ben's interweb

Saturday is 2nd November this year, when the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead comes to its zenith...
...I went back to what Morelia wrote for us two years ago, to remember how it works in Mexico:

Making an altar is mostly heavy work, you often do it with lots of family. Women in my family start setting it up around 27 of October, and they lift it up after the 2nd of November. It has to do with many many traditions; like, on the 27 dead pets come back to earth, on the 28 you light the first candle to welcome lonely, those who don't have a family who set up an altar for them anymore, on the 29 you place a glass of water for those who died in abandonment, on the 30 you place a loaf of bread for those who died hungry or in some sort of accident, on the 31 you place fruit for the dead one's dead (great-grandfathers etc), on November 1st, the dead children come back to play, and you set up candy and toys for them, and on the 2nd everyone else arrives. The next day, on the 3rd, you burn off the inciense and pick up the stuff and while you do this you say your goodbyes, ask them to come back next year. It's intricate, I know, but the good news is that you don't have to do ALL of this. I just wanted to let you know about the tradition and how we can adapt it.

And we have adapted: although I try to keep up with the traditional days running up to 2nd November (pets, the lonely, the abandoned, victims of accidents, the more distant ancestors, children) my focus is on the day that Ben may come and join the party: this year on the Saturday before St Just Feast.
We will go to the Burial Ground with pasties, drinks, music and Malboro Red at noon, and be there at his grave, so he can join in.  And then we will come back to carry the party on around the ofrenda at Phoenix Barn...

Jenny also has a lovely ofrenda for her family...including Ben:












[Ed: Here are some pictures from our Day of the Dead, along with Morelia's ofrenda....]


¡Que haya luz! Kerenza ha yeghes da! Dad/Grandpa/Andrew x