In one hand, she is holding her faithful and inseparable scythe – so feared by some and so sought after by others; feared because it can end the life of every living being and sought because it cuts all the negative energy that is in our path. In her other hand she is holding the world, our home. This represents that she is a faithful servant of the Almighty Creator. You may also find the Holy Death holding a balance, which represents the balance on both the spiritual and the material plane of humans.

This type of figure is used to combine and boost the 7 colours and to carry out special works. The 7 colours are: gold, silver, copper, red, purple, green and blue.

Gold calls abundance, i.e. money. Red is the ideal colour of love and passion, it represents the image of passionate love and family. Purple is the colour of transmutation, it changes negative to positive and the health of the sick. Silver is linked to economic situations: considered as the colour of luck or abundance, it helps to bring money and success. Green represents justice. Copper disrupts all negative energies and blue symbolizes heaven and ocean, immensity and spirituality.

Chapter 6 – Altars and their Preparation, offerings

To worship the Holy Death you must prepare an altar. This altar represents the door that communicates with her, that attracts the energy of her kingdom to our world. It is a consecrated space where we place the objects and images that underpin our devotion, and fill us at a spiritual level.

However, I must state that setting up an altar in a country such as Mexico is not the same as preparing it in other countries in Europe or in the rest of the world.

To begin, I will describe how altars are prepared in Mexico from where they originate.

First of all, I recommend you to look for a special place that is spacious and comfortable. If you want to set up a private altar try not to show this place to curious people. It is better to keep it hidden, since its effects will be stronger with people who have faith and worship the Holy Death. Conversely, if it is a family altar, it should be set up in a quiet, well-ventilated room in which people can go to pray.

If possible, the walls of the altar should be black to protect the home, office or business, the ceiling purple, and the area of the altar should be covered with a purple veil in the form of a curtain. Set up the altar facing the wall where the sun sets: that is, oriented towards the west. Place a small table at the bottom of the altar and cover it completely with a black cloth or tablecloth (the cloth should reach the floor and cover all four sides of the table).

As far as possible, use utensils that are of natural origin so that the attraction of energy and light is more powerful.

The tablecloth may be changed depending on the colour needed for the requests; thus boosting the attraction of the right energy for each request.

Once you have the place to put your altar, make a box. This box should be a bit smaller than the altar and made of wood, iron, clay, metal or any other product of plant origin. The Holy Death will be placed on top of this box, at our own height or even at a higher position as a clear manifestation of respect. Line the box with a piece of fabric or velvet, – red on the inside and black on the outside-, and add a padlock or a small lock to it. This box will be called the depository. The objects of power that will serve as a guide to the celestial spirits towards the altar will be kept inside this box and the person in charge of the altar will guard its key.

It is recommended to keep in this box the bones of nocturnal animals or –in your case- memories of a deceased person, soil from the cemetery, ashes, or soil from archaeological places with great energy from our pre-Hispanic ancestors.

Quartz, magnets and other crystals should also be stored in this box.

When ready, wrap all these things up in a purple cloth –preferably-, and tie them with a thin black or purple ribbon. Then, put this package inside the depository and cover it with a black cloth.

Finally, place the Most Holy Death on top of the box and put candles on each side, together with the flowers and the incense. It is suggested to also put a clay plate, an ashtray and a crystal glass, which are the exclusive utensils of the Most Holy Death.

Tuesday is the most auspicious day to put up and consecrate this altar. It is perfect to do this in the mornings since the Holy Death has just woken up, she is very strong and has an entrepreneurial energy, and she loves challenges; in the evenings, she is in the fullness of her power, and at nights, the energy of the hidden forces manifest. To set up the altar, the person must be calmed and relaxed, without haste or worries because he or she must dedicate himself or herself in body and soul to the Holy Death.

As for the image of the Most Holy, you may choose any figure you like. They are usually made of clay, resin, fibreglass or papier-mâché with the different symbols that I mentioned before.

