Calling down the dead at Todos Santos in Oruro, Bolivia

A family calls down the spirit of a dead family member with the help of incense at Todos Santos or All Saints Day in Oruro, Bolivia. An altar has been built at home, and it is the father of the dead man who kneels with the incense in front of it. Beside him kneels the widow, and to the right stands the mother. In the Altiplano of Bolivia, it is customary that a family, in which there has been a death within the last three years, build a shrine at home at Todos Santos, decorating it with religious symbols as well as a picture of the deceased and food and drink that he or she liked, and then call down the spirit for a three day visit. During the spirit’s visit, the family and friends chew coca leaves, drink alcohol and eat food together.

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Filename: 3670.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2002 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5444x3661 / 22.9MB; Adults All Saints Day Altiplano Ceremonies Child Food Horizontal Latin America Life Cycle Ritual Oruro Area Relations Rite of Passage Smoke South America The Andes Todos Santos altar apparel attire candy ceremony christianity church clothes clothing coats color image color photography contact with the dead cuisine death rites diet family father food and drink food and nutrition ghost human relationship incense indoors jacket mother mourning parents place of worship religious building rite ritual seance signs small group of people smoke-filled smoky solemn sorrow spirit spiritual sugarcane sweets together togetherness widow
Contained in galleries: Todos Santos, Bolivia

A family calls down the spirit of a dead family member with the help of incense at Todos Santos or All Saints Day in Oruro, Bolivia. An altar has been built at home, and it is the father of the dead man who kneels with the incense in front of it. Beside him kneels the widow, and to the right stands the mother. In the Altiplano of Bolivia, it is customary that a family, in which there has been a death within the last three years, build a shrine at home at Todos Santos, decorating it with religious symbols as well as a picture of the deceased and food and drink that he or she liked, and then call down the spirit for a three day visit. During the spirit’s visit, the family and friends chew coca leaves, drink alcohol and eat food together.