November 11, 2006: Bolivian Day of Skulls

We were discussing the whole Day of the Dead holiday ritual and along comes another one. XoB/WaPo image shows how, in Bolivia, the relatives of the dead adorn the skulls with flowers. The actual skulls.

Now, this one freaks me out; let's update dad's decaying skull with the latest sunglasses this year? Rest in PEACE, I say, no need to get dressed up all the time because there's nowhere to go.

Much of South America and Asia do the ancestor worship thing, but the Asians seen to concentrate on the spirits more than the remains.

Maybe the sunglass guy was blind.

Yuck. I wouldn't want my kids to see me like that. I'd want 'em to be able to afford a decent taxidermist. They could make me into a coffee table. Or stand me up and put a clock in my chest - voila - a 'grandfather clock'. Or I could, Atlas-like, hold up the TV. Or with enough urethane, I could be a boat-bumper at the dock. Or crook my arms and legs, mount my back to the garage ceiling, and use me as a bike rack. Or....

I saw the coolest show on the Travel Channel (or, coulda been Disc., i dunno) about the world's creepiest remains! Kewl! Elephant man remains, a guy who told his doc he only poop'd once a month (they, um, poo-poo'd him) and after he died they did an autopsy and found his lg. colon weighed 50 pounds! It was freaking ENORMOUS! Plus, all the skeletons beneath the streets of Paris (people made decorations out of the skulls and bones-quite nice, actually) the Hand Of Glory (right hand of a hanged criminal) that was supposed to act like "Thing" in the Addamms Family, but, sadly, did not...and all sorts of grave-robbing stuff.

Oh, yeah, this one guy skinned dead people (people they suspected he murdered first--healthy people) then made them into statues...his greatest statue is reputed to be his fiancee riding an equally skinless horse--eww!

Anyway--Tony, you gotta obsession wit death? Huh? Coz I can cure dat.

We can't afford the barf bags.

Well, my grandfather was buried in the family grave. After a few years, they dug up his remains (skeleton) and put it in a large jar which went into this room in the family grave. I had a look at my grandfather when they installed him there. It was quite interesting and no we didn't decorate him like the Bolivians do.

Chapel of Bones - Evora

I can't find where I originally read about this chapel, but it is in Portugal, and if I remember correctly, they had to dig up a cemetery and felt the best way to continue to honor the dead (and properly dispose of their bones) was to build this chapel . . .

One more . . .

And from Austria . . .

And then there is the Muertorider!

Looking for http://www.kostnice.cz/ or http://www.artgraphica.net/art-shop/...one-church.htm ?

I've been to the Capuchin Crypt in Rome
Very creative I must say...

We went as a compromise - my ex wanetd to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe nearby and collect a commemorative glass and I wanted to see memento mori. Can you see why we broke up?

Couldn't find a good official link, but here is a tourist's review with pictures