MEXICO: ITS FIESTAS, CELEBRATIONS, AND PARADES

Hanging out with the Mojigangas in San Miguel de Allende before the parade.

Even after living in Mexico and other Latin American countries for over twenty years I still feel as though I am in training. I realize that most people train to be recognized for their achievements in endeavors such as medicine, the sciences, music, sports, the arts, etc., etc. 

I think of people who are driven by such passions as long distance marathon runners with incredible endurance. I feel that I might also qualify in that category by the fact that I live in a culture which has a never-ending circuit of fiestas, holidays, and celebrations. 

 Keeping up in this culture is no easy task. It requires a lot of endurance and I often feel as though I am also in training for a marathon run. Please join me in what I call my “Fiesta Run” and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The fiesta (festival or holiday) is a Mexican art form that takes celebration to a level that is impossible to ignore or to resist. Street theater and music, parades and fireworks, colorful costumes, food and dance combine to make religious observances, cultural festivals, and patriotic holidays uniquely Mexican. No visitor to Mexico should miss an opportunity to join in the spirit of fiesta and thankfully the country's calendar is packed with holiday events.





Many religious celebrations have their roots in the pre-Hispanic era while most civic holidays reflect modern historical events. Since Aztecs times, religious festivities have been a major part of Mexican life. With the arrival of the conquistadors from Spain, Catholicism found an especially fertile land for this new religion. It is interesting and often impossible to understand religious syncretism in Mexico.

Syncretism (my new favorite word) simply defined is the blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. It is the blending of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought. Upon looking closely at Mexico's fiestas you may be surprised to find very conservative or traditional people dancing to please or to ask favors from the Pre-Hispanic gods who are masked behind the image of Catholic saints.

Government offices, banks, schools, and some businesses close across the nation for major national holidays. Such closings may also occur during important religious celebrations in individual localities. Essential commerce, however, is rarely suspended so most market places, supermarkets, and small family-operated grocery stores generally stay open for business every day of the year. You definitely will not go hungry while enjoying the fiestas. 

The following are major fiestas, or holidays, in Mexico and some of my favorite. I have included the links to my previously published posts for each of the following holidays for additional information and photographs. Just click and go! 


DANZA DE LOS CONCHEROS (DANCE OF THE CONCHEROS)

While “Concheros” is the oldest and most common name for the dance as performed today, other indigenous names such as Huehuenches, Chichimecas, Aztecas, and Mexica are also used. This dance and fiesta emerged shortly after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. It is based on the old traditional “mitote” dance, but modified to include Catholic symbolism as a means of preserving ancient ritual. While the Spanish tried to eliminate as much indigenous culture as possible total eradication was not possible. In the case of the dance of the Concheros that which could not be suppressed or eliminated was adapted to Christianity to facilitate the evangelization process.

LINK TO: FIESTA DE LOS CONCHEROS

CELEBRACIONES PRIMAVERA (SPRINGTIME CELEBRATIONS)

Many festivals take place year-round in San Miguel, but the Spring season is especially colorful and entertaining with its great variety of festivals. The festivals commence with the flower fair of La Candelaria at Parque Juarez which is then followed by the pre-Lenten Carnival celebrations which take place in the Jardin, the main plaza of San Miguel de Allende. Following these two festivals are my two favorite Spring fiestas which are the Children's Parade and the Baroque Music Festival concert at the Botanical Gardens both of which are held during the Spring Equinox in March.

  LINK TO:  SPRINGTIME FIESTAS


SEMANA SANTA (EASTER CELEBRATIONS)

Mexico celebrates Carnival (which is known as Mardi Gras in the United States) with raucous parades and displays of great gaiety. Dates vary since the fiesta is linked to the Easter calendar. Mexicans also celebrate Semana Santa and Holy Week with festivals and religious parades on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But they also mark the season by heading to the beach or mountains for a family vacation. Semana Santa (Easter) is definitely the biggest and busiest holiday during the year in Mexico.

