“Ofrenda de Muertos” (Offering for The Day of the Dead) 2014/10/27

The Latin American tradition of building altars dedicated to different pagan deities goes back to the pre-Columbian times, and the meaning was later enriches with the introduction of the Catholic religion.

In fact, until today, aside from visiting cemeteries, families build altars as an offering for the soul of the loved ones who have left this earth.

It is a chance of remembering family and friends on the Day of All Saints and to get close to the concepts of life and dead as natural events, from a human and religious point of view.

According to tradition, souls come back to the earth the first and second of November to visit us. But there must not be fear at all, but prepare to receive them with humility and respect in a joyful, creative and even fun way. A destined spot is arranged for placing the “ofrenda”, which can be in private or in public (at home, school, office), with elements filled with symbology.

Made in three levels, the altar represent earth and heaven; made of three stairs symbolizing the trinity or the earth, purgatory and heaven; in stead, in seven levels it represents the different phases the spirit has to go through to reach peace, or the seven deadly sins.

The altar is built with elements that characterize the fall period, included the orange flowers (cempasuchil) or its petals, to show the souls the way to the “ofrenda” (offering), seasonal fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, water and slat as purification elements. But overall with the image of the loved ones who are no longer here, the grandma, the uncle, the cousin or the friend, and with the foods and objects they loved when they were living. To beautify it, candles are used, paper skeletons (calaveras), religious objects, and colored silk paper, cut in a particular way (papel picado) which has the meaning of air: *here is the tutorial to make it at home.

Delights cannot be missing which includes “pan de muerto” (Day of the Dead bread), a dessert that gives the reminder of bones that shape our body, but it also means the body of Christ, the skulls made with sugar and many other traditional desserts made with milk, chocolate, coconut, amaranth, rice and pumpkin.

The idea is to involve children and adults in the making of the commemorative altar, which can begin on mid-October (the sooner it starts, the more elements can be added each day), especially if you have experienced the dead of a love one recently, this way the altar is build as an homage..

We as a family have mounted a simple two level altar, with portraits of our loved ones placed in beautiful silver frames. Day by day we have added one or more new elements. First we put plants, the book of prayers, the candles and little paper flags. Then the fruit, the food our relatives liked, my grandfather particularly liked chili sauce and beer, that is why they are present. Then we added bread, candies and water, we built the skeleton and colored the paper skulls.

At the same time, we also prepared a place in our hearts and in our memory to welcome the memory of these special people with sweetness and serenity.

Text and photos: Sonia Lopez