THE WORSHIP OF SKULLS

The 1st November is a special day in Mexico. The show-windows of numerous shops are full of skulls made in candy and chocolate. These odd candies are a main decoration for
the All Saint’s Day and the All Soul’s Day. The mexican families are used to go the graveyards to offer these candies as gifts to their beloved deads.

Nowadays, the origins of this ritual are lost in the memories but it goes on to reveal us the inherance of the cultural representation of Death of Aztecs and Mayas who arethe direct ancestors of the modern Mexicans.

For Aztec and Maya peoples, the skull is at the same time a ritual offer, a symbol of victory and a decoration. Skulls were offered to the Gods of Sun, Moon and Rain to conciliate them.

Numerous skulls of sacrified victims were heaped up on display shelves for receiving the offerings. Generally, the human victims were prisoners captured who were sacrified for being a messager towards the God who needed their blood for fighting the dark forces. Artistic representations of death were usual and teached in order human
beings don’t fear it. This learning gave forces to peoples teaching them that death is a daily constant to face.
In 1534, a quartz skull has been discovered showing the importance of the symbol of the skull.

According the Mayas, the core of the human being was set into the cranium and that the soul substance kept attached far beyond the death.

Octavio Paz, famous mexican poet, Nobel Literature Prize, teached us:

"The worship of Death,
when it is understood in all its depth,
is also a worship of Life.
The two worships are inseperable.
A civilization which denies Death,
denies also Life."

Nowadays, our modern western civilization fears to die, searching for eternal life. Hiding death impeeds greatly peoples to fight and to transcend themselves.

It is regretable that this peculiar behaviour announces a future twilight, not a progress.