EVERY year in early November Bolivians crowd local cemeteries to
display the decorated human skulls they keep at home, seeking to
have the beloved craniums blessed.
Part of a centuries-old tradition, many here believe they represent
the souls of the dearly departed. If treated kindly and with
respect, the skulls will protect families and businesses, and grant
wealth and a healthy life.
Stout Andean women wearing long skirts and bowler hats were among
the crowd taking their skulls into the cemetery chapel for a
blessing.
"I brought her so that she can hear mass and receive a blessing for
the favors that she granted us," a woman at a La Paz cemetery
chapel said as she carefully clutched her skull, decked out with
flowers for the event.
Many were ensconced in a bed of colorful petals in display
containers that ranged from simple, open-boxes to fancy glass boxes
or wood displays with glass windows.
Because La Paz can be bitter cold at 4,000 meters above sea level,
many of the skulls sported wool watch caps, berets and chullos, an
Andean cap with earflaps.
To protect against the high altitude's bright sunlight, others wore
dark glasses, baseball caps and fedora hats.
Many had cotton in their eye sockets and cigarettes in their
mouths.
"This tradition has a pre-Hispanic origin," said Felix Mendoza, a
professor of Andean theology at the Indigenous Tawantinsuyu
University.
Before the Spaniards reached the New World in 1492, residents of
the Andes would place the mummified remains of their deceased on
litters and take them for a walk "so that the spirits would return
to meet their bodies and families again," Mendoza said.
The Catholic Church is uneasy dealing with these pre-Columbian
practices. A priest delivered mass at the chapel, but he let an
acolyte spray holy water on the skulls.
One of the containers was inscribed "FELC-El Alto (Special Force in
the Fight Against Crime), Homicide Division," and held a skull
named "Juanito," who its carrier claimed helped solve crimes.
Another believer described the tradition's benefits: "Where there
is a skull, thieves and low-lives do not enter."
But the practice is not just for the pure of heart. Criminals are
known to take skulls to be blessed as a thank you for keeping the
owner out of trouble.
At home, believers place their skulls in a prominent place -
usually a living room - religiously lighting a candle for them each
Friday and placing coca leaves, food or a lit cigarette in their
jaws.
Skulls that protect homes usually belong to men. Sometimes they are
from a dead relative or are simply dug up from graves. Other skulls
have been around for so long nobody knows where they came from.
In the United States, Halloween, the last day of October, is
associated with the dead. The following day for Catholics is All
Saints Day, a time to honor the deceased.
Mexicans flock to cemeteries every November 1 and 2, bringing
flowers and a dead loved one's favorite food and drink.
But in Bolivia it is on November 9 when people bring out their
skulls, known here in an endearing way as "natitos," or
pug-noses.
After touring the cemetery with their skulls, families go home for
boozy parties that can last all night.