qedavathegrey:

As the Dead Season approaches, it is time to both honor and
remember the Dead – ancestral, historical and formative – but also, it is the
time to honor Death and its many incarnations. Honoring the God/Goddess/Spirit
of Death within your own pantheon can be very personal, especially to those of
us who are Death’s Attendants – and while I do love to honor them as the
incarnations of Death, I also like to remember death in its faceless reality. And
while Death’s many mysteries command an innate, unprecedented respect it’s
important that we not forget the liberation, humor and fascination it breeds.
Those are the facets this ritual are meant to encompass – the joys that death
may bring.

“Ingredients”

This is simply a list
of possible options and by no means is it comprehensive, I urge you to
repurpose this however you see fit with any ingredients you’re personally drawn
to. This is merely foundation upon which to build and personalize.

• Artifacts of Death/Curios – assorted skulls, bones, and fetishes
  from the cemetery, snake sheds, assorted dead bugs (flies do the trick well, as
  do spiders)
• A Table – dressed in a plain black or white cloth
• Black Beans, dried
• Pemba/Cascarilla/Chalk Dust/Salt
• Chile Ristras
• Peppered Rum
• Unfermented Juices
• Bowls of Graveyard Dirt
• Earthenware Vessels of your choosing

Instructions

Foremost, the idea behind this is to basically host a party
in Death’s honor – in much an Alice in Wonderland fashion. It is meant to be
light, not this great foreboding thing. Do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed
with it, when it is but an inevitable actuality. As such, it’s best to keep on
Death’s good side. Why not throw him/her/it a party?

Dress your table in your chosen cloth – black or white is
preferred, but something painfully festive would also be acceptable – and
decorate it to your liking. Toss the beans and chiles around, draw with chalk or pemba any skulls, bones, etc. to really enhance the mood (hence why black is recommended), pour some libations, put on
some “sweet jams.” The beautiful thing about this “ritual” is that you can
invite as many people (or spirits) as you’d like and ask them to bring their own symbols of
death. 

Set the table accordingly, with places set for those in attendance (living or otherwise) and make sure to set a place for your own pantheon’s Death Diet(y/ies) or all the ones with which you work. Depending on your tradition, serve them customarily – for instance, many Death Gods/Spirits receive Cthonic offerings, feel free to serve them things other than food and then leave the in a traditional pit // if your tradition allows food to be shared with the Dead, by all means do so!

When the time is right – and even if you’re alone, no one will judge you
– it is then you begin the danse. Take your
favorite curios and dance about the room (I feel as though I should recommend
some Screamin’ Jay or perhaps some Harry Belafonte for those Beetlejuice fans out there) shamelessly. Ask your guests to do the same.

You dance in time with death now – and as such, Death is
honored. And quite the dancer. Continue until you run out of steam (or drinks).

---

A particularly good celebration for the Winter Solstice.