You must decide whether you want a full-body image, an image sitting down, or on a throne, etc. and also which colour you want depending on your spiritual needs. You can also put several saints, dedicated to special works and can place them with their own offerings. It is preferable that you choose an image that gives you confidence, faith and devotion.

You can also choose a printed image or a picture of the Holy Death, if you have no space. You should also choose the one that inspires you the most, and gives you confidence, faith and devotion. The way the Holy Death is represented does not matter, since she is in all her different forms.

The advantage of choosing a picture or an image is that you can carry it around, and take it and put it anywhere.

To continue the altar must be consecrated.

This must be done by someone who knows and manages energies in the mortuary theme, and everybody should choose the person they trust the most. However, if it is your own altar and you do it yourself, you can ask for it with a lot of faith, since you will be the one who will attend it and worship it. For this, you will have to clean yourself first and then clean the altar. Before doing any ritual, it is very important that you do this: you must wash yourself and purify your body, soul and spirit. You must take a hot bath to open the pores to help you to receive the energies you are about to generate.

Then, you have to dress in white and while you are getting dressed you must pray:

Oh! Lord, forgive me I beseech you,

I have had mistakes, but I regret,

I ask for your forgiveness, for all the evils

that I have consciously and unconsciously caused,

I offer you good behaviour,

since the forces that I invoke are in good faith

and I do not intend to do any harm,

but I do it because I think

in the happiness of this person and mine,

if You decide otherwise, I accept it.

Pray 3 Lord’s Prayers and 3 Hail Marys.

Cleansing Ritual

This must be done before doing any other ritual, since the environment must be clean from energies to invoke the Holy Death.

Ingredients:

– 1 mortar to mix everything

– 1 white candle

– cleaning mix (as a granular mixture): one part of incense, one part of myrrh, one part of rue, one part of lavender, a pinch of chilli powder

– 1 censer to put the mixture

– 1 glass with salt and water

To begin with, you must wash yourself as I said before, because it is essential that the environment is clean and cleanliness is done on the physical plane.

Use the mortar to mix the cleaning mixture, enough to perfume and purify the environment you want to clean. When you are ready to start, light the candle and relax, visualise the negative energy leaving your body and see how you are washing yourself. Let the candle burn to the end and throw what is left (even if it has not been completely burnt out).

It is important that when you have finished cleaning yourself in the inside, you visualise that all this negative energy burns and disappears.

Bless the water, salt and incense (you may also use holy water), and add a pinch of salt to the water. Then, go around the corners of all the rooms in the house with the censer. Stop at every corner and let some smoke out. Visualise a light that expands and starts to wrap the whole house.

Stop at each door and each window, doing the same thing and saying the following: I bless this… (door, window, room, house).

When you finish, take the glass with salt and water and walk around the house making a cross with the glass on all the walls of the house. Finally, go back to the place where you want to put the altar and mentally check if there was any place or dark space in which there could be negativity or you noticed it somewhere.

Cleansing the Altar

To carry out the spiritual cleansing you must do a rite and a petition to the Most Holy Death. These are the ingredients you need:

Ingredients:

– incense (any you like)

– liquors: spirits, mescal, tequila etc.

– 3 white candles

– flowers and vases

– 1 cigarette or cigar

– wooden matches

Use any flowers you can buy: if possible, it is better that someone gives them to you or that you cut them from your own flowerpots.

First, take a sip of the drink you have chosen. Then, take another sip and spray the drink that is in your mouth all over your site of worship. It is important that you only spread the contents of one sip, and make sure that the altar is in a well-ventilated place and without any flame lit to avoid accidents. Then, pray 3 Lord’s Prayers and 3 Hail Marys.

