Marissa Zebaduaadded a note 8 years ago

Flor de Cempasúchil, Cempaxóchitl, cempoal, flor de muerto /Marigold flower

We do not a sophisticated leavers colors change in Autumn. We do not have those beautiful leaves like North America but we do have a flower that represents our orange season. Yes, it is time to talk about the Marigold flower (Flor de Cempasúchil). ;-)

If you look for its scientific, you would find it as “tagetes erecta” but in Mexican Spanish you will hear the term Flor de muerto (Flower from the dead or flower for the dead) or just the typical name Cempasúchil. It is a wild flower that grows in Mexico State, Morelos State, Puebla State, San Luis Potosí State, Sinaloa State, Tlaxcala State, Oaxaca State, Jalisco State, Veracruz State and of course, my state, Chiapas.

Cempasúchil is a mixture of two náhualt words, “cempohualli” which means twenty and the word Xóchitl which means flower. So, cempōhualxōchitl means twenty flowers. The legend says that people in Malinalco used to decorate their dead people tomb with small yellow flowers (tonalxóchitl) because they believe these flowers kept in their corollas the sun rays. Mexicans got influenced by people in Malinalco but they thought small yellows flowers were too little to honor dead people, so they found a better flower, a flower with 20 petals. :-)

The Cempasúchil flower is used for a lot of mexican flower bouquets. It is also used to add color to chicken and eggs and it has some properties to reduce stomachaches, crams, indigestion, vomit and diarrhea. However, the bigesst importance of this flower is during the first days of November (1st and 2nd) when we celebrate The Day of the Dead.:-)

When I was little I used to love the way the market look full of people selling Cempasúchil flowers and other

flowers that we use for our celebration. It is so colorful! That is our Autumn right there, we get red, purple and yellow flowers for our altars. Normally, the Cempasúchil flower is placed on the floor, our prehispanic belief is that we have to make a road with the flowers, something like the royal carpet sort of way. We even haven a purple-reddish flower that looks like velvet (velvet flower) for this celebration. Anyway, This road full of Cempasúchil flowers is made to “light” or “illuminate” the dead person’s way.

We, Mexicans, are getting ready for the Day of the Dead celebration and most of us are waiting for a few days off from work. Hopefully I can make a good shot from the market flowers next week to share with you guys. I do not find the market as impressive as before, in my memories, flowers literally invaded the market every Day of the Dead. :-)

Have a nice day!