The Mexican Day of the Dead: Honoring the Ancestors & Giving Image to Death

The Mexican Day of the Dead: Honoring the Ancestors and Giving Image to Death with Sandra del Castillo, PhD

The Mexican Day of the Dead is a unique, and ever-unfolding tradition venerating the ancestors. Celebrated on November first and second, this tradition has its earliest roots in Mesoamerica and 16th century Spanish Catholicism. In this lecture, a Jungian lens is applied to the Mexican Day of the Dead to examine concepts of death, the afterlife of the soul, and the crucial role the ancestors play in the world of the living.

The presentation begins with the Day of the Dead as it is celebrated in Mexico today and emphasizes the tradition’s Mesoamerican roots. The presentation is based both on research and Sandra's own personal experience living in Michoacán, a region of the country where the tradition is renowned, and her ancestral heritage.

Each year, Sandra creates a special PRS Ofrenda in the auditorium lobby which will be on view. The ofrenda is the Mexican family shrine venerating the ancestors; its key symbols, and elements will also be introduced. Participants can add to an ofrenda by placing objects honoring those who are no longer with us; this can include the beloved philosophers, poets, teachers, Jungian scholars, family members and dear pets. Feel free to bring a favorite quote, anecdote, or poem for, or about the person to add to the ofrenda.

Sandra del Castillo, PhD is a Jungian mentor, ritual artist, and dreamer. She received her doctorate degree in Depth Psychology with a specialization in Jungian and Archetypal Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she teaches adjunct. Born in California, Sandra is of Mexican Indigenous descent, and lived in Mexico for 15 years with her children, where she studied mythology, Indigenous medicine, dance, and taught. She also acted as interpreter for a Liberation Theology retreat center in Cuervavaca, Morelos. Through scholarship and ritual art, it is her aim to share the wisdom of Mesoamerica and “give birth to the ancient in a new time,” as Jung proposed.

Her podcast, Blue Medicine Journal: A Jungian Podcast, explores dreams, myth, and ritual art as the language of the soul, and “soul medicine” for these dramatic and changing times. Sandra is dedicated to the re-enchantment of our ensouled world and imagining a new world into being.

Tickets: $10 (in-person only event)

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

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Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States