Honoring Our Beloved Pets to Start Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead Celebrations

Oct 27

October 27 is the start of Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead.

Photos by Betsy McCue Pictures - Kalamazoo Michigan Portrait Photographer

Today is a new addition to the tradition and is called "el día de las almas de las mascotas" - and is dedicated to celebrating the pets we have lost. Our pets taught us love and lived with a full, unconditionally loving heart that beat just for us - and they will always live in ours. Today you can honor them and invite their souls to visit with an ofrenda [altar] with a candle, pictures, the traditional marigold (or any favorite) flowers, their favorite treats, and mementos to keep the connection alive. The belief is that on this night our beloved fur [or feathered, scaled, or….] babies visit their old homes, walk around, and enjoy the offerings we set out for them. We miss you all every day. ❤️ 🐾

How to Build a Pet Ofrenda (Altar) by The Guide Mexico

You can set up a small table, shelf, or flat surface with key traditional and personal items:

Photograph: A clear photo, painting, or drawing of your pet to guide their spirit home.
Cempasúchil (Marigolds): Bright orange marigold flowers or petals; their vibrant color and strong scent help guide the spirits.
Water: A small bowl of fresh water to quench their thirst after the long journey.
Treats and Food: Their favorite commercial treats, bones, catnip, or foods they loved in life.
Toys and Belongings: Their favorite toys, collar, leash, or small blanket.
Candles: Lit candles to illuminate their path through the dark.
Pet memorial urn or keepsake: If you have their ashes, a special urn or keepsake box can be placed on the altar.

Pamela Ann Noxon

Author, trauma-informed Holistic Grief Educator, Grief Coaching Mentor & Trainer, Inspirational Speaker & Workshop leader, Pamela Ann Noxon offers compassionate and creative ways to help those in loss heal with their grief and stay connected to their loved ones. Her powerful work is rooted in helping grievers to find a way home to their innate wholeness after loss - even if they weren’t quite sure where home was before.

Drawing from ancient and modern healing arts, and everything from ritual to art therapy, movement, and active imagination work, she shares her powerful, heart-centered wisdom and experiences in conscious, trauma-informed, holistic grief support with other empathic, emotionally mature women who are called to help others.

After decades of study in trauma, grief, holistic health and wellness, and numerous losses that included her mother, father, close family, dear friends, close colleagues, and beloved pets, she has created a unique protocol, combining the latest grief coaching techniques, with hypnotherapy, art therapy, breathing work, movement therapies, and a deep connection to nature and animals; to create a profound and revolutionary, truly holistic method of helping people navigate their grief well. Her main goal: to train others to be of compassionate, conscious service to those in loss and grief.

Pamela is the force behind all that Mourning Goods brings to our time: purposefully designed condolence products, interactive creative journals, holistic grief books, grief podcasts, coaching, workshops, and programs for the grieving, and support and certification courses for those wanting to support others.

Those looking to help others can find her life changing work on helping others through her podcasts, and online workshops and certification courses. Grievers can find support through her workshops, books, and mailclubs for grievers.

She lives quite happily in the woods of Elfin Forest, Southern California co-creating a peaceful, deeply connected, semi-feral life with cats, dogs, horses, trees, hawks, and hummingbirds.

https://www.mourninggoods.com

Honoring Our Beloved Pets to Start Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead Celebrations

October 27 is the start of Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead.

Day 2 Dias de los Muertos - Honoring those who passed suddenly or tragically. Supporting trauma when it shows up with loss and in grief.

Wandering and Gathering: The Power of Connecting with Nature and Being Present in Grief