Mayan traditions and legends define Janal Pixán in Yucatán

In the Yucatán Peninsula, the celebration of Janal Pixán, or ‘food for the souls,’ maintains deep connections between the living and the deceased through ancestral traditions and folklore.

In the Mayan community of Pomuch, Campeche, families perform the Cho’o Ba’ak ritual, known as the cleaning of the holy remains. This practice involves exhuming remains after several years to clean the bones with brushes, allowing families to speak to the deceased and provide them with water, flowers, and candles. While recognized as state cultural heritage since 2017, authorities like the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) emphasize that the ritual's core is family intimacy rather than tourism.

Parallel to these rituals, regional folklore preserves legends that define the spiritual landscape of Yucatán. These include the Xtabay, a supernatural woman said to lure men into the woods, and the Huay Chivo, a shapeshifting sorcerer described as a red-eyed goat that haunts rural areas.