  LINK TO: SEMANA SANTA/EASTER CELEBRATIONS

DIA DE INDEPENDENCIA (INDEPENDENCE DAY)

Mexico's Independence Day is celebrated on September 16, the day in 1810 when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla urged Mexicans to rise up against the Spanish born ruling class. In towns and cities across Mexico citizens gather at midnight on Sept. 15 in their community's main square to hear the mayor or in Mexico City, the president, repeat Father Hidalgo's "grito," or cry for freedom. At sunrise on the 16th, military and civic parades kick off a day of celebration that includes fireworks, food and music which are the three key elements in any Mexican fiesta.

      LINK TO:     INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS


   DIA DE LOS MUERTOS (DAY OF THE DEAD)

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated across Mexico with each region stamping its own cultural mark on the observance. On All Saints Day, November 1st, small children who have died are honored as "angelitos," little angels. The next day on November 2nd, All Souls Day is the day set aside for remembering older family members, friends, even the famous who have passed away. Family altars or public displays are set up and decorated with photographs, mementos and "ofrendas"--offerings of food, refreshments and symbolic gifts. In some regions, families hold vigils and feasts at the cemetery, while in other regions, candy skeletons or pan de muerto, a sweet bread, are consumed with family at home.

  LINK TO:     DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATIONS

                           

DIA DE REVOLUCION  (REVOLUTION DAY)

Dia de Revolucion commemorates the start of the Mexican Revolution by Francisco I. Madero in 1910 and is celebrated annually on November 20th. The Mexican Revolution (Spanish: Revolución Mexicana) was a major armed struggle from 1910 to 1920 that radically transformed Mexican culture and government. The Mexican Revolution brought the overthrow of dictator Jose de la Cruz Porfirio Mori after 35 years of rule. Although recent research has focused on local and regional aspects of the Revolution, it was a genuinely national revolution.

   LINK TO:      MEXICO REVOLUTION DAY CELEBRATIONS

DIA DE GUADALUPE (DAY OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE)

She is the patron saint of Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the dark-skinned Virgin Mary who appeared to Juan Diego, a poor Indian convert to Catholicism, on a hillside near Mexico City in 1531. No one believed him until, after a third appearance of the vision, the image of the Virgin Mary was imprinted on his cloak. Deemed a miraculous work by the church, Diego's cloak now hangs in the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City and each year on December 12, Mexicans honor their patron saint with parades and religious celebrations.

                                 
     LINK TO:     DIA DE GUADALUPE CELEBRATIONS

CHARRERIA AND MARIACHIS (MEXICAN RODEOS AND TRADITIONAL MUSIC)

Charreria originally developed on the haciendas of Mexico where workers would try to outdo one another with their horse riding and roping skills which effectively turned these tasks into an art form. Workers from different haciendas would compete against one another at competitions. With the dissolution of the haciendas following the Mexican Revolution, charreria transitioned into a sport with formal competitions called charreadas.

Charreria is the official national sport of Mexico, but it is also much more than a sport. Charreria represents Mexican culture, tradition, and history as it involves equestrian competitions in which horse riding, roping, and cattle handling come into play. These photos were taken on my birthday while we were living in San Miguel de Allende which certainly made it a memorable birthday!

Mariachi music and charreria are very much intertwined. The two traditions developed concurrently in the west of Mexico. The traditional music at charreadas (Mexican "rodeos") is performed by mariachis who dress like charros (horse riders), but in brighter colors and with greater ornamentation.

Throughout the world mariachi music is a recognized symbol of Mexico. For Mexicans it is the musical accompaniment to life's most important moments. It is vital part of courtship and family events such as weddings, birthdays, baptisms, and funerals. Mariachi music and song is the emblematic sound of Mexico, which reaches into the hearts of its listeners evoking the history and traditions of Mexico.

In almost any city in Mexico you'll come across groups of mariachi musicians decked out in fancy suits with wide-brimmed sombreros. You may see them playing in a restaurant or bar or in a plaza waiting to be hired. Mariachis grace the stages of Mexico's most important theaters and stadiums and enliven gatherings of all types. In a Mexican neighborhood it is not uncommon to wake up in the early morning hours to the sound of a mariachi group serenading a young lady on her birthday, a mother on Mother's Day, or the Virgin Mary on her feast day.

