I wanted to talk to you about the Day of the Dead because it has become popular worldwide. It’s a Mexican tradition from my birth country and a beautiful ritual, but I wanted to give you a bit of a cultural and spiritual perspective.

I find this a beautiful celebration because I think it is essential to talk about death and acknowledge this part of the cycle of life. And we do live in a culture that is afraid of death and dying and aging.

We live in a culture where we revere youth and are constantly trying to find ways to extend our lives, which is great. Nobody wants to die, right? It’s the elephant in the room. But the truth is that we are all going to die. And that’s something that we need to face, accept, and celebrate.

Death doesn’t have to be scary or full of suffering; it can be done in a way that is full of dignity, love, ease, and peace.

When do you celebrate the Day of the Dead?

In Mexico, we celebrate November’s first and second days every year. On the Day of the Dead, Dia de Muertos, people go to graveyards or create altars to remember family members, loved ones, and animals who have passed and transitioned.

It’s a beautiful opportunity to remember the beautiful lives and gifts these beings have left us. So that’s part of it. The other part that’s not very well known or spoken about is that the Day of the Dead, this celebration, is considered a ceremony of light.

What is a ceremony of light?

It is a time to remember our loved ones and celebrate their lives. 

A ceremony of light is a ritual. It’s a Mexican shamanic ritual in which we give light. We give light to souls in transition, to souls stuck in their transition. So, it’s not so much about us as it is about what we can do for those who have passed.

Because everything is reciprocity, it benefits us. The first time I did something like this, it gave me a lot of peace because I saw this person leaving with an angel. I saw this person going in, in its transition. So I knew that there was more.

I had the tangible experience that we are more than just physical bodies. And so this is the invitation: maybe you don’t believe in any of this, but just take it with a grain of salt, be curious, and be open. And do the ritual for you to have the experience and see how that feels for you because I can tell you many, many things, but until you don’t experience it yourself, you won’t have an embodied experience or belief.

What happens to the soul during the process of transition?

This is with the understanding that reincarnation exists in Buddhism. For example, when a person dies, they have rituals for, I think, 40 days where they stay with the body because they have this understanding that the soul is still in transition. So the body is physically dead, but the soul needs to go through different dimensions called bardos.

These bardos are different dimensions of purification. So, basically, our soul has to go through a therapeutic process in the spiritual dimensions to be able to liberate and return to the creator. That’s the ultimate: to liberate, to return to the source. And if we don’t finish our purification process, karma still needs to be realized and completed.

We reincarnate into another body and come back to finish what we didn’t finish. When we die, we have a fantastic opportunity to liberate. And we can help those who have passed liberated through practices like this, the ceremony of light.

How do you set up for the ceremony of light? 

The idea is to create an altar, so you have to make an altar. The altars are special and spectacular if you research the Day of the Dead in Mexico. They have so many flowers, skulls, and geometric figures, and it’s just beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

They use this orange flower. This flower is very aromatic. When you’re there, it’s very aromatic. This is important because the spiritual realms in our realm connect through smell. So, smell is one of those energies that can move through the different dimensions of reality’s creation.

By bringing aromatic things, we can connect to the spiritual dimensions.

So having aromatic flowers is very, very important. Also, incense—having incense—you know, that also creates a connection to the spiritual realms.

How do you set up an altar?

So, you find a place where your altar will not be disturbed. You have to find a place where it’s not going to be touched by children or pets, where it’s going to be under and not disturbed. And so you choose what loved one you want to help give light to. It could be a grandparent or a pet, and you choose whoever you’re, you’re, you’re grieving.

You create this altar for this being and bring elements that remind you of this person.

So if it’s your grandfather, maybe he drank whiskey or smoked cigars, or you put his watch and a photograph of him. So, things that remind you and things that they liked.

Because we’ll call that soul to come and receive the light of your altar, it has to be something they like. So, you create your altar and bring one big candle of light, a big one, and a tea light. That will represent that person, so if you want to work with a pet and a couple of persons, a tea light for each individual you wish to give light to.

What does the light represent? 

A candle represents the light of that person or the source of the divine, of God, of the universe.

You could call in a deity like Ganesh or Lakshmi or Lalita or Green Tara, someone you are connected to, to bring the blessings of the deity, of the divinity, of the highest source you can connect to.

What are the objects to include on the altar? 

You put your candle, flowers, incense, food, chocolate, and any other objects of significance. Then you pray and call in the highest source of light, creation, creator, Green Tara, Lalita, those higher manifestations of the divine.

So, everything on your altar is filled with light, with this divine light. Then, with your prayer and intention, you light the tea light and declare it for that specific person.

How do you express an intention? 

You put your tea light on, call in your grandfather or your pet, and allow yourself to express anything you haven’t been able to—everything you’ve been holding onto.

Maybe it’s some regrets, hurts, or joy—whatever you could not express to that person before they passed.

And this is where we complete the process for ourselves to let them go. Because this happens a lot, these souls are ready to let go, but because we’re attached to them, we keep an energetic core because of our love and resentment.

We need to help them move forward in the purification process.

So you, by allowing yourself to speak to the soul as if the soul is there and say anything, everything that you’ve wanted to say, and then you declare, and you tell, and you tell the soul, please take all the light that you need.

How do you complete the ceremony? 

When that candle finishes, that all goes into the light. And so you can stay there as long as you want, and then you can leave it, and you ask that this altar is protected by the divine light, by God’s source creator, that this is only for those souls you’ve called in.

Later, when everything is finished, you’ll take some of that and put it outside as an offering for others—other souls that want to receive light. But for now, clarify that that altar is only for those you’re calling in. You can also put salt around your altar to create that protection.

Don’t blow the candle; allow it to be consumed. Now, if you sense that the soul is still there, that needs some help. What you do is from your heart, from your love, from your humility, and your reverence for the Source God. You ask an angel to descend and guide this soul to the Source Creator.

And then, when everything’s done, you grab everything, create a little plate of offerings of the food, drink, whatever is there, and put it outside.

You’ve created a lot of light in that altar, so now you can offer that to other beings, souls, and nature spirits, and you release the rest into nature, into a river, or something like that.

So that’s the ceremony of light. I pray that this practice brings resolution into your grieving process, gives you peace, helps the souls that need light to receive light so that they continue their transition back into the source creator, and helps to liberate all sentient beings and all creation from our love, from our hearts, from our devotion, and through the grace of source.