ALTARS AND RITUAL PERFORMANCE
-Luz del Castillo

Luz del Castillo leading a ritual (photo by Patricia Couto)

ALTARS
Ephemeral, intangible and interactive in nature, the altar is an essential ingredient in Mexican culture and heritage. During the Muertos celebration, the departed return to be honored with a sensory feast, altars and tombstones, bursting with color, aroma and flavor.

The penetrating smoke of the resiny, incense called copal purifies the air and prepares the home to receive the family and friends who have passed on. Brilliantly, colored "papel picado", (paper cutouts of ironic images of La Muerte,) hang like banners or act as altar cloths. Long flames flicker from the tall, white tapers. Fragrant flowers, golden marigolds, baby's breath and the velvety, burgundy terciopelo flower surround the photos of the departed. Skull candies, characteristic of this holiday, as well as the deceased's favorite foods, drink, cigarettes and or toys are laid out on the altar. Often an arch adorns the altar, made of palm leaves, marigolds and garlanded with hanging fruit and the special pan de Muertos, (pastry for the dead.)

As part of this year's course, we created two altars, incorporating these elements. My daughter and I, with the help of some of willing students, created the mandala altar for the opening ritual. It was approximately four feet in diameter and based on the mandala design, centered around a large white grinning sugar skull, surrounded by concentric circles of different colored maize, and amaranth candy skulls. Votive candles were placed in the four directions. Flowers, principally marigolds formed the outer circle. Assembled on the ground, at the foot of the entry way in a flat open area, the colorful mandala with the smiling skull greeted all arriving participants.

Then on October 31st, I facilitated the creation of a truly collective ofrenda, a wonderful, challenge and meeting of artistic minds, hearts and ideas. A conch was blown signaling the beginning of the altar making, followed by brief ritual circle including a purification with copal, silence, an invocation and an explanation of the task ahead of us. We then constructed a multi-level altar with the materials at hand, (a coffee table and file boxes), of course all well hidden under the decorative papel picado.

"Cultural Heroes" was our theme. A 30 pound grinning sugar skull sat in front of a large sepia print of Emiliano Zapata, to form our center and principal figures. A somewhat smaller sepia print of Adelita, the feminine Mexican Revolutionary archetype sat to one side of them. A large wooden jaguar mask, sat on a lower level, the jaguar representing the power and beauty of the Mexican jungles and the threat and destruction they continue facing in light of the globalization phenomena.

And finally on the floor stood a sculpted figure of a "viejito" (little old man) from "the dance of the little old men" from the state of Michoacán, symbolizing the tradition of dance as a celebration of life.

The room was filled with a celebratory buzz as the participants worked collectively to build the ofrenda. Laughing, sharing altar goodies, debating, and seeking artistic balance, they strategically arranged the multitude of colorful elements that comprised this special altar. Some sprinkled maize and marigold petals around the images while others taped remaining papel picado to the walls. Others added indigo blue bottles of Tequila, pulque, baskets of candy, fruit, pan de Muertos, candles, and traditional Mexican toys.

Completing this first phase, each participant then lit a small white votive and added it to the altar with a silent prayer. We then formed a semi circle around our altar, held hands in silence and just observed…our collective ofrenda, a colorful and festive union of sacred elements, of hearts and minds, and the spirits of our collective cultural heroes.

This was followed by a ritual dance and celebration I call "Danza Indigo", for body mind and spirit. Danza Indigo is a combination of yoga stretches, third eye practices and African-rooted dance, a wonderfully energetic and sensual celebration of our oneness as a human family. As Carlos Santana says, "Alegría es la mas sagrada!"

RITUAL PERFORMANCE
Ritual, ritual performance, and ritual dance theatre act as a door from the mundane to the mythological. They are an awakening and at best, an embodiment of the sacred archetypes of our collective heritage, conceived for the purposes of healing and change, personal, socio-ecological, political and spiritual. They are a potential for a union of hearts, minds, and spirits, and in my vision, a celebration and affirmation of life.

As an eclectic creature from the 60's from generations of Indigos, a California Chicana of mixed blood, I embrace a multitude of traditions and passions, ever risking and following the deepest callings of my heart. I am a ritual facilitator, a devotee of La Virgen de Guadalupe and a daughter of Ochún, with a yoga and Zen meditation practice; I am a mother, dancer, writer, healer, and ritual-dance-theatre creator and director.

The rituals realized within the context of this conference included a brief opening ceremony, which I co-facilitated with curandera Rosa Maria Hidalgo. We opened the circle around the mandala altar. There was a welcome, a centering through shared silence, a ritual smudging by Rosa Maria and the music and chants of Banderlux. I followed this with the chant to Eleguá, Orisha* of the crossroads, principal warrior who opens and closes all doors, opens and closes all ceremonies and guardian through the threshold of life and death.
*sacred archetype of the Yoruba pantheon.