In the colonial, religious architecture in Mexico, it is very common to observe the figures of animals, flowers and celestial figures carved in the stone of the temples. The Spaniard priests were marvelled when they saw the beauty of the carved stone -produced by the indigenous artisans -. Those figures serve as an adornment and embellishment. However, they knew little about the symbolism that such figures held in the Mexica philosophy. Those figures were the actual representation of many of the deities of the indigenous people, and they had a specific symbolism for the Mexica group. They were in fact, utilized in the many rites of the Mexica people. Durkheim asserts in his work The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912) that there is an
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It is the meaning and symbolism constructed and attached to it, which is susceptible to be in one or the other category. As an illustration, in the celebration of the Day of the Death in the Mexican culture, there is a tradition to put an altar with offerings for the relatives and friends who have passed away. Such altar is decorated with candles, flowers, food and special drinks as a way to remember the deceased ones. For someone who is not familiar with such ritual, everything that is display on the altar are merely common objects found in a banquet. However, such ritual is based on symbolisms of the catholic and Mexica tradition, which belong to the syncretism of the Mexican culture. For example, the marigold flowers are known as zempasuchitl, and in the Mexican tradition they symbolize the death. They are the symbol of the death and they are display in altars and graves. In many homes, people would leave a trail of marigolds from the front door of their homes to the altar, as a way for the deceased to find their way back to their homes again. During that celebration, those flowers get a special meaning and connotation that is shared by that specific social group. Those flowers are just objects, which do not hold any significance nor symbolism for those out of that group (Appelrouth and Edles
It is the meaning and symbolism constructed and attached to it, which is susceptible to be in one or the other category. As an illustration, in the celebration of the Day of the Death in the Mexican culture, there is a tradition to put an altar with offerings for the relatives and friends who have passed away. Such altar is decorated with candles, flowers, food and special drinks as a way to remember the deceased ones. For someone who is not familiar with such ritual, everything that is display on the altar are merely common objects found in a banquet. However, such ritual is based on symbolisms of the catholic and Mexica tradition, which belong to the syncretism of the Mexican culture. For example, the marigold flowers are known as zempasuchitl, and in the Mexican tradition they symbolize the death. They are the symbol of the death and they are display in altars and graves. In many homes, people would leave a trail of marigolds from the front door of their homes to the altar, as a way for the deceased to find their way back to their homes again. During that celebration, those flowers get a special meaning and connotation that is shared by that specific social group. Those flowers are just objects, which do not hold any significance nor symbolism for those out of that group (Appelrouth and Edles