Obsessed with Death 12/27/09

The Americans did much better at conquering their natives than the conquistadors did. Everywhere you look in Mexico you can see traces of the Aztec heritage. The only reason the Mexican people are not completely white/Spanish blooded is because even the small pox couldn't help Cortes wipe the dense population of Aztecs off the face of the planet. The conquistadors ended up marrying the natives and out came a nation of mestizos.

The day after Christmas we went with a family from my parents' church to a park on the south side of the city where many Mexican artists try to sell their innovative stuff. As we strolled through the display of brilliant colors, I noticed that colorful skeletons and skulls were a very common object to find in ceramic molds, paintings, piñatas, and sugar candy. Here we were on the day after Christmas and Halloween decorations were more prominent than Christmas decorations! Mexico has always been known for its respect for death and is famous for its celebration of the Days of the Dead. But I wanted to hear it from a Mexican. So I turned to the mother of the family, Carla, and inquired, "Why the obsession with skeletons?"


Carla said that the Aztecs worshiped a god of the dead. His name was Mictlantecuhtli. Say that three times fast. In an attempt to make sense of death it has become a common symbol in modern culture. Death is both glorified and comical when portrayed in art. Mexicans try to view death as either a beautiful thing or something to laugh at. For example, we spotted some ceramic skeletons three feet tall of some popular characters from a Mexican TV show call "El Chavo del Ocho". Kico, one of my favorite characters has abnormally pudgy cheeks and, sure enough, his skull had huge cheek bones! I laughed.

I asked the father of the family, Alberto, the same question and he talked about the Mexican attempt to preserve the Aztec culture. The majority view their Aztec heritage fondly, pridefully and view their conquistador heritage with hints of bitterness. Most Mexicans would use the word "mestizo" to describe their mixed heritages which is the same word they use for "mutt". "However," Alberto said, "I'm not allowed to be bitter at the conquistadors because two of my great-grandfathers are from Spain." Perhaps this bitterness is rooted in the fact that the whiter-skinned/Spanish a Mexican is, the more wealthy he tends to be whereas the darker-skinned/Native he is, the more entrenched in poverty he tends to be.

Today I learned of a family in my parents' church who were former worshipers of Santa Muerte or Saint Death (the personification of death itself). Worship of Santa Muerte has only become widely known in the past century but has made a lasting impression on Mexican culture. Although Santa Muerte has been condemned by the Catholic church, Santa Muerte's rites are based off of Catholic liturgy and closely related to Catholic doctrine. I should mention that the children of this family expressed their gratitude that their family left the church of Santa Muerte and are now getting their lives back together.

How does one approach the reality of death? Everybody loses everything someday. There are certain truths that no one can escape and death is one of them. Does one laugh away the pain of loss, be bitter over the loss, worship it to try and get on it's good side, or fear the uncertainty of the other side? Part of the job of my parents is to challenge what people believe concerning death since the possible approaches to death are as diverse as skin tones.