Mariachi music has been recognized and added to UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring the better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance. Bravo!

For an extensive list of annual holidays in Mexico click on the following:
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS IN MEXICO

Oaxaca City celebrates their trash collectors with a special parade in their honor. This trash truck definitely has to be the cleanest and prettiest trash truck I have ever seen!


Mexico and its people have an amazing energy which embraces all aspects of life including their many, many celebrations. Mexicans and their zest for life is truly inspiring and remarkable. Mexicans work as hard as they play and they certainly deserve my admiration. Now if I can only maintain a good showing in my "Fiesta Run" of marathons I will be very happy!  Until next time, wishing you happy trails and safe travels! Laura

                         And my reminder:  Memories are just a "click" away!  

                                                         

THE INDIGENOUS MAYA OF MEXICO AND GUATEMALA

Welcome to MEXICO AND BEYOND: LAURA’S PHOTO JOURNEY. I have chosen the Mayan culture of Mexico and Guatemala to share in this blog posting as part of my "INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF LATIN AMERICA" series.


My husband and I have spent the majority of our expat life living in Mexico and Guatemala where the dominant indigenous people are the Maya. The Maya have an incredible culture, history, and presence and I am very excited about sharing the Maya with you.



I have had an ongoing fascination with indigenous cultures and civilizations since my college days when I also had the romantic idea of becoming an adventurous and daring archaeologist discovering ruins of lost civilizations.

With time my practical self took hold and I abandoned this dream. However, I never lost the allure of learning about indigenous peoples and wanting to know who, what, why, and especially how of “disappeared peoples and their civilizations.”

What I really should have been was a social/cultural anthropoligst. But with the wonders of the Internet and on-line knowledge I get to indulge my passion at long last. So if you are ready, let's meet the Maya.


INTRODUCTION

The Maya peoples are a large group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. They inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. The term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of a region that share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage. However, the term "Maya" can also include distinct populations, societies, and ethnic groups that each have their own particular traditions, cultures, and historical identity.





The modern day Maya still live within the boundaries of their old empire in the region that now consists of the countries of Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and five states in Mexico.

There are an estimated seven million Maya living in their original homelands of Mesoamerica and in other countries all over the world. The Maya have managed to maintain numerous aspects of their ancient cultural heritage and yet be very much a part of the contemporary world.

Much of Maya history is shrouded in mystery. It is believed today that the Mayan peoples began to settle in the Yucatan area of what is now Mexico between 2600 and 1800 BC. Their descendants still live across Mexico and Central America with dozens of core urban areas such are found in the lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.





From the late eighth century through the end of the ninth century something unknown happened to shake the Maya civilization to its foundations. One by one the Classic cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned and by A.D. 900 Maya civilization in that region had collapsed. Maya areas such as Tikal in the rain forest of Guatemala went from bustling cities to abandoned ruins over the course of roughly a hundred years.

MY PERSONAL LIST OF SIGNIFICANT MAYAN
ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

MAYAN PYRAMIDS





The Maya city of Chichen Itza contains the Castillo, or Temple of Kukulcan,
one of the most famous and visited Mayan pyramids which is a step pyramid and the most impressive structure of the ancient city of Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico. Constructed around A.D. 1100 the Castillo was constructed over another temple pyramid built 100 years earlier.

The Maya are renown for many, many accomplishments, but in my opinion their grand pyramids stand out as the greatest for me. The Maya constructed temple-pyramids that were the center of their magnificent centers and stone cities. Maybe my fascination with these amazing structures include their grandiose size, their perfect symmetry, and their alignment with sunrise and sunset at particular times of the year.


I have loved visiting them all and I like to think my husband actually started appreciating them while he indulged this fascination of mine. We have visited the following Mayan pyramids in Mexico and Honduras and you will find the links to my blog postings on each of them at the end of this posting: Tikal, Chichen Itza, Palenque, Uxmal, Tulum, and Copan. No cheating! The links will still be there when you have finished reading this posting.

The Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, Mexico is the largest pre-Columbian Mesoamerican stepped pyramid structure which was a funerary monument to the seventh century king Hanab Pakal and one of my favorites because of its beautiful and magical setting.

