CoCo: Remember Me

Tara L. Callaghan
Feb 9, 2018
2 min read

"Remember me, though I have to say goodbye.

Remember me, don’t let it make you cry.

For even if I’m far away, I hold you in my heart.

I sing a secret song to you, each night we are apart.

Remember me, though I have to travel far.

Remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar.

Know that I’m with you, the only way that I can be,

Until you are in my arms again, remember me."

For those of you who haven't seen the technicolor Dia de los Muertos production by Pixar - go see it now! It has the usual story of the rebellious young man who must follow his heart no matter what, but in the process learns a great deal about himself and his family. More importantly, he learns the importance of never forgetting the dead.

One of the practices I stress in death magic and ritual is ancestral altars. From Shinto ancestor shrines to the ofrendas found in Mexican culture, pictures of ancestors or something that belonged to them are placed on the altars with offerings of flowers, candles, food and drink. Just like Samhain, these offerings are usually made and specific times of the year, when their individual cultures perceive the veil is thinnest between the worlds of the living and the dead. However, an altar can be approached at any time with an offering to ask the dead for their guidance, intervention, or simply for them to visit.

This is why I maintain and encourage ancestral altars. Keeping our dead alive in our hearts keeps the lessons we've learned from them close to us. It allows them to continue taking part in our lives. And, since we don't really know what happens on the other side, our living memories are one way to ensure the dead eternal life. As long as they are remembered, they live on. After all, as Linda Hogan wrote: "I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.”