ofrenda
Ancestor remembrance display
An ofrenda is a home altar constructed during the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration to honor deceased loved ones.
The display typically includes photographs of the dead, marigolds, candles, favorite foods, and meaningful objects meant to welcome returning spirits.
She spent hours arranging her grandmother's ofrenda with fresh pan de muerto and marigolds.
Sacred ritual table
- shrineSacred devotional place
- marigoldsPungent orange garden flowers
- candlesWax lights with wicks
- photographsLight-captured images
cross · incense · copal · tablecloth · levels · tiers · arch · petals
Consumable nourishment source
- moleSubterranean insectivore
- tamalesFilled masa, steamed wrapped
- fruitEdible plant ovary
- atoleSweetened masa beverage
chocolate · mezcal · tequila · cigarettes · toys · possessions · favorite foods · agua fresca
Mexican festival for ancestors
- Day of the DeadMexican festival for deceased
- NovemberEleventh month
- All SaintsFeast for beatified collectively
- All SoulsFeast honoring the dead
Aztec · Mesoamerican · Mexican · festival · cemetery · gravesite · vigil · procession
Those from whom one descends
- deceasedNo longer living
- departedHaving left
- loved onesCherished people in life
- memoryMind's retention capacity
photographs · portraits · spirits · souls · return · visitation · connection · lineage
altar
Sacred ritual table
photographs · cross · incense · copal · tablecloth · levels · tiers · arch · petals · votive
food
Consumable nourishment source
atole · chocolate · mezcal · tequila · cigarettes · toys · possessions · favorite foods · agua fresca · candy
Día de los Muertos
Mexican festival for ancestors
- Day of the DeadMexican festival for deceased
- NovemberEleventh month
- All SaintsFeast for beatified collectively
All Souls · Aztec · Mesoamerican · Mexican · festival · cemetery · gravesite · vigil · procession · celebration
ancestors
Those from whom one descends
- deceasedNo longer living
- departedHaving left
- loved onesCherished people in life
memory · photographs · portraits · spirits · souls · return · visitation · connection · lineage · family
journey
Travel from place to place
- underworldRealm of the departed
- spiritsLiquor or apparitions
- soulsImmaterial human essences
guidance · passage · blessing · prayers · rosary · faith · belief · sacred · eternal · transcendence
- Latin American culturetango, samba, cumbia, mariachi, ceviche
- Dia de los Muertoscalavera, sugar skull, sugar skulls, marigolds, La Catrina
- altarshigh altar, stone altar, church altar, altar stone, altar steps
- death artmemento mori, vanitas, danse macabre, dance of death, skull art
- home shrineshome altar, family altar, household altar, mandir, sacred space
- Latin craftsserapes, serape, sugar skulls, tinwork, gourd carving
ofrendaforgetting
Failing to retain memories
abandonment · erasure · amnesia · desecration · unmarked grave
offer, offering, offered, offerings, offerer, offeror, offertory