s rooted in Mexico.

Once a year we come together and we honor our loved ones who have died.

And I think it’s the most incredible holiday. I think that everyone around the world should take time to once a year, honor their loved ones who have died.

You know, we celebrate our moms once a year. We celebrate our dads once a year. We celebrate love. Once a year, we should be celebrating our loved ones who have died. And I think that Mexico is the true emblem and symbol and example for us to honor the dead once a year. And they’ve set an incredible example for us not to fear death, but to take control of it the most that we can and to celebrate our loved ones who have died and not forget them.

And so the reason I wrote this book, there’s a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons was just like the reason I started my blog. I felt like —

I did not see an accurate or beautiful representation of what Day of the Dead is, and I felt like I wanted something to preserve these traditions so that I could pass it down to the future generations, including my son.

Because I worried that being Mexican American, I am the first generation to live here, but I’m so proud to be Mexican and I never want to lose sight of that. And I want my son to also know about his heritage, his ancestry, his traditions. And so I wrote this book for the future generations so that they could learn and always celebrate these traditions, no matter how far removed they are from their origin, from their ancestry’s origin country.

Another reason I wrote the book was —

There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding when it comes to Day of the Dead.

So I have a gift shop in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, and people would come into our store and they would see the altar that I build in the store. And they would ask us if we were celebrating the devil. And I was like, okay. We need a book because I want to clarify just how beautiful Day of the Dead is.

And I think the name Day of the Dead, I think anything associated with death can be very off-putting because I think just like me as a child fearing death. I think a lot of people fear death and I think they don’t want to talk about it. And so that inspired me to write this book and to shed light on how I think Mexico is doing an incredible job at basically honoring our loved ones who have died.

And if you’ve experienced death, I think you can relate to this, that it is very painful, not just because the person died, but you feel like you’re not allowed to talk about them anymore. And Day of the Dead is a time where you can come together once a year and talk about your loved ones who have died without having to worry about anyone judging you. And I think it’s so beautiful.

Jo: You mentioned your son there and I noticed in the book, which is a beautiful book, both the words and obviously the images, it is really beautiful and colorful. And there are children in the book, and this is another thing that I think some people get hung up on, like we should only talk about death if we’re adults or whatever. But Mexican tradition seems to bring in the children a lot more. Perhaps you could comment on that, like how is it so natural that everyone in the family is included?

Luisa: I mean, everyone in the family is included because on Day of the Dead, we’re honoring our family members. And so it’s also a wonderful opportunity to educate your children on their ancestors and on their loved ones who have died.

And quite frankly, one of the things that was most moving to me when I traveled to Oaxaca that I didn’t know about was an altar that honored babies. And so there’s room for everyone, like death affects everyone. It affects all ages. It affects different scenarios as we know.

You know, I saw an altar where a woman was 35 years old. I’m 35 now. And she lost her baby and she died as well in giving birth. And so they honored her and her child on this altar, and I think that’s so beautiful because her story was not forgotten in spite of such a tragic situation. And I think that Mexico does a really beautiful job of that.

Jo: So let’s come to the altar that you mentioned.

What goes on the altar? What types of things might people put on the altar and what is the aim of it?

Luisa: Yeah, so that’s actually another reason I wrote the book. So the altar has so many elements. I don’t even think we have time to get into every single one because quite frankly, I wrote a whole chapter on it and I even had questions about how to build a traditional altar because there’s so much tradition and history that is involved in it.

We place the sugar skulls with people’s names to honor the sweetness of life, but also to honor and remember the specific person who died. We use pan de muerto, which is a specific type of Day of the Dead bread that only happens, that is only made once a year and it is made with anise and orange peels and orange blossom water. It also honors the sweetness of life, but then they decorate it with crossbones on top to honor the dead.

So what I would say is that from all of these elements, it’s really coming together and honoring and celebrating and really showing that Mexicans don’t fear death, but they respect it and they choose to accept it. I think they choose to accept it.

But one of the most important things that goes on an altar are the photographs of our loved ones, of our ancestors.

