The Gory Details (Gross)

Gory Details #31 "Barbacoa de Cabeza"

The people of Mexico have a number of wonderful traditions that make them near and dear to the heart of the Gore Monger. Not least among these is the "Barbacoa de Cabeza" or barbequing of the head. This is common at family functions in Mexico. Here's how it works.

You take the head of a cow; the whole head, teeth, nose ears, spice it up, wrap it in foil and cook it in a pit barbeque. Once prepared this way, all of the soft bits can be eaten, tongue, brain, eyeballs. Hmmm, sucking the warm, juicy eyeball out of a dismembered cow head? This is my kind of a party. Let's take a look at what other good times are to be had South of the border.

The people of Mexico have a rich tradition of legends and folk tales. My personal favorite is "La Llonora." She is a blue ghost who sails along the banks of rivers and over lakes wailing for her lost children. Why is she searching for her children? Because she drowned them in a fit of jealousy of course.

Another good one is "Bailando con el Diablo." In this story a beautiful young girl goes to a dance where she meets a hansom but mysterious stranger. She agrees to dance with him, but once they are on the dance floor, she discovers that he is either a hollow shell or has cloven hooves for feet. Once discovered, the mystery man vanishes in a burst of flame burning, sometimes killing, the girl. I assume this is the sort of story insecure men tell girls they'd like to date just to make sure they don't get beat out by the next village's Don Juan.

"La Mano Negra" is a sort of boogy man. It is a withered black hand that comes for bad children and carries them away never to be seen again.

In the "not exactly fairytale but definitely weird" category is the Chirronera a kind of snake that really does live in northern Mexico and southern Texas. According to local legend, this snake can whistle at women and may crawl inside them (I'll let you figure out through which opening) and impregnate them after which the woman will give birth to a litter of snakes.

Other times this snake will hypnotize a woman and then nurse at her breast and steal her milk.

Meaning "Day of the Dead," "Dia De Los Muertos" is a traditional Mexican celebration. While Dia De Los Muertos is November first, it is actually part of a two day celebration. November first is dedicated to angelitos the spirits of children who have died. The second is dedicated to the adult deceased.

It is believed that the spirits of the ancestors will visit the houses of the living during this time and alters are prepared for them with special little dinner rolls called "Pan de Muerta."

Mexicans often stay up in local cemeteries all night on the second, holding candle light vigils. Unlike the silly funeral drudgery we're used to, these vigils are actually quite festive with bands and fireworks.

Even the skeletons of the dead, "Calaveras," have a pretty good time in Mexican tradition. They are frequently depicted dancing in grave yards or drinking in bars. Sometimes they even dance or have sex with living girls though it never seems to work out well for the girl.

My favorite part of Dia de Los Muertos, and Mexican death rituals in general, is that death is usually viewed as a female "La Muerta." She's a lot like European Death with the black robe and skeletal body but does fun things like disguise herself in white so that she can talk her way onto men's carts where she sucks the life out of them.

More somber are the "Descandos," roadside markers, usually a small pile of stones with a crucifix, where someone has died or another tragic event has happened. They are a Mexican tradition but have become popular across the U.S. Some in Mexico are centuries old. The name translates literally as "Resting places."

And finally, "Corrida de Gallos" is an abandoned Mexican game that traces its roots to the Castile region of Spain. In English it would be called "The Rooster Game." To play, two teams on horseback try to snatch a live rooster that has been buried up to its neck out of the ground. Once the chicken has been grabbed, the two teams fight for control of the bird till they run out of chicken, then a new rooster is buried and the game starts over.

There is a similar game in Afghanistan where a goat is fought over. I understand that most of the injuries in this game are suffered by spectators who get ridden over in the excitement. This is, of course only if you overlook the injuries suffered by the goat. 

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