Apart from cultural background & religion, it is a matter of taste,
which symbols are used to beautify oneself.

Also, they connect meaning and memory in our existence - in other words: 

If others like butterflies as a symbol of transformation, my personal
taste makes me prefer skullz. The meaning stays the same & my character
dares me to dig deeper.

In the past years, I have brought skullz to many places. I learned that
most cultures don't share the "taboo" tradition the europeans have regarding
skullz. Often they are a natural part of life. But even here,
the topic is very present in people's minds.

There are quite different approaches to this subject, which strongly depend
on local religion and cultural backgrounds. Briefly explained:

• Mexicans have a special holiday named “day of the dead”. It reminds
  the people of their dead ancestors. It also reminds them not to be scared
  of death, but to laugh at it. It is not just another kind of humour, but a very
  good life insurance & best of all, it's completely free.

• In Muslim cultures, there is a special section named sufism. There is a
  famous saying: “to die before you actually die “. It is a metaphor to
  complete your life with the best achievable performance.

• Asian religions incorporating reincarnation, will have a very similar view
  at the subject. Simply said:

“Why worry about death, if everything gets better in complete order
with the cosmos.”

• Voodoooriginated in Haiti, among the african slaves. From there, it
  spread to North and South America and back to Africa. In these cultures,
  there is a strong belief in Voodoo as a religion. But unlike the common
  opinion, it is not black, nor white - it is the humans that make it to
  what it is.

• Even in european roots, similar thoughts are to be found: In every
  ancient tribe that was spiritually led by a shaman, death was regarded
  as something that was to be respected, but not to be feared.

Allready diving deep, I find myself closer to the religions after all.
The appendix explains some key words.

Appendix

- a representation of something - an idea, concept, object, quality, etc.

Taboo - polynesian origin. TAPU in tonga-language literally means
inviolable or sacrosanct due to its sacredness. James Cook imported the
word to Europe, where it's meaning changed to "something not to be
spoken of".

Day of the dead - DIAS DE LOS MUERTOS, is held in Mexico and other
spanish speaking countires every year November 1st and 2nd. The celebration
includes skull shaped sweets and bread, dancing with skull masks & visiting cemeteries - where graves are redecorated to honour the dead.

Sufism - the esoteric aspect of Islam and muslim spirituality.
Popular writer Idries Shah.

Reincarnation - rebirth in another body after physical death.

Shaman - gender neutral term in evenk & manchu language, known as
druid in northern Europe: Healer with the ability to travel to the other world
by astral projection, communicator with spirits to secure help for the community.
A shaman often comes to his position after a surviving heavy illness.

Voodoo - a melting pot religion, created by african slaves in Haiti. A colourful
mixture of animism & catholic beliefs. Includes ceremonies with dances and
music, ritual trance, sacrifices & spiritual obsession.

Satanism - something like a religion, means to worship satan or evil forces.
Best countered with the joke ”the best satanists are converted catholics”.

Karma - in hinduism deed or act, in buddhism acts of will, the law of cause &
effect, in christianity “we will reap what we sow”.

Globabylon - globalization fused with babylon. Discovered by the designer
of the raxasa wear prints. Globalization is big fish business coming together
to eat anything smaller. Babylong in christian or rastafari belief means the same.

Being a part of contemporary culture, I dive in a big ocean full of all kinds of
fish or bones or whatever. Everything goes, it's just a matter of taste. I give
maxium tolerance to everything, but quite shurely I'll only give a chance or two
before I strike back.

Let me start with the bad fishes, like racism or satanism: I'm not that sacred,
but I will definitely refuse any kind of order from that side of the spectrum.
So’orry, you know who you are! For the same reasons I don’t do human bones
or ivory, it’s just bad karma. These principles are reconfirmed everyday. After
spending long nights in Globabylon, building the walls of my fortress and
experiencing stories and interactions with all kinds of fish, comes this: I’m
still very curious, positively related & super interested to spend my life where
anything is possible & everyone is sitting in the first row…

Most of my inspiration comes from exactly this belief. Connections lead to
learning by doing & because I am also made of flesh and bones, will and
instinct, I spend time with detailed research in the process of creating a
product.

All of this is work in progress, so this page is intended to grow further…
if you have questions or contributions, feel free to send me an e-mail
or visit the guestbook.

With lotsofskullz’noizze’happinezzz             
from sis’ta  *K* kali RAXASA central europe xmesstime2004