We invite you to join us for a day of remembering those we love, those we grieve, those who are no longer here in physical form but who live in our hearts and memories.

Inspired by the rich traditions of Mexico, together we will create an offerenda, a visual remembrance of photos and objects connected to those who have died.

Using the gestalt “empty seat” approach, we can have a meeting ‘in spirit’ with anyone we choose. Drawing on the visceral memory within us, and possibly inspired by something beyond us, we will have the opportunity to express, listen, and have a communion with someone we wish to honor.

Telling stories, sharing a meal, writing poems: in these and other ways, we will have time to face what is gone, feel what remains, and touch more deeply into the mystery called life and death. In the process, we can honor and nourish our own spirit as well.

Workshop Hours:
Friday 7:30pm to 10:30pm
Saturday 10:30am to 6:30pm
Doors will open 30 minutes prior to starting time each day. Please plan to arrive early to get settled.

To register, send an email with your name, address, and cell phone number to registration@tribalground.org. To pay now, please use the PayPal button below, or pay by check at the event. Upon registration, participants will receive information about items to bring for the offerenda and our remembrance meal on Saturday.

In Mexico, the Day of the Dead is thought to be the time when the ghosts of ancestors return from their graves. Unlike the American Halloween where the tradition is to be frightened of the spirits, Mexicans welcome them with open arms. A celebration is held over several days with November 1 and 2 the most significant times.

A proper welcome for the spirits includes the construction of an elaborate altar called an offerenda, created to honor deceased relatives and friends. The altar is decorated with photographs of the departed, candles, flowers, liquor and money. Poems are written to honor the dead and there may be an all night party in the graveyard with music and dancing.

Long ago, the Celtic New Year also celebrated a similar sense that the veil between the physical and spirit world was more permeable at this time of year. Villagers would extinguish their hearth fires and come to a communal bonfire (originally bone fire) to make offerings. A coal from this central fire was then used to reignite each family fire, acknowledging that life is extinguished and then rekindled from a shared source.