Animal Masks in Mexican Folk Art

A mask is an artificial face. When it is worn by someone, it hides that person's identity and allows them to pretend they are someone or something else. Masks are worn by people in every part of the world. In Mexico, masks are an important part of Folk Art. They have been used for thousands of years. People wear different types of masks for different reasons. Some masks are meant to be worn on religious holidays, while others are used for play and celebration. Some masks are based on real figures; others are based on make-believe characters. Some masks are made to look like people; others like animals.

According to a traditional belief in Mexico, every man and woman shares a common destiny with an animal counterpart. The name for this soul guardian or companion is Tono(a). The tona tso'ok is acquired when the birth of an individual and that of an animal coincide, the tona and individual will run during all their existence.  If anybody does not have food, the animal will undergo hunger; if the animal is wounded, the person will become ill, and, also, if the animal is killed, the man will die. Even the Aztec gods had a tona. Tezcatlipoca, was a very important God in Aztec mythology (God of the smoky mirror represented in a obsidian mirror). It was believed that he provided good fortune to the people when he wanted to. He could make the harvest succeed or fail. His tona was the jaguar; popularly know throughout Mexico as the tigre. This is why the jaguar is the most feared and respected of all animals in Mexico. In traditional harvest dances, the jaguar brings the corn to the church to be blessed before the people can eat it. Today, they practice the catholic religion and they conserve animistic vestiges of its old beliefs. (This information comes from the Brogan and other sources that are no longer online)

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