BOLIVIA: Bolivians celebrate All Saint's Day by honouring the dead through the worship of human skulls
Record ID:
785290
BOLIVIA: Bolivians celebrate All Saint's Day by honouring the dead through the worship of human skulls
- Title: BOLIVIA: Bolivians celebrate All Saint's Day by honouring the dead through the worship of human skulls
- Date: 11th November 2006
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRACTITIONER JULIA CHUQUIMIA SAYING: "This party is for the souls. Every year we remember the souls. These skulls are like us, like members of our family and we remember them. We always do it like this, with this mass and this party." WOMEN LOOKING AT AN ALTAR FOR THE SKULLS ALTAR AFTER MASS WOMEN MAKING AN ALTAR SKULLS IN AN ALTAR MAN ON HIS KNEES PRAYING BEFORE AN ALTAR SKULL WITH BURNING CIGARETTE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRACTITIONER HELENA QUISPE SAYING: "He (the skull) is happy and I feel happy too that he has been blessed with holy water. He always takes care of us. You always have to keep a little candle next to him." GENERAL OF LA PAZ'S CEMETERY WITH WORSHIPPERS ALTAR FOR THE SKULLS WOMEN PRAYING VARIOUS OF SKULLS SMOKING CIGARETTES
- Embargoed: 26th November 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA5NXIAUWPA7WBTJEAL70SMI631
- Story Text: As part of celebrations for All Saints Day, Bolivians in the capital city of La Paz made the pilgrimage to the local cemetery on Wednesday (November 8) with an unlikely object of veneration: the human skull.
The use of human skulls in religious ceremonies to honour the dead is an old tradition in the Andean nation, stemming from beliefs held by indigenous people in the mountains.
Immigrants who settled in La Paz brought the tradition with them and now the local cemetery teems with worshippers on November 8th every year.
According to their belief system, humans have seven souls and one remains in the skull.
After acquiring the human skulls, known as "natitas", practitioners worship them over a three-year period before taking them to mass at the cemetery's church on All Saint's Day.
At the church, skulls are blessed with holy water by a deacon and 'listen' to mass.
One of the worshippers who brought her skull to Wednesday's ceremony, Julia Chuquimia, said the skull was a fundamental part of her life.
"This party is for the souls. Every year we remember the souls. These skulls are like us, like members of our family and we remember them. We always do it like this, with this mass and this party," she said from the cemetery in La Paz.
After mass, the skull is then the centre of a large party involving neighbours and colleagues in which revellers ask for its blessing - putting cigarettes and coca leaves in its mouth and dressing it with hats and wreaths of flowers.
Another follower of the "natita" tradition, Helena Quispe, said the object looked over her and her family.
"He (the skull) is happy and I feel happy too that he has been blessed with holy water. He always takes care of us. You always have to keep a little candle next to him," Quispe said.
Considered macabre by many, the practice has been kept out of the public eye in the past; but recent changes instigated by President Evo Morales have allowed the once taboo ritual to go public. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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