More "Day of the Dead"

Why? Because it's more captivating than our upcoming voter guide.

Here's the Flickr text that goes with this pic:

These painted skulls are traditional in the Day of the Dead ceremonies in indigenous Aztec culture. Traditionally, the festivities lasted the entire month of August. [Similar to the Chinese observation of the Ghost Festival - suggesting a longer history than the 3500 years mentioned below]. When the Spanish Catholics tried to co-opt the ceremonies and suppress them, they moved the celebrations to All Saints Day in November.

But the traditional ceremonies have survived and continue to this day. People visit the cemeteries of their loved ones and decorate the graves. Or they build altars in their homes to honor the dead.

The skull is viewed as a symbol of life-death-rebirth. Painted skulls were traditionally used to honor the dead, whom they believed returned during the original summer month-long ritual. For the Aztecs, life was a dream and only upon death did a soul become truly awake. As a result, they did not fear death, but rather, they embraced it.

(On display at The National Museum of the American Indian.)