Make an altar for the people you know who have died this past year.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Try this at home: Make an altar for the people you know who died this past year. Because of all the covid deaths during the last year, no doubt a number of you will get some peace from making an altar and doing a ritual. Every year at this time, the are two holidays from two different cultures, the Mexican Day of the Dead and the Irish Samhain, which we now call Halloween. I have always thought it was fascinating that these two different cultures chose the same day of the year to celebrate this tradition. Two cultures who had no ancient history together. The spiritual traditions behind these holidays is simple, yet powerful. We set up a table on which we place photos and things that remind us of those people we knew who died this year, what we appreciated about them and why they were important in our life. In the Mexican tradition, a plate of their favorite food is placed on the table. In the Irish tradition it is called the dumb supper, where a plate of food is placed on the same table where the family is having dinner. In both traditions, stories are told about those people, and if they had favorite songs or music, that is sung or played. Both traditions offer the loved one a last meal of their favorite food and drink and the remembrance of their friends and family wishing them well on their journey into the next world. Your altar can include a pet that died this year. Your altar can also include some person who you did not know personally, but whose work influenced you. I have seen altars for Dr. Seuss, Selena, and the Twin Towers of 9/11. I remember when some of my favorite authors like Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut and Raymond Buckland died. That makes sense because our favorite authors, artists, actors, musicians, athletes and other cultural stars were a part of our life through their work and our favorites often are significant influences on us. You can also make an altar for someone who died a long time ago, who you would like to do a memorial for. I know that this is a powerful simple ritual we can do to honor those we knew. Doing so provides us a powerful life lesson about what and who we really value. You can find more special offers on my website https://www.magicalawakenings.com