Images of snakes and skulls adorn many buildings throughout the city. It would seem the Mayans were focused on death, and though the cultural forms changed after the arrival of the Spanish, images of death still play a large role in their ideology. La Santisima Muerte is just one example of this current phenomenon. However, it would be unfair to suggest their fascination with death existed simply to satisfy morbid human tendencies. Death brings life. They believed the blood of the deceased nourished the earth, and the serpent, though portrayed in a sinister light by Christian thinkers, was often a symbol of regeneration and renewal.
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