And so that’s why I believe we include everyone. We include our children, and we show them and we teach them, and we tell them about their great grandparents and we tell them about their grandparents. It’s a wonderful time of year to finally share your family stories, and so that’s why I think everyone around the world should be celebrating Day of the Dead. Or doing it in their own way. Once a year, having a dinner at home and talking about their loved ones who have died. I don’t think we should not talk about this. And that’s why I love being Mexican. I’m Mexican, and I’m American, but being Mexican is incredible because of Día de los Muertos.

Jo: I have some follow up questions there. So the first thing is the skull. You mentioned the sugar skulls. I wanted to show you and the people on the video. So this is the one I keep here with the butterflies, but they obviously, it’s not to be put on an altar, but it’s kind of, I like to keep it there and I bought it in the US.

Luisa: You can put that on an altar actually. Yeah. You can put that on an altar. It’s beautiful. It’s hand painted. It’s clay. Yeah. That’s stunning. I love that.

Jo: Yeah, so I kind of have it in my own way, not as part of your tradition, but as part of my own sort of eclectic tradition. But so tell us more about the skulls and the skeletons. Because you mentioned, and the point is that they are, the sugar skulls are more colorful, aren’t they? Because people think black and white and kind of that depressing thing.

Tell us about the colorful sugar skulls

Luisa: Yeah. It’s funny that you mentioned that. So I talk about this in the book. I talk about the colors of Day of the Dead actually. And that’s exactly why we chose the turquoise and the orange color. The orange, obviously is representative of the marigolds, which we use marigolds because of the scent and the color, because we believe that the scent and the color attracts the spirits to visit us once a year. So we place them on the altar and we sprinkle petals of them to lead the dead back to us, the spirits back to us to visit us once a year.

But you mentioned the skulls and the skulls. What people might not realize is that it’s thanks to indigenous traditions and thanks to the indigenous people that Day of the Dead exists in Mexico. So the origins of Day of the Dead stem from the God of Death known as Mictlantecuhtli. And yes, that is a mouthful, but it’s important that we know his name, that we celebrate him, and that we honor the roots of this indigenous tradition.

It was only blended until the Spanish arrived, thanks to Catholicism. But, I want to highlight him specifically because he was the god of death and he was depicted with a skeletal face. And so you were interested in why skeletons and I actually in my own research was very interested in why on earth Mexicans are obsessed with skeletons. It’s all thanks to him.

So the Aztecs, once a year in the summer actually would celebrate him in his festival. And they would make tamales and they would burn copal. And some of these traditions we can see in modern day Día de los Muertos celebrations. These traditions didn’t evolve until the Spanish arrived, and they imposed Catholic religion on the indigenous people and eventually, there was a syncretism that happened, a natural syncretism.

And the tradition moved from the summer because the Aztecs refused to get rid of their honoring of the god of death. And they would secretly kind of continue. And eventually it was moved to All Souls Day and All Saints Day. And so that’s the modern day celebration that we know today, and that’s why altars have crosses and Virgen de Guadalupe. And there’s a blending of indigenous traditions with Catholicism. So yeah, that’s why we have the skeleton. It’s thanks to that god and it’s thanks to the Aztecs and the indigenous traditions.

Jo: Yeah. And I think, I mean obviously in many traditions there’s portrayals of death, but it’s never so colorful.

And I think that’s what’s so lovely about the skeletons and the face painting and the beautiful pictures you have in the book. But also just to come back on the Day of the Dead, I was really interested. I didn’t know. And in your book you list, it’s not just one day.

There’s actually different days for different types of people who died.

Luisa: Yeah, that’s correct. So, traditionally it starts on the evening of October 31st. It’s not Halloween, it has nothing to do with Halloween. And then it’s November 1st when the kids arrive, and then November 2nd when the adults arrive. But the thing is that people don’t realize is that all over Mexico, there are different traditions. So in some parts they believe that it depends on where you are in Mexico and how they celebrate. But that’s like pretty much the basics, right?

