Bolivians seek blessings for their human skulls

From La Paz:

Every year in early November Bolivians crowd local cemeteries to display the 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 favours that she granted us," a woman at a La Paz cemetery chapel told AFP as she carefully clutched her skull, decked out with flowers for the event.

Many were ensconced in a bed of colourful 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 (13,100 feet) 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.