{"id":10987,"date":"2019-10-26T20:26:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T02:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10987"},"modified":"2019-10-26T20:26:17","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T02:26:17","slug":"building-an-altar-to-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10987","title":{"rendered":"Building an Altar to the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Own Altar This D\u00eda de Muertos<\/a>,” from the Remezcla<\/em> (” the most influential media brand for Latino Millennials”) website.<\/p>\n

Rooted in pre-Hispanic traditions and mixed with elements of Christianity, the ofrendas \u2013 which can consist of several levels, depending on space \u2013 are a place of gathering. Not only do they unite the living and the dead, they\u2019re also a space to share stories. Each family member contributes by talking about their history.<\/p>\n

You can build ofrendas, which include items that reveal a little into the person you\u2019re celebrating, anywhere within your home. Centered around the photos of a loved one, ofrendas typically commemorate those you knew personally. But it\u2019s not rare to see ofrendas honoring celebrities, especially those we feel we know firsthand.<\/p>\n

The beauty of these altars is they can take any shape and are highly customizable. But they should represent the four elements: fire (candles), wind (papel picado), earth (food), and water. While no two ofrendas are alike, here is a eight-step guide to get you started.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I published a similar set of instructions earlier along with some reflections.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

And after that, La profesora <\/em>became upset that students were doing it wrong \u2014 in other words, they were being too much multicultural<\/em> with their altars to celebrities, etc., and so the campus-wide altar building in the Student Center was stopped, while only one “correct” altar was erected in a showcase in one classroom building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Own Altar This D\u00eda de Muertos,” from the Remezcla (” the most influential media brand for Latino Millennials”) website. Rooted in pre-Hispanic traditions and mixed with elements of Christianity, the ofrendas \u2013 which can consist of several levels, depending on space \u2013 are a place of gathering. Not only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[23,350],"class_list":["post-10987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-colorado","tag-dia-de-los-muertos"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-2Rd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3354,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3354","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":0},"title":"Quick Day of the Dead Instructions\u2014And How Things Change","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Monday a notice popped up in my university email: It's time to build an altar for the Day of the Dead. (And do it in the correct, traditional manner!) Several professors of Spanish have organized an altar-building event in the student center for a number of years now. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":946,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=946","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":1},"title":"Altars at the Student Center","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"As promised, three of today's altars at the state university erected for the Day of the Dead (D\u00eda de los muertos).An altar to Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula, from the history and art clubs. Club members admitted that it was a bit short on Roumanian content. One girl\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Day of the Dead\"","block_context":{"text":"Day of the Dead","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=day-of-the-dead"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10996,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10996","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":2},"title":"That Altar Needs More Skulls","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"People have been stacking up skulls in what is now Mexico City since the Aztecs ruled it. I just wonder at the timing of this particular raid in late October . . . MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Police found more than 40 skulls, dozens of bones and a fetus in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"D\u00eda de los muertos\"","block_context":{"text":"D\u00eda de los muertos","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=dia-de-los-muertos"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/narco-altar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/narco-altar.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/narco-altar.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/narco-altar.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/narco-altar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/narco-altar.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":544,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=544","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":3},"title":"The altar of the .\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The altar of the . . . intramural volleyball league?Depending on your persuasion, the following announcement indicates the Paganization of an American university, a celebration of \"diversity,\" a violation of the separation of church [Aztec temple?] and state, \"multiculturalism\" run amok, or good clean fun.The student activities board at a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":554,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=554","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":4},"title":"The altar of the RomanticsABOVE:\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 3, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The altar of the RomanticsABOVE: An altar for dead military service members, erected by the Social Work Club.BELOW: The altar of the English Club, featuring Rudyard Kipling (I think), Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen and ... one of the Brontes?I was wrong in my earlier prediction. A couple of the non-traditional\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7566,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7566","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":5},"title":"Three Items about the Dead","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Whose Bones Are Those? The Halloween news rush brought item about a new unit established at an Oxford college to perform cross-disciplinary investigations of religious relics In what is thought to be the first research body of its type in the world, the unit, based in Keble College, will bring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"archaeology\"","block_context":{"text":"archaeology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=archaeology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/f\/f5\/Copal_Madagascar.jpg\/800px-Copal_Madagascar.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10987"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10992,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10987\/revisions\/10992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}