The wall murals above, painted on brick in back of a 99 cent store on 8th and Vermont St., present themselves with many ancient Aztec characteristics. The images of stone carved skulls, jeweled masks and the Milky Way, leading us to the underworld, connects to the present day gothic Chicano styles that have emerged in muralism around Los Angeles. The importance of maize, animals and of carved circular solar discs become of the essence as we understand the artists meaning in the representations of Mexicanismo and the Chicano community.

The stone carved skull on the mural is very much an example of its gothic element but more than that it is a celebration of life and death. A symbol of remembering ancestors and of our slowly coming closer into their underworld of death.”The Aztecs were taught not to fear death. Life and death were one aspect of the sacred duality that structured the universe…Life was not easy, suffering was inevitable and death was inescapable. Many deaths were celebrated as honorable”(Philips,134). This perspective has lead to what has been known as the Day of the Dead. “The Aztecs’ positive attitude about death has carried through into modern Mexican celebrations on the Day of the Dead”(Philips,134). The reason for the many skulls that can be found in Chicano gothic art is not so much a symbol of death but rather of a life lived and what became of it. In many artistic movements the skull has come to mean that duality that we see in our every day life, “The duality of life and death [being] represented in a man/skeleton figure”(Philips,36). This duality and constant battle between life and death has been observed and recorded since the ancient Aztecs. “The Aztecs and the Maya understood the universe to be structured according to a divinely ordained duality: life and death, day and night, light and darkness, wet and dry, the celestial realm all balanced one another. Day was followed by night, the rainy season alternated with the dry season, life was followed by death-and then by new life”(Phillips,9). Death’s presentation upon them did not come to them in a state of denial or negativity. For this reason, the skulls that are presented of those who have died is in a positive light and reminds us all of the inevitability of death. “For the Aztecs it was a matter of honor to embrace death with equanimity and with a certain pride”(Philips,134). We see this acceptance and pride in the wall mural with a staired stone pathway leading to the mouth of the skull and the tongue extended ready to welcome it’s next contestant.
In ancient beliefs, a person who had passed away would travel to the underworld and need to pass a series of obstacles to prove it’s worthiness and present their talents. “The Milky Way was also a pathway to the underworld. In Yucatec it was called Zac Beh (‘The White Path’) and was understood to be the road followed by the spirits of the deceased as they travelled to the underworld to face a series of demanding tests”(Philips,123). On the painting we see a lightening bolt from the galaxy enlightening the path or Zac Beh that follows the staircase where souls go to the underworld to pass these series of examinations. Night and darkness is ever present in this mural with the moon, Milky Way and other spiral galaxies, creating a sense of what life in the underworld is or an impression of being very close to it.

The composition of this mural is beautifully contrasted by not only darkness and bright colors as well, comprising itself with duality as a whole. Its bright colors bring us closer to think of light. We see this in specific relation to the animal, that looks like a fierce bear, holding the carved solar disc. This image also seems to be the replication of a three dimensional stone carved figurine. These carved out images on stone create an ambiance of belonging to the distant past, as many things in stone are not very common today, bringing us to the roots of the murals symbolism. “Aztec potters and stonemasons expressed their devotion to the sacred power of the past and respect for the achievements of their ancient forebears by imitating bygone styles”(Philips,133). In order to understand the present, it is a common practice of looking into earth’s history. What seems to be a bear to the modern viewer is actually presented to be sacred, along with red as a color choice representing our constant fight for life. “Mesoamericans believed the universe to be patterned by duality. Tlatecuhtli consumed the sun god each dusk, consigning him to the underworld for the hours of darkness, but the earth mother then gave birth to the sun once more in the redness of dawn”(Philips,36). It’s scarlet, bright red color brings us closer to our beginnings of birth, and the courage and passion, represented by the red, needed to live life. The animal could be the sun god or the representative of the sun in the mural since it is holding a solar disc. “Stone solar discs were carved and celebrated as symbols of the sun god Tonatiuh and the current world age, which came under his rule and protection”(Philips,213). Every god in Aztec rule was believed to take an animal shape. Here we see the sun god taking the shape of a powerful bear bringing light and life into the world.”…the south was identified with the darkest hour of midnight, when the sun fights for it’s very life with the lords of the underworld”(Philips,122). This duality between the underworld and our world is the divide that creates unity in the wall mural. Especially when we incorporate the dream catcher with an eagle in its center, to the left of the mural, which has many similarities to the circular sun dial and the Aztecs belief of animals as gods.

