yes – memento mori. They were more obsessed with it in the middle ages – it also was much more visible then. At my age (77) I remember the Roman saying but I do not obsess about it. Your photo is the most elegant Halloween post I’ve seen.
I think in those days they only had the church (or the pub) to guide them through the natural course of life – I’m not sure they were obsessed with death in the way we have our obsessions, it was just the natural order of things – death was natural and a common every day event, whether through some childhood illness, a minor injury that would not heal or one of the curable diseases – tuberculosis, etc. I don’t think we have any idea, really.
Stephen G Hipperson 
you got that right ~
🙂
yes – memento mori. They were more obsessed with it in the middle ages – it also was much more visible then. At my age (77) I remember the Roman saying but I do not obsess about it. Your photo is the most elegant Halloween post I’ve seen.
I think in those days they only had the church (or the pub) to guide them through the natural course of life – I’m not sure they were obsessed with death in the way we have our obsessions, it was just the natural order of things – death was natural and a common every day event, whether through some childhood illness, a minor injury that would not heal or one of the curable diseases – tuberculosis, etc. I don’t think we have any idea, really.
That’s telling us. Is that a crown of laurel on the skull? Victorious in the Christian fight, or an ironic comment on pride coming to dust?
That’s a yes to the laurel – I’ll leave it to your own interpretation as to the symbolism! 😉