But yes, there are other days, I do have it in the book actually. So October 27th is the day to remember pets. October 28th is for the tragic deaths, including those who died from violence or suicide. And then October 29th is for the drowning. And the one I really like is October 30th, because it’s a day for those who have been forgotten or who don’t have a family member to remember them.

But yes, there are different days to honor different people. People really like the day to remember their pets, which is October 27th. Which I love too. And like that’s the thing is like, I just feel like I’m just so proud to be Mexican and I’m so proud of these traditions and I really just want to shed light on them and shed light on the beauty of them and quell some of that misunderstanding that we’re celebrating the devil because that has nothing to do with that at all.

In fact, I think more people, if they learned about Day of the Dead, they’d be inspired to host a dinner themselves and to maybe talk about their loved ones who have died and put their pictures up and maybe make their favorite meals. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful holiday in the entire world. So I’m very, very proud of it.

Jo: Again, coming back to the altar, so you mentioned the pan de muerto. So do you eat that?

Do people actually eat pan de muerto or is that an offering food?

Luisa: We do eat it. So there’s two things there. So one, you’re right when we put it on the altar. Actually this is a great question. So there’s two schools of thought here. You can buy it in the bakery. So think of it like a sweet treat that’s once a year, kind of like, I’m sure you know this, but in the United States once a year, pumpkin spice is huge, right? So it’s like everyone wants their pumpkin spice. The difference is, is that this is rooted in tradition.

So once a year in Mexico, the bakeries make and you can go and buy it, and it’s the most delicious thing in the world. And the one thing that most people don’t realize is there’s actually tons of different types of pan de muerto, and in my book, I do cover the different types because we visited different villages and how they make it.

And there’s a beautiful pan de muerto that almost looks like embroidery. And it’s actually all made of flour. They’re like these flour, they’re actual flowers like floral. It looks like embroidery. And that type of bread is from Oaxaca. But it’s a sweet treat that you can eat once a year and we do put it on the altar.

When I put it on my altar, I do not eat it after. But it, if you put it on the altar, it is meant for the dead. And so what a lot of people say, depending on where you travel in Mexico, but they say they put it on the altar and then after the dead have already had their chance, like let’s say they come November 1st or November 2nd and they’ve gotten their chance to eat the bread, then they will eat it and enjoy it.

But what some people say who have eaten it and enjoyed it is they say that it’s lost its taste. Because the dead already had it. So I personally do not eat the bread if I put it on the altar. But some people do, some people do eat the bread after and enjoy it with their family during the celebrations, but it’s not until after the dead have arrived. So yeah.

Jo: They’ve got to have their bit first.

Luisa: Yeah. It’s all fascinating, right? And it’s like, I love, that’s the thing is it’s nuanced. It’s very nuanced.

Jo: Yeah, and everyone has their own thing, but you’ve got some other recipes in the book I think as well.

What are the other food and drinks that are associated with that time?

Luisa: Yeah, we do. I’m very, very happy because we asked people to collaborate because something my dad has always emphasized is that I’m very privileged as a Mexican American to be able to travel between Mexico and the United States, and I can’t agree more. And so, recognizing that there will be people who will never have the chance or the opportunity to travel to Mexico to celebrate these holidays, I wanted to make sure that we included recipes in the book so that people could celebrate no matter where they live.

So we have a recipe for sugar skulls in the book. We have a recipe, well, it’s a tutorial, a DIY tutorial to make papel picado, which are these gorgeous Mexican tissue paper flags, tissue paper garlands that we use to celebrate and honor the fragility of death. And they’re really gorgeous. I’m sure you’ve seen them. If you go to a Mexican restaurant, you’ve seen them. But we also use them during Day of the Dead to honor our loved ones. And they all have little motifs. So you’ll often, for Day of the Dead, you’ll see them decorated with skulls and skeletons.

And then we have something called pan de muerto negro, and this is a specific type of pan de muerto, but it’s black sugar made from burnt corn husks, so corn husks, which we use to wrap our tamales in. And this recipe is beautiful because it represents the ashes of the dead.

