Live

Human Skulls Decorated With Hats and Flowers to Be Blessed for Annual Pagan Ritual

Although the celebration isn't recognized by the Catholic Church, a local priest presides over the celebration.

Human skulls were brought to a chapel Wednesday to be blessed for the annual "Day of Skulls" ceremony.

Named Natitas, the Aymara word for “flat nose” or “without a nose,” the skulls are decorated during a ritual in Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, to be blessed exactly a week after the Catholic holiday of All Saints Day.

While deemed a Pagan celebration, locals come together to pray and celebrate over their decorated human skulls. Some wear hats and sunglasses, while others are placed on ornate pillows and boxes. Some skulls even hold cigarettes in their mouths.

The skulls are then brought to the city’s central cemetery for blessings by a local priest, who also performs mass that day, although the Catholic Church doesn’t officially recognize the celebration.