Are we trying to communicate with the dead?

Yes, and no.

There are two aspects to altar making on el Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). The first is to communicate with those that are no longer physically with us. I don't see how this is any different from people going to visit the graves of their dearly departed. It isn't about witchcraft, it is about having an eternal dialogue with those that we love.

The second aspect is the connection it provides us to the world at large and to our place in the after-life. By building an altar we are acknowledging that we go on and that not being physically present isn't the same as being gone.

A Dia de los Muertos altar is meant to honor the memory of someone who touched your life. This can be anyone from the family pet to Mother Teresa. Anyone who had a positive impact on your life can be the subject of your Day of the Dead altar.

People also make altars to show their support for others. I have seen Dia de los Muertos altars made to those who have died due to AIDS related illnesses, to those lost in the World Trade Towers attack and the students at Columbine.

There are people who believe that those building an altar are trying to raise the dead. This can't be farther from the truth, because the belief is that the dead are never really gone, so raising them would be redundant. There is nothing demonic about building a Dia de los Muertos altar.

A Dia de los Muertos altar can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. The purpose of an altar is remembrance, with that in mind feel free to do what you think your honoree would enjoy. While we have included a few guidelines, these are by no means rules to live by. They are a starting place, where you end up is completely up to you.

Some people take up entire corners of their homes with Day of the Dead altars, others use a simple end table dressed up with fabric and other items. The point is, size doesn't really matter, what matters is the heart you put into it.

Altars should include:

a picture of the one being remembered
items they were found of
something to snack on
candles
flowers
gifts

Altars could include:

pictures of saints or religious icons
toy skeletons, skulls or bones
sugar skulls (recipe from Angela at mexicansugarskull.com )
books
tequila, or their favorite drink and a glass
soap, water & a small towel (because being dead can be messy)

When our dog, Lili, died I knew that I wanted to make an altar for her, I had kept it in the back of my mind and let it simmer there. Chris has found this old artillery box at a garage sale and at the time I told him it was a waste of money - since he didn't know what he was going to do with it. While I was rummaging through the garage looking for a hammer, I saw the box and realized that it would make the perfect altar. I told Chris and he agreed - he still didn't have any plans for it so I might as well use it.

I painted the inside of it orange and painted some small shelves red. Chris installed the shelves for me and then I added gold accents and hot glued some orange glass beeds to the inside the box.

Then I gathered her things together. I bought her a new food bowl and filled it with her favorite treats, I put her favorite toys and a candle. Chris found some weeds that reminded him of her tail so we put those on one of the shelves along with some pictures of her. I put a couple of marigold plants in the corner of the altar, Chris added a hook to the door so we could hang her leash and on the center shelf we the urn with her ashes.

I set it on our table and surrounded it with the condolence cards that came from friends and family. It is still up and running and I am trying to decide which wall to hang it on permanently. Even though we created it for her, I don't think she will mind sharing it with our other family members when the time comes.

If you're me - you don't. As some of you may know Chris and I made an altar for our dog that died of a tumor on her spine. It is the first time we ever made a day of the dead altar and it was a good experience for both of us. Someone asked me when was the right time to take the altar down.

Well, Chris and I are making our altar to Lili part of the house. It is going to be on permament display on one of the walls in our house. We haven't decided which one yet, but it will up for a while. Chris and I also decided that while it was created for Lili, she wouldn't mind sharing the space with other members of our family who are no longer with us. Our altar will evolve into something even more meaningful for both Chris and I.

When do you take your altar down?

My answer - whenever you feel like it.