I found that it doesn’t taste that different from the traditional sugar one. I thought it would taste different for me. It didn’t taste different. But it is really fun and it is really beautiful. So it’s got a black color with the crossbones and traditional. But yeah, we had Fany Gerson who I absolutely adore. She is the owner of La Newyorkina here in New York City and she provided that recipe for us.

Jo: That’s great. And then what about drinking? Is there any alcohol involved or is it a non-drinking event or is there special drinks that people have?

Luisa: So the rule of thumb there, or when alcohol is involved, like it would be, let’s say my great-grandfather loved a specific type of beer, right? So I would put that on the altar for him so that when he arrives he can have that specific alcohol that he loved in life. But yes, you can, for example, if you’re having a dinner. Of course you can have a drink, you can have, I mean, Mexico is the land of tequila, mezcal, and we also have other delicious drinks like café de olla, which is a cinnamon type coffee that is made in a pot. That’s why it’s called café de olla. It’s so delicious.

So yeah, basically you would drink the beverages that your loved ones really enjoyed. It could even be a Mexican Coca-Cola. I mean, I love Coca-Cola. I love specifically Mexican Coca-Cola. It’s made with a different type of sugar. And yeah, so those would be the beverages.

Jo: And then I wanted to circle back to the religion element. Because the majority of Mexican people are at least nominally Catholic. And so when people come to the altar, are there prayers, Catholic prayers that you would say for the dead, or is the Catholicism kind of completely different?

Do you pray at the altar or is it more of a memorial?

Luisa: I would say it’s more of a memorial.

That isn’t to say that you can’t pray at the altar. You can obviously pray, but yeah, it is a blending of Catholic and indigenous traditions because Mexico was colonized by the Spanish. They brought Catholicism and so you will find crosses. In fact, the top of the altar, traditionally if it’s a seven tier altar, should have a saint at the top.

So I typically put La Virgen de Guadalupe, which every Mexican person will know. She is basically the patron saint of all of Mexico. She’s the Virgin Mary of Mexico. And my grandmother revered her, so I always put La Virgen de Guadalupe at the top of my altar. So yeah, you will definitely see a blending of Catholicism with these traditions for sure.

Jo: And if you go to church over that period, do they have a special service?

Luisa: Yes, of course, because since it’s celebrated on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, so if you went to All Saints Day and All Souls Day, you would, yes, you would go to church for that. I haven’t seen Day of the Dead altars in the Catholic Church. But you will see them outside, like all over Mexico.

Jo: So you’ve mentioned a couple of places, you mentioned Oaxaca and some other places. But if people want to visit, so I mean, I’m really interested as a tourist. Are there places that tourists can go to? You know, not in a weird way, but people who are interested in the cultural elements, who want to come and have a look.

Are there places where tourists can visit for Day of the Dead?

Luisa: Yeah, a hundred percent. There’s definitely ways to do it. One of the things there, there’s lots of ways to do it. I would say one of the best ways is to go to Mexico City, because it is a large city and there’s celebrations all over.

If you wanted to go to the cemeteries, I would recommend making a personal connection with someone before you go. Not just like visiting without having some type of connection or some type of invitation.

Whenever I go, it’s because I’ve made some type of connection and have been invited. And to be honest, like I went because I was documenting it for the book, but I don’t necessarily just go to go like I wanted to learn more.

I will say be mindful if you visit the cemeteries that you are a tourist, sadly, some people will take advantage and get drunk and act inappropriate. One of the things that I learned is that the face paint that it, they’re dressed as La Catrina, and that’s a whole other topic, but it’s the sugar skull face paint that you see. It’s not appropriate to go to the cemeteries with that. So it’s something to be mindful of as a tourist that those are separate traditions.

