Today is, for many people in the world, the culmination of the holiday
season. But for most Mexicans the holiday festivities, which began early this month, are in mid-stride. In Jocotepec, for instance, the
local saint's day began the first week of December and merged with
several other observances, among them El Dia de La Virgen de
Guadalupe, and the Roman Catholic Church's many prefatory Christmas
services.
It's true, of course, that the commercialization of Christmas in
imitation of the United States - surreally complete with Santa Clause,
his reindeer and sleigh, plastic Christmas trees, phony snow and
icicles - so skewed Mexican holiday celebrations that for many people
the chief present-giving day of the season is today. Yet happily many
corners of the Republic stubbornly cling to the tradition of
celebrating El Dia de Los Tres Reyes (Three Kings' Day, January 6) as
the time to give gifts, especially to children.
'Pagan' harvest fiestas
Mexico's long-haul Christmas fiesta is called Las Dicembrinas and
traditionally begins December 8 and won't conclude until February 2
with Candlemas.
But because these celebrations began in both the Americas and Europe
long before the birth of Jesus Christ as harvest festivals, some
communities get a jump on even that date. Many old timers along Lake
Chapala, for instance, are used to counting the two-week fiesta
honoring the patron saint of Ajijic, San Andres Apostal, November 20,
as the beginning of the Navidad period. In the recent past, those who
did that usually had already harvested corn, beans and squash from
their fields, sold that portion of those crops they weren't going to
need, and stored the rest, and were ready for some celebrating.
Purisima Concepcion
While December 8, the feast of Purisima Concepcion - the Immaculate
Conception, one of the many festivals worshiping the Virgin May - is
explosively kicked off before dawn with barrages of cohetes, it is far
surpassed by the religious festival honoring the dark-complected
Mexican manifestation of the Virgin, La Virgen de Guadalupe. This
December 12 national fiesta, honoring the religious personality known
as the Mother of Mexico, the Queen of Mexico, La Morena, La Morenita,
La Guadalupana, not only rivals the birth of Christ but in many areas
surpasses it (much to the consternation of much of the Church's
hierarchy in Rome.)
According to pious tradition, this brown-skinned manifestation of the
Virgin Mary appeared to a 57-year-old Indian peon, Juan Diego, early
on Saturday morning, December 9,1531 (then celebrated as the feast of
the Immaculate Conception) as he walked nine miles to Mass from his
home in Tolpetla to the church of Tlaltelolco (outside Mexico City).
As he approached Tepeyac Hill, site of the former "pagan" temple of
the aboriginal female deity, Tonantzin, he heard a woman's voice call
"Juanito" and "Juan Dieguito." He turned to face a young woman of
about 14, who seemed clothed in light. She claimed to be "the Mother
of the True God" and asked him to tell the bishop of Mexico she wished
a teocalli (temple) built where she was standing. Understandably, Juan
Diego, an undistinguished peon, had a hard time getting to see the
bishop - even though this clergyman was more sympathetic to Indians
than many of his fellow Spaniards - and an even more difficult time
convincing him of the woman's words. After presenting "proof"
authenticating her message, the bishop ordered a shrine erected at
Tepayac, and in the next 15 years more than 15 million inhabitants of
Nueva Espana were converted to Catholicism. Today, it is estimated
that about 80-90 percent of all Mexico is Roman Catholic, and a
majority of those say they have an image of La Guadalupana in their
homes."
Which tells why traditional Christmas rituals have remained popular
here. One of those is the Epiphany, celebrated January 6, which
religious tradition tells us is the day the three Magi presented their
gifts to the infant Jesus. Three Kings Day has long been cause for
high spirits among Mexican children. In expectation of presents,
children write letters to the Three Wise Men - Melchor, Gaspar and
Baltazar - who according to religious custom are entrusted with the
task of bringing seasonal gifts. Symbolically, shoes are to be left
on balconies where they can be easily filled with toys. Presents
delivered by the Magi have a more logical religious explanation than
the westernized distribution of toys by Santa Claus. The night of
January 5 had always been designated as the time when presents are
received on the supposition that the Wise Men arrived at Jesus' birth
place at night.
The 'Rosca'
The climax of the January 6 festival is the family presentation of the
popular "Rosca de Reyes" - ring-shaped cake - accompanied by cups of
hot chocolate. The Rosca, with a hole in the middle, is actually a
modestly flavored pastry, but is richly decorated with spiced fruits
and nuts. Small inch-long figurines are randomly hidden inside the
cake. Those individuals who get a piece of cake containing one of the
porcelain (or more often today, plastic) dolls are required to host a
party on Candlemas, February 6.
Though Jewish and Eastern in origin, Candlemas rituals are some of the
most picturesque of Mexican Catholic liturgy. Candles are blessed and
carried and procession, bringing the ancient concept of Christmas to
culmination as Jesus is symbolically presented to the world.
'Twelfth Night'
Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" was aptly named, capturing the revelry
of such celebrations in Elizabethan England. The decline of interest
in the religious aspects of these festivities in other countries has
been counterbalanced by Mexico's love of traditional festivities,
which includes maintaining the practices of receiving January 6 gifts,
serving the Rosca de Reyes and marking Candlemas February 2.
(Allyn Hunt, former editor and publisher of the Guadalajara Reporter,
has written for several newspapers and magazines in the United States.
His fiction has appeared in the Best American Short Stories and other
anthologies. Since 1985, he has written an opinion column for the
Mexico City News. He has lived in Mexico since 1963.)
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|