Over 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they found natives practicing a ritual that seemed to make fun of the death. The native people had been practicing this ritual for maybe even 3,000 years. This ritual known as el Día de los Muertos, also known as the Day of the Dead, was something that the Spaniards tried to destroy, but couldn’t. El Día de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico and certain parts of the United States.
Although the ritual has since been combined with Catholic theology, it still uses the basic principles of the Aztec ritual, such as the use of skulls. Today, people wear wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. The wooden skulls put on altars that are dedicated to the dead. The Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were made to symbolize death and rebirth. The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom......
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