So if you’re going to the cemetery to be very mindful that you’re in a cemetery, you will see music. It depends on the cemetery. That’s the other thing. And it depends on the location. So for example, in Michoacán, when I visited Michoacán, I found that it was a lot more quiet. It wasn’t somber, but the families were gathered and they might have been drinking a beer, but they were gathered more as like, I wouldn’t say it was this rambunctious party.

Now there’s other cemeteries where I have heard and I chose not to go. But I have heard that there are concerts happening, like full blown concerts. So yeah, I mean, it does depend, but at the end of the day, I think you need to be mindful that you are a tourist and to do your research and talk to people before you decide to go. Just like if you go into someone’s home, right? You’re going to be respectful.

If you go into someone’s home, like if someone asks you to take your shoes off when you go into someone’s home, you respect that and you honor that, and you’re visiting, right? So it’s the same when you go for Day of the Dead, is just have these conversations, be mindful, ask what’s appropriate, and trust your gut. You know, I think you’ll know too if you’re like something feels like you’re being, you know, you’re trespassing or that type of thing.

Jo: Yeah. And are there processions and you know more, you see that in the movies and stuff? Does that happen too?

Luisa: It does. And I have to say that so originally the only, it has become very commercialized, I have to say.

The only reason the parade happens in Mexico City now is because of the James Bond movie. That’s not like a centuries old tradition.

So people think that that’s like some centuries old tradition. That’s not true.

It’s actually Day of the Dead has become extremely popular because of movies like Coco as we know. And so now there are parades, but you know what, like those are for the tourists and I think it’s great. If you want to go and celebrate and see, a lot of Mexican artisans participate in those parades, which makes me really happy.

So you get to see like their actual craft and artwork, and I think it’s a wonderful way to go and celebrate if you’d like, and do the face paint. Like in that scenario, the face paint is totally fine, just know what you’re wearing. And I talk about that in the book, but there’s a whole section on who La Catrina is. And why that originated. But that is what the face paint is. I think the problem with the face paint is that people don’t know what they’re wearing, so they don’t know the history of her.

Jo: And I wonder if those processions and like the Bond movie is part of, you know, you’ve started by saying, somebody said, are you celebrating the devil? And I wonder if there’s a confusion with the Carnival / Mardi Gras / voodoo, sort of the skeleton from Voodoo who comes out the ground, and then there’s processions and things. Do you think that may have got mixed up in people’s heads?

Luisa: I think yeah, of course. I think there is a confusion between Halloween and Day of the Dead, but —

Day of the Dead is not Halloween at all and it’s not voodoo at all.

And I think that because of the skeleton imagery that it can get mixed up and confused if people don’t read about the origins.

And that’s one thing I will say, people ask me all the time if they can celebrate Day of the Dead, and I mean, death is universal. It affects all of us. Of course, you can celebrate Day of the Dead, but it’s just like know exactly what you are celebrating and know about the history and research and read about Mictlantecuhtli and the God of death and the Aztec traditions, and how that skeleton imagery evolved into our modern day traditions. So it’s about educating yourself at the end of the day.

And look, I’m Mexican American, but I also had to educate myself on these traditions and learn about them.

Jo: So this is the Books and Travel podcast, so do you have any other books that you would recommend about Day of the Dead or Mexico in general?

Luisa: Of course. So my favorite book that I read throughout this process, I read lots of books and articles and information, but my specific favorite one was called The Skeleton at the Feast. And I feel like they really got into the history of Day of the Dead. And so I recommend that book if you want to check it out and learn more about the history of Day of the Dead.

Jo: Brilliant. And just show us your book one more time on the video because it’s so beautiful. It’s just fantastic. So where can people find the book and everything you do online?

Luisa: Yeah, of course. So the book is available wherever all books are sold. So you can find it at Amazon, you can find it at Barnes and Noble Target, bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores, people from my community love shopping there. And you can find me at mexicoinmypocket.com at Mexico in My Pocket, all over social media.

Jo: Brilliant. Thanks so much for your time, Luisa. That was great.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and readability while maintaining the authentic conversation between Jo Penn and Luisa Navarro about Mexico’s Day of the Dead traditions.