Christmas in Mexico

 zedillo.presidencia.gob.mx

Though Christmas is celebrated almost all over the world, Mexico does so at great length and with its own special style in a variety of activities that span the period from December 16th to January 6th. 

Las Posadas 

 

Perhaps the best known manifestation of the Christmas spirit in Mexico are the traditional Posadas. One is held each night on the nine days between December 16th and Christmas eve. The Posadas are a re-enactment of Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary's pilgrimage seeking a place to stay and give birth to the baby Jesus. In olden times, a boy and girl were chosen to represent the Virgin and Joseph, but nowadays a group of people carrying candles visits several houses asking for lodging with a traditional question/response song. The people inside the first two houses refuse them, and at the third one the group is invited inside. The more religious festivities may include prayer, but most often the event now becomes a party. The adults are given a thick fruit punch with a little alcohol to ward off the cold. 

The origin of the Posadas is said to date back to 1587, when Friar Diego de Soria, in the monastery of Acolman, obtained a Papal Bull from Pope Sixtus V to celebrate "Aguinaldo" or Christmas gift masses from December 16th through the 24th in New Spain. As part of the evangelization process, these masses, held in the church atriums, were interspersed with scenes alluding to Christmas. To attract a crowd, the Augustinian missionaries used sparklers, fireworks, Christmas carols and piñatas.

The Piñata

 

The Piñata is a must at Posada time. There are several stories regarding its origin. Many people say that it is derived from the Italian custom of giving out clay pots of gifts during lent or carnival - pignatta means pot in Italian. 

Probably the name is derived from this, but there are also similar Pre-Hispanic customs. A clay pot was decorated to look like a cloud for some of the rites honoring Tlaloc, the Rain God. When it was broken, it would shower down food and good things to the ground, much as the rain brought crops and flowers to the people. 

In any case, the missionaries, determined to convert the Indians to Catholicism, adopted the piñata as a teaching tool. The decorated pot was said to represent the devil, who tempts mankind with a glittering exterior. And the blindfold was used to show that blind faith is the path to achieving the good things hidden from view. Thus the converts and curious were asked to strike the devil, following the new faith, and were rewarded with good things to eat. 

Nowadays, the piñata is a game enjoyed by children and grownups alike. It is usually filled with fruits, nuts and candies; sometimes small toys are added. The piñata has become another wonderful expression of Mexican folk art. Figures ranging from the traditional Star of Bethlehem to action figures based on hit international films are hand crafted with great skill and ingenuity. 

Pastorelas 

Pastorelas are another version of the theatrical representations used by the missionaries to impart religious knowledge to the indigenous peoples of Mexico. These may have been based on the auto sacramental performances which became popular about the time of the conquest and reached their peak during Spain's Golden Age, with playwrights such as Pedro Calderón de la Barca. He is famous in the Spanish-speaking world for juxtaposing infinite good to the confusion of human life in works such as The Constant Prince (El príncipe constante), written in 1629. This theatrical genre in turn was probably based on the Passion Plays which were popular throughout Medieval Europe to depict the Passion of Christ, but later incorporated the Devil and became increasingly more vernacular. The Pastorelas in Mexico followed this tradition; starting as simple parables of the struggle of good against evil, ending with the triumph of good represented by the birth of Christ, these plays became increasingly playful and irreverent. Nowadays, the Pastorelas, performed in various forms in church atriums, town squares and theaters, range from political satire, commentary on the evils of modernity, or even bawdy scenes, to school plays of naïve simplicity. 

Poinsettias 

These beautiful red flowers which have become a symbol of Christmas are native to Mexico. In Náhuatl they were called Cuitlaxochitl or star flowers, and in Spanish they are known as Noche Buena or Christmas eve. The English name of Poinsettia was adopted in honor of a US diplomat named Joel Poinsett, who took cuttings back to North Carolina with him after his stay in Mexico, and began cultivating them in the United States. They come in several colors, white, yellow, though the most well-known is a bright red. Pre-Hispanic Mexicans also used the flower for medicinal purposes: the red blossoms were believed to stimulate circulation to the heart if placed on the chest, and were also crushed and applied to skin infections. 

Nacimiento

 

The birth of Jesus is also commemorated with nativity scenes, called nacimientos, which means births. Although this tradition comes from Europe, where it is still widespread, in Mexico it has also become a thriving source of handicrafts; nativity scenes in wood, clay, metal, glass, wax, straw and almost any material you can think of, are another rich expression of popular art. Although the scene is set in advance, the baby Jesus is placed in the manger on Christmas eve. It was considered an honor for one of the children to be selected to place the main figure in the manger. 

Christmas and New Year

 

Christmas itself is usually celebrated on Christmas eve in Mexico with a midnight mass and a late dinner. More modern influences have introduced the Christmas tree and Santa Claus along with the traditional crèche. The New Year is welcomed in with a big party, and tradition calls for each guest to eat a grape with each tolling of the church bell at midnight to sweeten the twelve months to come. 

Día de Reyes

 

There are many names for the festival which arrives on the Twelfth Day of Christmas (actually after Christmas), Twelfth Night, Epiphany, Three Kings Day, January 6th. The tradition in Mexico for Dia de Reyes, Kings Day, is for children to leave their shoes outside the door so they can be filled with gifts from the Magi (Three Kings). This is also the day the nativity scene is taken down. Rosca de Reyes is a special bread made for the occasion in the form of a crown, decorated with dried fruits and hiding in its midst one or several little dolls (now usually plastic). At this fiesta each guests cuts his own piece of this coffee cake because tradition demands that the guest who finds the doll (representing the infant Jesus) in their slice of Rosca give a party on February 2nd, Candlemas, with tamales and atole for all. 

The Pre-Hispanic peoples learned the cultivation of wheat from the Spaniards and quickly acquired quite a taste for bread. Combining the Arabian, Jewish and Christian recipes used by the conquerors with indigenous ingredients and methods produced a rich variety of local breads. Convents in Mexico were an important source of culinary creativity. The nuns not only baked breads to accompany hot chocolate --cocoa being native to Mexico and a favorite drink of the Mexica-- but invented breads to aid in evangelization by commemorating religious holidays. Thus they developed the famous bread for the dead and the Rosca de Reyes. 

We hope you have enjoyed reading about our customs and wish you a very happy holiday season.