Community Celebration
November 5th: Altar building starts at 9am, Event at 6pm
We invite families and organizations to make your very own Day of the Dead altar to celebrate and remember the life of your deceased, loved one.
Bring for your altar: a photo of your deceased loved one, flowers, candles, cinnamon, chocolate, incense, and some of your loved ones’ favorite things.
To share: a poem, song, or dance
Event details:
6x6ft space for altar building
Community fire offering
Outdoor activities: traditional Aztec honoring dances, meditation circle, sharing of community art
Learn more about the use of Altars for the Day of the Dead:
The “altar” which is erected for the Day of the Dead in many Mexican homes, represents a special recognition of the departed. It is a way that the deceased are honored by creating an altar in which the oferendas —- colorful ornaments, objects of the decreased, preferred food, and flowers —- are placed. Glasses of water and plates with salt are also placed on the altar to quench the thirst of the dead and to season the food as he/she would have liked it.
While zempaxochitl (marigolds) are generally regarded to be the flowers of the dead, white flowers are used for children and yellow flowers are used for adults. These are placed along with the pictures of the departed — white candles for children and other colors for adults. Food such as mole con arroz, or mole with rice, sopa de calabaza, squash soup, or whatever the favorite dish of the departed was are cooked and placed on the altar in the best dishes of the house. The pan de muertos — the bread of the dead, a bread made form eggs and flowers, covered with dried fruits and with cross bones signifying death, are placed on the altar as well. Eating the bread with hot chocolate or champurrado (atole gruel) is part of the menu. Within this medium of food, little sugar skulls with the names of the departed, or even those who are alive, are placed to remind us of our mortality and recognition of its presence.
The intent is to make the altar a welcoming place where the objects, food, and cherished pictures of the departed beckon their spirits to partake in the world of the living.
The altar is decorated with papel picado cut-outs made out of china paper and the arbol de la vida o de la muerte, “the tree of life or death” a rudimentary clay figure depicting the beginning or end of life through symobls such as Adam and Eve, snakes, animals and angels. Copal is burnt in the urns made of black Oaxacan clay and incense is lit to give off its aromatic smells. Favorite clothing, hats, shirts are also placed and the food which the departed loved is cooked and presented in beautiful dishes. The area around the altar is spread with corn seeds, petals from flowers in helping the spirit find its way. The entry ways of the house are also strewn with marigolds as paths to be followed. Chairs are set up welcoming the dead to sit for a spell. Enactments of conversations between the living and the dead can be heart from outside the homes.
The prayers and conversations continue throughout the night, centered around the altars. Even those spirits who have lost their way, or have no relatives to remember them are part of this special and symbolic ritual as they too, are invited to receive the benefits of their souls and prayers and remembrances of the living.
