image of an altar with candles and offerings

Get ready!

Prepare for the arrival of your alebrije.
Follow the steps below and you will be ready for your spiritual guide!

What do you have to do?

The Right Day!

The 2nd of November is the only day that you can get your Alebrije.

Altar!

To get your alebrije you have to make an altar in your house.

cook 2 meals!

You have to cook two specific meals for your alebrije.

Go, get it!

Go and get your alebrije! Or wait for it at your house!

image of a death orned with a flower skull near a wall

Day of the death!

The 2nd of November is the only day per year when you can get your alebrije.
From a specific location in Mexico, a portal and a magical bridge made out of :
"La flor de cempasúchil "
A yellow flower that is very common in Mexico, open just on that day.
From that bridge, you will see arrive your Alebrije, and if you want as well your relatives from the other world. That is why you will have to be patient and wait for that day.

image of the day of the death in a cemetery

Make an altar!

You will have to make an altar to make a connection with the other world so that your alebrije (and as well the people you lost) can pass the bridge and arrive at your house safely.

Altar

An altar is a place where you make a connection with the other world. You do it using the four elements, like the elements of the alebrijes: Air, Fire, Earth, and Water. It is usually in your house and is divided into three different levels that represent: Heaven, Earth and the World of the Death. I am going to show how to make an altar in different steps or if you want you can follow the video below!

  1. Base of the altar

    The base on the altar is what you are going to use to prepare the altar in your house or where you have decided to wait for your alebrije.

    You can simply use a table or a desk for the first and central levels.
    To do the top level you can place any object that can sustain weight for example a box or a few books together.
    For the third and bottom level, you can use a box or even old luggage will be okay.

    The most important thing is that all the surfaces are flat. Now you can cover all the surface with what you have in your house. You can either use a blanket or you can buy something related to the day of the dead!
    Just have fun and use something you like!

  2. La flor de cempasúchil

    flower of cempasuchil

    This flower, which grows mostly in October and November according to traditions, is also called the flower of the dead, flower of the twenty petals, or cempasuchil flower.

    It is considered since pre-Hispanic times as a symbol of life and death.
    You are going to need this flower and the petals of the cempasúchil flower to create paths and guide the alebrije and the deceased to the altar that you are building.

    It is a flower that connect the open portal from the realm of death to the mortal world to your house. It also represents the first element on our altar the Earth.

    That is why you need this flower on your altar and why is so important.
    You can place the flowers a bit everywhere on the altar but the important part is that you make a path with the petals from the altar for at least 1 meter.

  3. Papel picado

    picture of papel picado on a table

    The papel picado is a typical mexican decoration made out of paper "Papel" and "Picado" that means chopped.
    Inside the paper is carved out to create different designs, usually something related with the underworld.

    The papel picado in the altar represents the Air element.
    Each chopped paper has different colors and different meanings.

    Orange represents mourning; purple refers to the Catholic religion; blue refers to the deceased who had a death related to water; red is for warriors or women who died during childbirth; green is for young people; white, for children; yellow, for the elderly; and black symbolizes the underworld.

    So you can decorate the altar with this papel picado, you can use it on your table , in the roof, behind the altar, or just on the table.
    The important is just using this element so you have your first element in place.

  4. Candles

    many candles on an altar

    Candles and incense are used to represent the second important element: Fire.
    The fire is needed for two important reasons:

    - Candles for Guide
    - Incense for Purification

    It guides the alebrije home or where your altar is without the risk of getting lost.
    And it purificate the air so that there is no risk of entering and arriving from the other side to the altar.

  5. Drinks

    The last element on our altar is the drinks, which represent our last element the Water.
    You can place whatever beverage you like on the altar, the important is that is liquid.
    We put the liquid on the ofrenda so the alebrije and the deceased once arrived at our destination can drink it after the long journey.

Prepare some food!

You will have to prepare some food for your alebrije. You will prepare at least two dishes:
The first one is Pan De Muertos( the brad of the dead) a Mexican dish and the favorite dish of alebrijes.
The second one is your favorite dish. that is because when you match with your alebrije you actually share all your passions and your soul. One of the common elements that is always shared with your spiritual guide is your favorite dish, that is the first thing you and your alebrije are going to do together.

Pan de muertos

Pan de muertos is a typical Mexican sweet bread , prepared usually from the 31st of October to the 2nd of November to celebrate dia de los muertos.
I am going to show you how to prepare it in the steps below, or if you want you can watch the video.

Ingredients
image of pan de muerto on a plate
  1. 500 grams 4 cups All Purpose flour
  2. 2 Tablespoons active-dry yeast
  3. 100 grams sugar ½ cup
  4. 1 teaspoon salt
  5. 80 grams butter at room temperature + 30 grs. to brush the bread after baking.
  6. 80 grams unsalted margarine at room temperature plus more for bowl and pans
  7. 4 large eggs room temperature
  8. Orange zest from 2 oranges
  9. 60 ml. warm water about 110 degrees
  10. 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or orange essence
  11. 1 large egg lightly beaten to brush the bread
  12. Sugar to decorate the bread at the end.
Instructions

Prepare the base

  1. Place the 4 eggs, margarine, salt, and half of the sugar in the mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment start working the dough for about 2 minutes. Add the all-purpose flour in small amounts alternating with the water. Add the dry active yeast and mix until well combined.
  2. Continue now by adding one at a time the butter, the orange zest, the rest of the sugar and the orange blossom essence, mixing well after each addition until soft dough forms.
  3. Get the dough out of the mixer bowl and place it onto the work surface; knead until smooth, dusting the work surface lightly with flour as needed if the dough begins to stick. Knead for a couple more minutes. Coat the interior of a large bowl with margarine; transfer the dough to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  4. Transfer the dough from the bowl onto the working surface, and separate 300 grams of the dough to form the decorative bones later on. Cut the rest of the dough into 70 grams. pieces or in two equal pieces if making 2 large pieces of bread. (Make sure to separate 300 grams of dough to form the decorative bones.). Prepare 2 greased baking sheets, set aside.
Instructions
image of pan de muerto on a table orned with candles and flowers

Shaping the pan de muerto

  1. Take one portion of the dough and place it in the palm of your hand, we put our fingers in and add a bit of pressure and shape each piece into a tight ball rolling the dough on the surface. This is called “bolear” in Spanish (if, at first they do not look fine to you, do not worry you will achieve this with practice) Place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Press the dough slightly.
  2. Now place the remaining 300 grams of dough we reserved onto the work surface, dusting with flour if needed, and knead until the flour is integrated perfectly (this is for the bones to decorate our pieces of bread).
  3. We take small portions of dough and roll them in small logs putting a little pressure on the fingers to form the bones. Once your bones are already formed (we need 2 for each bread). Brush each roll forming a cross on top of each bun with a mix made out of the remaining beaten egg with 1 Tablespoon of water, once we marked the cross with the brush we place the bones as shown in the above picture, cutting any extra dough.
  4. And finally, with the leftover dough from small balls, varnish the center of the buns where the bones come together and put the ball there as shown in the picture. Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until buns are touching and doubled in size, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  6. Add a pinch of salt to our mix of egg and water and brush the buns before placing them in the oven. Transfer buns to the oven and bake until golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes, approximately, if making the small buns. If you are making the larger version the baking time will change a little. Remember that every oven is different, (when the bottom of the bread is golden it indicates that they are ready). Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.
  7. Once your Pan de Muerto bread has completely cooled brush it with the remaining butter and then dust with sugar.