Monday, December 22, 2008
Mexico at Christmastime
By Allan
Wall
It’s that time of year
again – Christmas in Mexico.
The worldwide diversity of Christmas
in its various cultural forms is an interesting study. The essence of the holiday
– a celebration of the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ – is the same throughout Christendom. The holiday has a real power to inspire art, literature and folk customs, and express itself in various
manners in diverse cultures.
Real celebrations come
from the people, and are not imposed by governments to promote an agenda. In
Mexico, Christmas is a true folk celebration. Mexican Christmas customs are an
eclectic mixture of the old and the new, including elements from Europe, elements developed in Mexico, and, in recent years,
elements borrowed from the U.S.A.
One prominent aspect of
the Mexican Christmas season is the widespread use of the nacimiento – the
crèche or nativity scene. It is often more elaborate than those used in the United
States. Its ceramic figurines include interesting elements such as the nopal cactus, hermits and ducks. (I’ve even seen
ducks with halos!). My Mexican wife has fond memories of the nacimiento which belonged to her late grandmother.
In northern Mexico, the
traditional gift-giving occasion is the night of December 24th, Christmas Eve.
Traditionally, in southern Mexico, the principal gift-giving date is January 6th, Epiphany, or more commonly
known as the Day of the Magi Kings, commemorating the presentation of the gifts by the wise men to the Baby Jesus
The piñata, suspended in mid-air and whacked with a stick until it breaks, is probably the most famous Mexican Christmas
custom. Besides Christmastime, the piñata
is used throughout the year at children’s birthday parties,
In the U.S., the most famous
piñata is in the form of a donkey, but nowadays a piñata might be in any form. For example, you might see a Bart Simpson piñata
or a Spiderman piñata.
The traditional piñata used at Christmastime is a ball with spikes. In Spanish colonial
times a piñata in the form of a big ball (representing Satan) with seven spikes
(representing the seven capital sins) was used by the friars as a teaching device. Thus, breaking the piñata represented defeating Satan.
Another Christmas custom
is the posada, which superficially bears some resemblance to the Christmas caroling
custom practiced in English-speaking countries. However, the singing in the posada
is a ritualized musical drama. The people outside sing the part of Mary and Joseph, the people inside sing the part of the
innkeeper, and finally those outside are invited inside for the party.
The Mexican pastorela is a genre of Christmas play. Its roots go back to the mystery and morality plays of medieval Spain.
The pastorela focuses on the shepherds, pastor
being the Spanish word for shepherd. In the pastorela,
the shepherds hear from the angel about the Christ Child, and they set out for Bethlehem to see Him. Along the way they encounter the Devil, who puts various temptations in their path to prevent their arrival
at the manger. Each shepherd is tempted by a particular sin. But they resist
the temptations and at the end of the play they reach the Christ Child.
In more recent years, gringo
customs such as Santa Claus and Christmas trees have been adopted in Mexico. Actually
they have been assimilated quite well into the culture.
During the season, stores do
a brisk business in Christmas trees. I recall one December, in Mexico City,
seeing a gigantic artificial Christmas tree in the Zocalo (the main Mexico City plaza).
Santa Claus is well-known in
Mexico now, and many small children eagerly await his annual visit.
One curious result of the
adoption of Christmas customs from the U.S. is seeing snow-related decorations in regions of Mexico where it hardly ever snows.
Just as in the U.S.A. (and
maybe everywhere it’s celebrated), Christmas is very commercialized in Mexico.
But maybe that’s inevitable, because the main reason it’s commercialized is the holiday is important to
people.
As long as you remember the real
reason for Christmas, and as long as you don’t go into debt buying presents, that can be a very good thing. It’s certainly good for the commercial economy. In fact,
a lot of stores do a big share of their business during the season.
In conclusion, allow me
to wish all the readers of MexiData.info a hearty Merry Christmas, or as they say in Mexico – ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!
——————————
Allan
Wall resides in Mexico and teaches
at a university. His website is located at www.allanwall.net.
