The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday with roots in both Aztec and Spanish religious traditions. The essence of this feast is the invitation to join with both the dead and the living in a celebration of the interconnectedness of all life. We come to understand death, not as an enemy but as a natural part of life, an intimate. We are reminded that life is fragile and that death comes for us all.
As we gather together this year 2020, we remember all those that have passed away and we fuse the past with the present and the future in an eternal love song. We dedicate our efforts today towards tenderness & love & remembrance and any & all expressions of that from sources around the world.
May this ceremony lead to greater consciousness.
Part One: Preparations
Building our Altar
Gather symbols of impermanence such as fresh and dried flowers, particularly marigolds, decorative colorful paper banners, food, fruit, some short lived taper candles & votives, a bowl of water, salt, sugar skulls, an image of a dog and images of saints. (Photos & mementos of our deceased loved ones are placed on the altar during the ceremony.)
Use a beautiful table cloth, white or colorful.
Altar can be flat or built with 2- 7 tiers symbolically. Create a trail of marigold petals & vigil lights from outside the house to the altar to attract the Souls we wish to honor. Often the trail is laid out from a real or symbolic cemetery or “a portal”.
Part Two: Our Ceremony
Participants gather & find a seat.
Hostess rings a Bell, Leads us through several minutes of silence, Rings a bell, dims the lights & directs someone to light all the candles.
She opens the door and invites the Souls in, saying something like:
Spirits of our former days.
We invite you to our altar.
Grace us with your essence & wisdom.
Accept what we offer for your remembrance.
Then each of those present talks with and about their loved one. Once finished, each participant then places their photos, mementos and something their Beloved loved up on the altar. When she sits down, the group reads in unison:
WE PRAY FOR ———– AND BLESS HIS/ HER/ THEIR REMEMBRANCE AMONG US.
(This reading is done after every remembrance.)
Once everyone has shared and decorated the altar with mementos, then the group reads aloud in unison:
A Litany of Remembrance (Poem by Rabbi Sylvan Kamens and Rabbi Jack Riemer)
In the rising of the sun and in its going down, we remember them.
In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter,
we remember them.
In the opening of buds and in the rebirth of spring,
we remember them.
In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer,
we remember them.
In the rustling of leaves and in the beauty of autumn,
we remember them.
In the beginning of the year and when it ends,
we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength,
we remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart,
we remember them.
When we have joys we yearn to share,
we remember them.
So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us,
as we remember them.
Hostess then rings a-bell, leads us through a few minutes of silence, rings a bell, she asks someone to extinguish most of the candles in the room but to light one by the cemetery or portal. Hostess walks toward the door, opens it, and invites the Souls to return to their realm.
She might say something like this:
Spirits of our former days.
Thank you for gracing us
with your essence & wisdom.
Please now return to your realm & be in peace
knowing you are loved and remembered.
After a short time, Hostess closes the door.
Part Three
COMMUNION FOR THE LIVING
Hostess passes an unbroken loaf of the Day of the Dead Bread on a platter to a person who tears off a chunk & passes the platter on. A
chocolate beverage in separate cups is served to all present. After a few minutes, Hostess invites everyone to read aloud this
closing blessing:
EXALTED AND HALLOWED BE THE GREAT DIVINE NAME,
IN THE WORLD THAT WAS CREATED ACCORDING
TO THE DIVINE WILL.
LET THE NEW CREATION COME
IN OUR LIFETIME AND IN OUR DAYS
AND IN THE LIFE TIME OF THE WHOLE HOUSE
OF CREATION,
SPEEDILY AND SOON.
PRAISE BE THE GREAT DIVINE NAME FROM
ETERNITY TO ETERNITY,
AND TO THIS WE SAY:
Amen.
– adaptation of the Kaddish by Daphne Levy
OR
Dear One, Many-Beautied Many-Bodied One, thank You for these
days. Thank You for the blessings I go among, and for the
blessings that come through me to others, and for the blessings
bestowed upon me. Thank You for the light and the dark, and the
dark in the light and the light in the dark. Thank you for the
coming and the going – the beginning, the continuing, and the
ending. Thank You for the truth and the lie – the joy and the
horror – the wellness and the illness – the closeness and the
distance. Thank You for all the ways You turn Your face toward us
and beckon us toward You, and thank You for all the ways You
turn your back on us and make us long for You. Thank You for all
the ways the teachings come. Many-Beautied Many-Bodied One,
with You all things are possible. Your will be done. Halleluja and
Amen.