An imposing image of the wall mural is a bright colored, intricately designed face mask. It’s colors and style tell us that it is a funerary mask for a person being sacrificed. Through its use of colors we are able to deduct the materials used giving insight into the probability of this person being of the upper class. “…nobles or rulers in this era wore Olmec greenstone pieces as sacred amulets”(Philips,133). Through the mask’s greenstone quality we are told it is either a noble or ruler fending off evil, danger and disease. “The burials of rulers, nobles and the wealthy were considerably richer than those of commoners. Elite graves in Classic-Period Maya cities were rich in offerings of jade and serpentine, in funerary masks, jewels and splendid clothes”(Philips,135).

The fact that it’s an elaborate funerary mask rich in jade and jewels means he is of a noble or wealthy status. “A prayer would be offered for men painted turquoise blue, for they were bound for a fate of ritual slaughter under the priest’s sacrificial knife”(Philips,109). Behind the jade background of the mask it’s inlaid jewels are of turquoise blue. “A skull decorated with shell and jade was laid in the tomb of an Aztec noble who went fearlessly to the spirit world”(Philips,213). Based on the turquoise jewels, he is facing the fate of a sacrifice representing that duality between life and death, light and darkness that no one can escape.
Next to this mask we see the elegant Aztec pattern in red providing support for the growth of maize. This staple food is perhaps the most relative symbol in the mural as it represents the human balancing our world and the underworld. It is an ancient belief that we are made of maize dough in the image of the gods. “In some versions of both Maya and Aztec creation narratives, the first people were fashioned from the soft maize dough. In the Popol Vuh, the creators Huracan and Gucumatz gave ears of maize to a grandmother goddess Xmucane who ground them to flour, made a paste by mixing it with water and then moulded the first people”(Philips,34). The importance of maize are the properties humans carry. It’s sustainability and high nourishment made maize a staple food of the people, “Together they provided a balanced diet: carbohydrates from maize, protein from beans and squash, oils and fats from avocado”(Philips,35). Maize encompassed every single daily meal and became the food that sustained the past, present and future. “A Maya villager woke to a breakfast of maize water, then left for the fields carrying several balls of ground maize encased in leaves. At night, refreshed after his agricultural labors by a steam bath, he was served tortillas. In Aztec lands a peasants midday meal consisted of the maize soup atolli and his reward for his work in the evening was to dine on tortillas topped with beans, other vegetables and chilling sauce”(Philips,106). This dependency upon maize as an integral food continues today. Since ancient times, “Mesoamericans saw themselves as a people reliant on, dedicated to and even made of maize. The word used by the Aztecs for the maize dough from which they made tortillas is toneuhcayotl (‘our flesh’)”(Philips,34), and it’s tradition has continued to today, where we still see an emphasis placed on daily rations of corn. On top of the Aztec pattern and the corn stalk we see a parrot. According to legend it was partly thanks to the parrot that corn was discovered and known to be edible. “The Popol Vuh also recorded this debt to animals: Huracan and Gucumatz were lead to the discovery of maize by four corn-eating creatures- a coyote, a fox, a parrot and a crow-who had tasted the maize and found it good”(Philips,34). This act has left the people indebted to these four animals, especially the parrot believing this discovery to be a blessing for the god that took the form of the parrot. Animals have been very important to this world, the Aztecs observed this and the Mexican American community continues to revere animals for the important roles they play in our lives. Through their divine presence we see that the pattern of the Aztecs is holding the bird up, “The sacred patterning extended to the world of animals. Many creatures were held to be holy because they were forms of the gods”(Philips,123). The great significance in animals makes us understand ourselves and our world better. For this deep respect of the gods many animals have been blessed.

Along the celebration of life and creation is the ‘Blessing of the Animals’, as the wall mural below shows us. This procession of blessing farm animals and pets on Los Angeles’ oldest and most historic street has been a local tradition since 1930. St. Francis of Assisi loved animals and began the celebration in name for the love of creation. Below we see a Franciscian friar in a brown robe and a white cord saying a special prayer over the animals with holy water in his hand. This celebration that occurs every Saturday before Easter on Olvera street is important because it also brings the community together. As shown below the children get to play with the animals. There is also music along with many different types of animals including a turtle, donkey and rabbit. It is a vibrant mural for the celebration of the living.

Paintings

Wall mural. 99cent store, Vermont and 8th Street.

Blessing of the Animals. La Placita, Olvera Street.

Works Cited

Philips, Charles. The Aztecs and Maya World: Everyday life, society            and culture in ancient central America and Mexico. Anness             Publishing Ltd, 2005. Print.