Make your own altar for the dead

Altar for my mother, Aida Gabilondo

I remember the first time I made an altar for the dead. Zarela had recently opened (it was either the first or second year) and my ex-husband, the father of my children, had just passed away. I ordered marigolds (cempasuchil- the flower for the dead) from the flower market, got black and yellow candles, rounded up some copal incense and the traditional pottery incense burner, and some new pottery bowls to put his favorite chile colorado and lots of sweets he liked to eat. I also got a six-pack of beer of Bud and a bottle of Jim Beam. I put pictures from different times of his life in frames and candy and paper mache skulls and skeletons along with the traditional cut paper or papel picado. To complete the necessary elements I starched and ironed my fanciest white linen embroidered napkins and cloths and got a few religious images and mementos like a basketball, a letter sweater from Valentine High, his diploma for his Master’s degree and a picture of Angie Dickinson (his fantasy lady). Do any of you remember her avocado commercials where she’d say that one slice of avocado had only 19 calories and her tag line was “Would this body lie to you?” And one mustn’t forget the bread.

I made a beautiful altar to celebrate his life and invited Rodrigo’s classmates from Dalton for lunch and a viewing. They freaked! I got a call from the Headmaster to tell me that parents had complained that the children were having nightmares. Of course, if anyone had bothered to explain the tradition to them beforehand that would not have been a problem. But it was something new here in the city and now it’s almost as popular as Frida Kahlo. But I make my altars to honor a person or persons and celebrate their lives. I set them up with utmost respect for the tradition and not for some folkloric, kitschy reason even though the altars do tend to border on kitsch because of the skulls and other toys. Check out my friend Cynthia Weill’s book on Day of the Dead skeletons.

Hidden in the text is an inventory of what you will need but I will enumerate it here as well. I am also putting up pictures of all kinds of altars for you to get some inspiration and I woudl love it if you send me pictures of yours. Some of mine are extremely elaborate like Budd Schulberg’s and Jamie’s which chronicle their entire lives in two big collages but others are very simple.