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"For the first two days of November a sweet-smelling cloud of copal incense hangs over most of Mexico.  The Day of the Dead is being celebrated.  

It is a time of family reunion not only for the living but also the dead who, for a few brief hours each year, return to be with their relatives in this world.

As a time of reunion, there is nothing somber or macabre about the event:  the returning souls do not bring the odour of death and the grave with them, but come as spirits who have returned from another world.  These worlds of the living and the dead exist in a state of permanent interaction. 

The flowers form brilliant mounds of colour.  Predominant is the vivid orange and yellow of the cempasuchil, the 'flower of the dead', which has been associated with festivals for the dead since pre-Hispanic times.  Both its colour and aromatic scent are important for they are thought to attract the souls towards the offering. 'Paths' of marigold petals are strewn from the door of the house to the ofrenda to to guide the souls to their feast.

The souls are not usually seen but their presence is sensed.  They do not physically consume the foods and drinks, but rather absorb their essence.  When the souls have had their fill, it will be the turn of the living members of the family to take their share of the ofrenda.  Some part of the offering will also be distributed among relatives, godparents, friends and neighbors and some part will be taken to the cemetery to be placed upon the graves of the deceased.  The community-wide sharing of the offerings is an important social occasion during which relationship of all kindsare reaffirmed.  When all is over, the community settles back into its normal routines; the dead have already returned to the other world."