This photo post collects all the images from our Noche De Animas celebrations, from October 27 to November 1. Enjoy!
Our celebrations began with an offering of fire, created with bundles of wood collected during the entire year from our gardening and wildharvesting. In the pic above, you can see bundles of sticks of Rosemary, Basil, Heather, Eucalyptus, Yerbamora, and more. As you can imagine, it makes an extremely fragrant fire.
On a small table besides the fire, we created an altar to offer fresh herbs and scented candles, in front of the stone skull that Fernando carved several years ago. The stone was taken from a sacred area that our Ancestors, the Guanches, believed to be the land of the Dead. In front of the skull, you can see sage sticks, palo santo sticks, and a container with Storax resin, all to be offered to the fire.
Since we have only a roof terrace, we make our fires in a small barbeque – it’s safe, convenient, and perfect for our needs.
In Espiritismo, we prepare for the Noche De Animas exactly as we would for the visit of living family – we clean, we cook, and we make our home as beautiful as we can to let Spritis know how loved they are, and how appreciated their presence is. On Saturday, I made this flower arrangement for the altar, around a strawberry-scented candle that smells just divine. the flame was just dancing so high with joy, I had to take a dozen pics until I got the right one!
Two pounds of chestnuts for our Spirit family – some will be roasted and shared with them on the Noche De Animas, and the rest will be later taken to one of our ritual places outdoors, for the Spirits of the Land. A taste that brings me back to childhood, and to my beloved grandparents, since they are part of every winter tradition in the islands.
The altar, on the morning of the 31st. Apples, cinnamon, chestnuts, and goat milk with honey. Just perfect.
Between the many obligations of the day (besides the extra ritual, I had a regular work day too), we managed to make a midday escapade to the mountains, to take some offerings and explore a new wildharvesting area. These gorgeous olive trees are our newest friends. For North Africans, olive trees are one of the most sacred and important, as their fruit has been used for food, medicine, and the making of oil, since the beginning or our civilization.
Above – wreath made of Escobon (Cytisus Striatus, Spanish Broom) that we wildharvested that same day. It was made to honour the perfect circle of love between our world and the world of Spirits; after this holiday, and with a little extra bling, it will make a lovely Christmas decoration. Below, you can see it looking lovely in the altar.
And finally, November 1, a day to rest and recharge with a good ol’ horror movie marathon, homemade soup and a little embroidery. What a lovely, lovely week this has been!
