{"id":3354,"date":"2011-10-29T12:29:09","date_gmt":"2011-10-29T18:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3354"},"modified":"2011-10-30T13:50:06","modified_gmt":"2011-10-30T19:50:06","slug":"quick-day-of-the-dead-instructions%e2%80%94and-how-things-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3354","title":{"rendered":"Quick Day of the Dead Instructions\u2014And How Things Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

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!)<\/p>\n

Several professors of Spanish have organized an altar-building event in the student center for a number of years now. But the event takes its own directions. In 2007, I photographed student-made altars to American war dead, to Victorian British writers, and even an altar to Vlad the Impaler.<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2008, Wendy Griffin<\/a> of California State University-Long Beach and I presented at the American Academy of Religion about D\u00eda de los muertos<\/em> celebrations at our two universities. I was taken by the sneaky Paganizatioon of the event:<\/p>\n

Since the instructions pushed a particular cosmology and an attitude towards the dead, I (Chas) wondered, having taught classes in American religion, if the altar-building could be construed as a classic church-state issue. After all, this was a state-supported university providing very explicit directions on how to perform a ritual\u2014not that anyone followed them precisely! (Incense-burning in the student center probably violates some regulation.) At this point, I approached my colleague, the Mexican-born, Los Angeles-raised professor of Spanish who sponsors the event. \u201cIt sounds like tax-supported Paganism to me,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no,\u201d she replied, \u201cIt\u2019s cultural.<\/em>\u201d And she resumed laying marigolds on her altar to Frida Kahlo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am putting the instructions for the traditional altar below. But I think that I will stop by the Student Center with my camera to see what the American students have done with instructions from an Ecuadorian professor about how to celebrate a Catholic-Aztec Mexican holiday.<\/p>\n

Traditions, they are always changing.<\/p>\n

*****<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The most important thing\u00a0to place on your Day of the Dead altar is a photograph of the person(s) to whom you are dedicating the altar.<\/span>
\n \"\"\"\"The three tier altar is covered in papel picado<\/em> – which is bright colored tissue paper with cut out designs. The paper can be either handmade or purchased.\u00a0 Three important colors are purple (for pain) white (for hope) and pink (for the celebration).<\/span>
\n \"\"\"\"Candles are also placed all over the altar.\u00a0 Purple candles again are used to signify pain. On the top level of the altar, four candles need to be placed – signifying the four cardinal points. The light of the candle will illuminate the way for the dead upon their return.<\/span>
\n \"\"\"\"Three candy skulls are placed on the second level.\u00a0 These represent the Holy Trinity. On the center of the third level a large skull is placed – this represents the Giver of Life.<\/span>
\n All bad spirits must be whisked away and leave a clear path for the dead soul by burning in a bracero, <\/em>a small burner used to cook outside.\u00a0 Or you can use a sahumerio<\/em> to burn copal <\/em>or incense.\u00a0 A small cross of ash is made so that the ghost will expel all its guilt when it is stepped on.<\/span>
\n \"\"\"\"The Day of the Dead bread, pan de muerto,<\/em> should be accompanied by fruit and candy placed on the altar.\u00a0 The pan de <\/em>muerto<\/em> is plain round sweet bread sprinkled with white sugar and a crisscrossed bone shape on top.\u00a0P<\/em>an de muerto<\/em> is available in Mexican food stores and bakeries in Pueblo. You can also add the person’s favorite food.<\/span>
\n \"\"\"\"A towel, soap and small bowl are put on the altar so that the returning souls can wash their hands after their long trip. There is a pitcher of fresh water to quench their thirst and a bottle of liquor to remember the good times of their life.<\/span>
\n \"\"\"\"To decorate and leave a fragrance on the altar, the traditional cempasuchil <\/em>flower is placed around the other figures.\u00a0 Cempasuchil<\/em> comes from Nahuatl<\/em> cempoalxochitl<\/em>, that means the flower with four hundred lives.\u00a0 The flower petals form a path for the spirits to bring them to their banquette.<\/span><\/p>\n

*The following websites will assist you with ideas as you prepare your altars*<\/span>
\n http:\/\/www.diademuertos.net\/<\/span>
\n http:\/\/fwww.ladayofthedead.com%2fhistory.html<\/span>
\n http:\/\/www.ladayofthedead.com\/history.html<\/span>
\n http:\/\/www.dayofthedead.com\/<\/span><\/p>\n

Altar decorations and materials are the property of those setting up the altar, any damage done to the altar during setup, the celebration, or at take down is the responsibility of the entrants and not the responsibility of the Dia De Los Muertos committee or CSU-Pueblo.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 the event takes its own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,23,66,41,69],"class_list":["post-3354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-religion","tag-colorado","tag-halloween","tag-mexico","tag-samhain"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-S6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":544,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=544","url_meta":{"origin":3354,"position":0},"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":3391,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3391","url_meta":{"origin":3354,"position":1},"title":"The Campus Day of the Dead, 2011","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As planned,\u00a0 I stopped by the Student Center on Wednesday to check out the Day of the Dead altars. No Vlad the Impaler altar this year! No altars to firefighters or Victorian writers either. Apparently Chicano Studies conformity was enforced, with Catholic Campus Ministries stepping in as a co-sponsor as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"Day of the Dead altar to Marilyn Monroe, CSU-Pueblo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/MarilynMonroeAltar_sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=758","url_meta":{"origin":3354,"position":2},"title":"Creeping syncretic Southwestern Paganism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The instructions from the Student Activities Board were explicit:On the top level of the altar, four candles need to be placed--signifying the four cardinal points. The light of the candle will illuminate the way for the dead upon their return. . . . All bad spirits must be whisked away\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":10987,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10987","url_meta":{"origin":3354,"position":3},"title":"Building an Altar to the Dead","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Dia-de-muertos_Flores_Itzel.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Dia-de-muertos_Flores_Itzel.gif?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Dia-de-muertos_Flores_Itzel.gif?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":554,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=554","url_meta":{"origin":3354,"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":946,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=946","url_meta":{"origin":3354,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354","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=3354"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3362,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354\/revisions\/3362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}