In Oaxaca, a woman carries flowers to the market. Flowers have been essential in Mexico since ancient times. The symbolic meaning of flowers was prominent in ancient Mesoamerican thought and ideology. Flowers can represent anything from beauty and creation to death and destruction. The ancient Maya were known for their love of flowers. Their decorative use remains memorialized on ceramics depicting the headdresses and thrones of Maya rulers. Concubines of great nobles paraded about the streets wearing garlands of flowers. Lords relaxed, surrounded by flowers. The Aztecs believed their ancestors needed the scent of a flower to find their way back to them. Even now, the Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos), is a holiday that reunites the living and the dead. During the Day of the Dead, the creation of altars containing flowers and their fragrance continues as a family ceremony, inviting their departed loved ones to visit.