February 20, 1943 — A brand-new volcano, subsequently called Paricutín, erupts in a farmer’s field in Michoacan. It attracts world-wide attention. In succeeding years of eruption, two villages, Paricutin and San Juan Parangaricutirimícuaro are lost beneath the lava. Read about Mexico's important historical events that have occurred during the month of F […]
Do you want to be transported to a small island in the Mexican Caribbean and follow the ongoing adventure of two feisty young women who accidentally uncover a notorious pirate's secret in an ancient cemetery during Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration? Trouble Isla, Lynda L. Lock's second book in her Isla Mujeres Mystery Series, will allow you […]
The author describes a trip to Cadereyta de Montes in Querétaro and its two botanical gardens, the older La Quinta Schmoll, founded in 1920 by biologist Caroline Wagner and her painter husband Ferdinand Schmoll, and the government sponsored Regional Botanic Gardens (Manuel Gonzales de Cosio Regional Botanic Garden), founded in 1990.
Posadas, Pastorelas And Nacimientos. Few North Americans recognize that the roots of these treasured “Christmas” traditions were active long before the birth of Christ. In fact, most evolved from pagan winter solstice rituals of the Celts, Druids, Scandinavians and indigenous groups, and the much older Jewish Festival of Lights. While the most beloved Mexica […]
Rituals and traditions can provide a sense of place and timelessness. They offer us the opportunity of feeling connected to what has gone before and what will continue through the corridors of time. It seems to me that of the three countries in North America, Mexico has developed a culture that has some of the richest and most meaningful rituals. One in part […]
Mexico is a country of colour, diversity, grand differences in geography, climate and perspective. The same is true of her people. From the mysterious origins and fates of her earliest inhabitants; the current indigenous peoples; to the history and influence of immigrants from Spain and other areas of the world, Mexico has developed an intricate and fascinat […]
A constant fluttering, deafening whirlpool of claws, fangs, fins, tongues and horns bewilder the senses in a frenzied shuttlecock of figures. This is the Mexican art of crafting alebrijes, monsters lovingly formed out of ordinary cardboard. Their grotesque faces and body-parts are delicately sculpted and painted with intricate patterns in a profusion of vibr […]