Indigenous+Cultures

The Aztec people have always had deep and personal ties with the dead. There is evidence that the Aztecs used to bury their dead loved ones under their home, to keep them close. They sometimes even performed human sacrifices because they believed that blood would please their gods. One very important part of the Day of the Dead celebration is the use of skulls. This is a tradition carried from the Aztecs. After a battle, the Aztecs and other Meso-American people would collect the skulls of their enemies and keep them as trophies. To them, the skull symbolized not only death, but rebirth. || || The Aztecs were the first known people to actually have a festival and celebration centered around death. They were not afraid of death. To them it was just an inevitable part of life. They saw death actually as a continuation of life. Another belief they held was that life was just a dream, and only after death did one become truly awake. During their festival, they believed that their dead loved ones came back from their resting place to visit them. There was no Aztec hell. Their belief was that the souls of their departed rested peacefully and placidly a realm called Mictlan, until they could come back to visit their families. While in Mictlan, the souls were presided over by an Aztec goddess named Mictecacihuatl, also known as the "lady of the dead".
 * ==**//Rituals of Indigenous Cultures//**==
 * //By: Sean//**
 * //Skulls//**
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 * //media type="custom" key="11053004" width="10" height="10"Aztec View of Death//**


 * = [[image:khsdayofthedead2/aztec2.jpg width="233" height="350"]] ||
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Originally in the Aztec culture, the celebration of the Day of the Dead was actually the month of the dead. On the Aztec calendar, there was a month called Miccailhuitontli that was an entire month dedicated to the dead. This shows you how respected the dead were to the Aztecs. This month fell around our month of August. When the Spaniards arrived in the New World, they attempted to conform the indigenous people to their beliefs. They did not want to totally destroy the traditions of the Aztec people, so they fused two celebrations together. They moved the Day of the Dead celebration to coincide with the Christian celebration of All Soul's Day and All Saint's Day. Many people believe this fusion of cultures is where the tradition of Halloween came from. ||
 * [[image:khsdayofthedead2/calendar.jpg width="672" height="420"]] || **//History//**
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