A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In many Latino households, Day of the Dead - or Dia de Los Muertos - is marked with an altar. Foods like pan de muerto - bread of the dead - flowers and the images of those who are no longer with us. As that day approaches - tomorrow - we couldn't think of a better pairing for the tradition than a good old game of Loteria, aka Latino Bingo. I talked through it with Yvette Montoya. She's the author of "Mystical Loteria: A Spiritual Celebration Of The Classic Latin Party Game."
Loteria has been around for generations. Yvette, tell us why you wanted to reimagine it.
YVETTE MONTOYA: Well, it was something that I didn't actually play when I was a kid. We were more of a TV family.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
MONTOYA: So it was something that I discovered in college. And I really fell in love with the imagery and with the art and with, like, the culture of it. And it was also, you know, fun. But I feel like the imagery that we have from Loteria is so ubiquitous. And I wanted to reimagine something and also teach people with real aspects of my personal practice as a bruja.
MARTÍNEZ: So bruja means witch, right?
MONTOYA: It does.
MARTÍNEZ: In case people don't know, right?
MONTOYA: Oh, yeah. That.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so I got the box right in front of me.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOX CLATTERING)
MARTÍNEZ: I'm shaking it for everyone to hear. I'm going to open it as we go if that's cool with you, Yvette, so you can kind of take me through what's in the box.
MONTOYA: Sure.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so tell me - as I'm opening this box, tell me about what you just said, about being a bruja. What does that mean?
MONTOYA: Well, I think bruja now has become more of, like, a tongue-in-cheek term, because when we talk about brujeria, it really encompasses a wide variety and umbrella of different practices and modalities.
MARTÍNEZ: Yes, yeah. And that's the thing, too, there is a stigma, right? Or at least, I mean, for a lot of people when they hear that word, whether it's in English or in Spanish, there is a stigma that comes to it.
MONTOYA: Yes. And I think that a big part of my work has been trying to destigmatize it because it does encompass so many different things and because, like, we all have a little witchy-ness in us. And especially because it's a part of our culture. And that's really what I wanted to reflect in the "Mystical Loteria."
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. So, OK, I open the box, and the first thing I see is, like, a game board, says Mystical Loteria, and there's all kinds of little squares - la maraca, el rum - lots of different ones. So what am I looking at here?
MONTOYA: You're looking at different modalities, different healing things, different herbs, elements, all real things that I use or that have been a part of my practice, or that, you know, are things that are kind of, like, Latine overall.
MARTÍNEZ: So these are essentially the cards that everyone gets, right? Because there was a bunch of them that I just opened up.
MONTOYA: Those are the cards that everybody gets.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MONTOYA: And then underneath, there's going to be a little booklet that has all of the cards and, like, the definitions of them. So that was where I really wanted to, like, go in and give people a little bit of history on things.
MARTÍNEZ: I'm going to open that box of cards right now.
MONTOYA: Yeah. They're so beautiful, too. Like, the artist, Dia Pacheco, she did an incredible job. Like, everything is so vibrant and so beautiful.
MARTÍNEZ: So this offers up a lot of different things to explain, because that's the thing - with Bingo, you just call out numbers, right? You call out numbers and you hope you get a few in a row and win the game, but this offers a little bit something more.
MONTOYA: I really just wanted to teach people and show them that it's not scary (laughter), demystify the mystical.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. So, I mean, there's a certain veneration of the dead that always seems to be present in Latino homes. Why is that? I mean, whether it's a religious Latino family or not, it just always seems to be there.
MONTOYA: Ancestral veneration is present in pretty much every society across the board. And it's something that we lost during colonization, and I feel like there's been an effort to reintroduce it. And I think since "Coco," it's really blown up, and so people are just starting to get back into it now.
MARTÍNEZ: How much was that a game changer? I mean, I remember seeing "Coco," and I remember where I was and who I saw it with. I mean, it just seemed like things were different after that movie.
MONTOYA: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: It brought a whole new awareness to something that maybe people knew existed but never really dove into.
MONTOYA: Yeah, I think it made it a lot safer for people to try. So if anyone had wanted to get their feet wet or was wondering about it, like, here is this very, like, colorful entry point for, you know, anyone to start wondering about, like, their ancestry and their heritage and their culture and connecting with their ancestors.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, it's probably never too late to make a Day of the Dead altar. So what tips, suggestions do you have for folks who maybe want to try and make one and explore this?
MONTOYA: I think my main advice is always to make it specific to you. I'm half Chilean, so I incorporate that into my Dia de Los Muertos altar. And it's not, like, the way, but everybody can kind of do their own way. So that would, you know, mean giving them foods that they like specifically. It doesn't have to be, like, what everyone else is doing. Also making sure that the four elements are represented in what you're giving them, as well as, like, the spirit - and making sure that there are levels and, I would say, putting the elders, like, the people who have passed the longest, at the top and then kind of going down from there.
MARTÍNEZ: Was there a particular time in the last few years where you really kind of connected and kind of woke to your brujeria?
MONTOYA: I like that (laughter), brujeria. Honestly, COVID, like, 2020. I feel like that was a big moment for me but also everyone else, because it was when we realized that maybe our Western healing modalities and religion aren't enough. There's that component in between, that gray area of, like, herbalism, brujeria, energy work, ancestral veneration that are things that maybe weren't as mainstream, and now they definitely are. And I think that's definitely also for a reason.
MARTÍNEZ: That is Yvette Montoya, author of the book and game set "Mystical Loteria: A Spiritual Celebration Of The Classic Latin Party Game." Yvette, thank you very much for the game.
MONTOYA: Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF OMG ORQUESTA MEXICANA DE GUITARRAS "PERFUME DE GARDENIAS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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