Fill the glass of the Holy Death with the drink. Then, light the cigarette or cigar with a wooden match and blow the smoke of the cigar on the altar and the image. You must do this nine times and then say the following prayer:

In the name of the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

immaculate being of divine light,

I beg you to grant me the favours I ask,

until the last day, hour and moment

in which your Divine Majesty

commands to take me

before your presence.

Death dear to my heart,

do not forsake me of your protection.

So be it.

While praying, light the candles and the incense, and put the flowers in the vases. It takes 9 weeks to enshrine the altar; every Friday from the first Friday, you will say nine times this prayer or novena, with the candles lit and the incense burning, and changing the flowers when they begin to wilt because they must always look good.

The prayer for the enshrinement must not be interrupted, but if for any reason this happens, you must start again from the beginning; this might be a sign that you are not ready yet, or convinced to start the worship and handle such powerful energies.

In order to begin, the altar must be set up in this order: first the altar, and then the prayer to the Most Holy and some Lord’s Prayers. Once the tablecloth is placed, light a white candle dedicated to the Holy Death and pray again. Light the candle with your right hand. Once the candle is lit, place the image you have chosen on the altar. The image must have been washed one day before and left to dry in the open on the previous afternoon. To enhance her power, you may impregnate the image with the perfume you use. It is important not to do all this in front of people who are not from the house, so they do not disturb the Holy Death’s energies.

It is advised to cleanse the altar every 9, 18 or 27 days. If you miss the date, you can cleanse it on a Tuesday, preferably at noon; never in the early morning, afternoon or evening, or when there is bad weather.

Wash the tablecloth, the plates, glasses, incense-burners and other elements. Except the tablecloth, the objects are cleaned with a damp cloth or are shaken, but they are never washed because the essence of the offerings must be preserved. These objects are cleaned and then put back in their place. All the good and bad energy of the altar goes to the tablecloth; and that is why you must wash it to keep it always pure.

If you do a job for another person, all the objects must be thrown once the worship has been finished. The objects cannot be left on the altar unless the work is for you or for a close relative.

Offerings must be thrown away; you must not drink, eat or smoke them. In theory, their essence has been lost because the Holy Death has taken it.

You must throw away the withered flowers and water, because they absorb the bad energy of the environment. The candles, when burnt out, must be thrown away, especially those that are special offerings.

The Holy Death is asked for special favours in times of need: she protects you and your family. To get good results, personal rituals must be done with a lot of faith, devotion and confidence in what you are doing. It must be something necessary or considered fair. Everything has a price and satisfying a whim can be very expensive.

Do not be in a hurry, it is important to devote as much time as necessary to do the rituals, look for hours. You must also be in the best possible physical conditions and take care that your health is optimal at the time of doing the rituals, including not being sleepy, drunk or drugged.

If another person asks you for a petition, remember that you will need twice as much faith, devotion and confidence in doing the ritual. To help others you need to have the vocation and the gift to do so, there are people who were born for it. You should not do it for money, or for any personal interest.

You cannot do two rituals at the same time. If you work with a single energy you will get better results.

You must fulfil all the promises you make to the Holy Death. Wash your hands before and after doing a ritual. If you do not know the prayers, you can read them.

Another Ritual of Consecration

This is another way to consecrate your image so that the entity enters it as many times as you need. It is more effective if you do it on a Saturday.

Ingredients:

– liquid of rose

– liquid of rue

– petals of red roses or red carnations

– incense and myrrh (in grain)

– 1 censer

– natural water

– 1 bucket to wash the Holy Death

– bee honey

– 1 spoon

Procedure:

Put the natural water and the liquids of rose and rue in the bucket. Add the petals and a little honey. Mix everything with a wooden spoon and wash the image. Light the candles on the altar to welcome the image. Light the incense with the mixture of myrrh. Immerse the image in the bucket and ask her to come and enter the image while saying:

Holy Death,

I am calling you

to come to this place

and take this image that I bless

in the name of the Father,

the Son and the Holy Spirit.

So be it.

When you finish, place the image on the altar that should be already prepared.