Thursday 19 September 2013

Roman Catholicism and the worship of the dead XV: Catholics in Bolivia celebrate “Day of the skulls”

Catholics in Bolivia celebrate “Day of the skulls”

One a year, the Roman Catholics take their skulls of their alters and parade them in public.

The Catholic Church in Bolivia is the most pagan institution on the Western hemisphere.  Not only do the Catholics in Bolivia keep skulls of their deceased family members inside their houses. They even put them up on the House altars, to be venerated and adored together with crucifixes and various Papal approved Madonna’s.  
The most bizarre day on the Bolivian year, is the day the streets are full of decorated skulls. That is “The Day of the skulls”.
On this day, the Catholics in Bolivia carry skulls into a church to be blessed at the General Cemetery in La Paz. Lets take a look at some pictures:
A Catholic lady ready to pack her skull and go to Chuch to get it blessed.
The day of the parade of skulls, in the Bolivian capital La Paz.
In almost every Catholic family they keep “Holy skulls”. In the winter it is cold for them.
It has to be mentioned that the Vatican do not recognize the Day of the skull.
But the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church has not done much to stop this national Bolivian celebration.
This is the official explanation.
Dia de los Natitas (Day of the Skulls) is an ancient Bolivian ritual where skulls are decorated with flowers and pampered with cigarettes, coca leaves and other treats.
Every November 9, the central cemetery, in La Paz, Bolivia, becomes the scene of a bizarre pre-Columbian tradition, known as Dia de los Natitas.  Women carrying skulls, in decorated wooden or cardboard boxes, fancy glass cases and even in plastic bags, gather outside the cemetery to show off their skulls. They are usually decorated with flower petals (hydrangeas and roses) and covered with knitted colorful caps.
Some Bolivians believe a person has seven souls, and one of them remains in the skeleton, after they’ve been buried. Once the other souls have left for heaven, the remains are dug up and the skull taken home and cared for. If they’re not respected, skulls can bring bad luck to a household, ruin the harvest and even break up a family. But if they’re properly taken care of, you can ask the skull for favors.
The skulls are decorated in the national colors of Bolivia, decorated with flowers.
Blessings of the beautified skulls takes place inside Catholic Churches, after worship songs have brought the Papist faithful into the right spiritual mood.
The BBC has recorded the views of the archbishop of La Paz.
Earlier this month the Church called on the faithful to stop using human skulls at special mass celebrations. The Archbishop of La Paz, Edmundo Abastoflor, urged followers of the Andean rite to “let them rest in peace”.
Some inside the Church even link the practice to the occult.
However, some priests believe they have no other choice than to let people pray Catholic prayers to their skulls, and even allow them to go to church with them.
I receive them and not as enemies of the Catholic faith,” the cemetery’s Roman Catholic priest, Father Jaime Fernandez, told the BBC after giving an informal blessing to thousands of skull-carrying devotees at the cemetery’s chapel.
The Bolivian skull parade is an annual event.
I am not sure why the Bolivians are putting cotton in the eye of the skull.
Why do the Bolivians keep skulls at home?
The Catholics believe that such skulls, if they are blessed by their “holy fathers” will bring good luck to the family in the future.
The Bible is very clear that consulting the spirits of the dead is a sin, that will be punished by God our Father.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
Isaiah 19:3
The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
Source of the majority of these pictures is Getty Images.
That the Roman Catholic Church allow this paganism to enter the Church, with priests blessing the skull worshipers, is indeed a permission that is rooted in the occult realms.
Since the pope is a worshiper of bones and skulls, why should we put the blame on the Bolivians?
“The Holy Father” in Rome is the very “Father of the occult”.
First published: 09.10.2010.
Written by Ivar

8 Responses to Catholics in Bolivia celebrate “Day of the skulls”

  1. Laura says:
    just when I thought I have heard it all about the fascination some Catholics have for dead peoples bones.
    May the Lord start a great work of redeeming these lost Catholics, very soon.
  2. sueliz1 says:
    Hello Ivar. Blessings to you! This story really takes the cake! This is so gross, i don’t even know how to respond. I did laugh reading that the people kept the skulls warm by putting hats on them! I laughed out loud, it is just so ridiculous and crazy!
    • ivarfjeld says:
      Dear Sue.
      Shalom.
      I am trying my best to open the eyes of Roman Catholics, to make them understand that they are trying to serve “god” in a house of demons. May be some of them read this article, and finally accepted the truth: That the Pope is a false teacher, that will take all Catholics on a ride to Hell.
      • Gloria says:
        Regarding Deuteronomy 18:10-12
        Unfortunately, in countries, and even states here in the US practice witch craft, choosing to believe in evil rather than Christ.
  3. John C says:
    I find the mixing of traditional pre-Columbian practices with Christian ones to be very interesting.
    It should be noted that the idea of celebrating Christmas by bringing a pine tree into the home relates to the idea of an “evergreen” tree as a symbol of life’s rebirth in pre-Christian Northern Europe. It was tolerated by the Church because it enabled pagans to relate to, and helped them adopt, Christianity, as I understand it.
    Often the re-emergence of traditional practices can be seen in a cultural/political context as a manifestation of alienation caused by a failure of the broader society to integrate or assimilate ethnic minorities or indigenous people. In the US, I believe, we have seen that reflected in the emergence of something called Kwanza (sp?) in some African-American communities.
    Now, I recently drove past a neighborhood church and saw that they were having a “Bless Your Pet” day. Yes, bring in rover, your tabby or the hamster and get it blessed. I think that stuff is a desperate attempt by religionists to make their beliefs “relevant” to a largely secularized constituency, but it only succeeds in trivializing religion.
  4. Hungry for His word says:
    I have seen alot of articles or videos about catholics and the dead. Most of the time it frustrates me. But this… I cant explain it but this just makes me cry. These people are so confused and lost. Only the Lord and Savior, Yeshua can help them. We as Christ loving people need to pray all the more for these people. It even breaks my corriptible heart so I know it breaks our Lords pure heart.
    As far as the practice of the evergreen trees at christmas, I used to love having a tree up in my house every christmas. Last year I heard how that and the eggs at easter got started. My husband and I decided that we could not allow the pagan practices in to influnce our children. My mother got angry ( she is a christian as well). She said it was only how you looked at it. If I wanted it to be for pagan practices then it was but she saw a triangle which she said represented the trinity. I didnt know what to do. I prayed and prayed. The part of scripture about Daniel and his 3 friends from Jeresulem came to mind. After they were taken to Babylon and served the meat of the king. they refused to eat it because it had been sacraficed to pagan god. They lived off of veggies and water. I garuntee that the meat smelled and looked better than the food they were eating but they refused it. They could have said that- oh well I am not eating to honor their god, and I will just pretend that it was offered to my God. They didnt. They didnt compromise. I see so much compromising in the church now adays. wether in the catholic or prodestant. We as Gods people need to stick to His word. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of the churches. We need to love these people the way Christ did. But he did NOT compromise. neither should we. The Bible is the Holy word of God and we need to know it and follow it.
  5. Wow. I was born and raised a Catholic but I left Catholicism to become a simple Christian. There are far too many idols and rituals for me. How do those things honor God? Interesting article. Thanks :)