The tallest Maya pyramid is located in Tikal, Guatemala and dates to the eighth century A.D. before the mysterious decline of the civilization. I loved Tikal and we had the entire complex to ourselves sharing it with the resident monkeys. If you squint you can see a dangling rope to help your climb up the pyramid if you are of that bent. I will definitely pass on that opportunity!





The Pyramid of the Magician is a Mesoamerican step pyramid located in the ancient Pre-Columbian city of Uxmal, Mexico. The structure is also referred to as the Pyramid of the Dwarf, Casa el Adivino, and the Pyramid of the Soothsayer.

The Uxmal pyramid and other monuments were built in the ninth and tenth centuries A.D. and according to Maya legend it was built by the god of magic, Itzamna, as a training center for shamans, healers and priests. The pyramid is considered unique because of its rounded sides, considerable height, steep slope, and unusual elliptical base.

Can you see the gargoyles on the top of this palace roof in Uxmal? What stories these structures could share if only we could hear them!





Having Uxmal to ourselves made my husband very happy since he is not always a great fan of exploring "the rock structures of the old folks" as he refers to my Mayan ruins.


MAYAN WRITING SYSTEM WITH HIEROGLPHS

The Maya writing system is considered by archaeologists to be the most sophisticated system ever developed in Mesoamerica. Hieroglyphic inscriptions were either carved in stone or wood on Maya monuments or painted on paper, plaster walls, and pottery.

              A colorful illustration of a few of the many Maya hieroglphs


The earliest Maya inscriptions found date to the third century BCE in San Bartolo, Guatemala. Maya writing was in continuous use throughout Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest of the Maya in the 16th and 17th centuries.

MAYAN NUMERAL SYSTEM





The Maya numeral system was their system to represent numbers and calendar dates in the Maya civilization. It was a vigesimal (base-20) positional numeral system. The numerals are made up of three symbols; zero (shell shape with the plastron uppermost), one (a dot) and five (a bar). The following link will take you to a detailed explanation of this system since I cannot even start to do it justice:  THE MAYA NUMERAL SYSTEM

MAYAN CODICES BOOKS

                                 Page from the Maya's "Dresden Codex"

                               

The Maya codices (singular codex) are folding books written by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican bark paper. The codices have been named for the cities where they currently reside. The Dresden codex is generally considered the most important of the few that survive.

MAYAN CALENDAR

The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands and in the regions of Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Chiapas in Mexico. The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region dating back to at least the 5th century BCE.

The deity Itzamna is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendar system to the ancestral Maya along with writing in general and other foundational aspects of Maya culture.

MAYANS AND CHOCOLATE

A Maya image on bark "paper" of Mayas drinking chocolate which I consider a "gift from the gods" and for which I am certainly thankful.


The Maya of Central America are believed to be the first to discover cocoa as early as 900 AD. They learned that the beans inside the cocoa pods could be harvested and made into a liquid which would become a treasured Mayan treat. Mayan chocolate was very different than the chocolate we know today.

Chocolate was a liquid made from crushed cocoa beans, chili peppers, and water. They poured the liquid from one cup to another until a frothy foam appeared on top. In fact, the word "chocolate" is said to come from the Mayan word "xocolatl" which means “bitter water.”  The above chocolate "gods" would be too lovely for me to eat, however.


THE FALL OF THE MAYA CIVILIZATION

The last Maya state existed until 1697. No one really knows what caused the collapse of the Maya civilization. For reasons that are still debated the Maya centers of the southern lowlands went into decline during the 8th and 9th centuries and were abandoned shortly thereafter.

The reason for this mysterious decline is unknown although scholars have developed several competing theories. What happened? Some NASA-funded researchers think they have a pretty good idea.

Go to the following link for some fascinating reading THE FALL OF THE MAYA CIVILIZATION from which the following excerpts were lifted:

"They did it to themselves, says veteran archeologist Tom Sever.

The Maya are often depicted as people who lived in complete harmony with their environment, says PhD student Robert Griffin. But like many other cultures before and after them they ended up deforesting and destroying their landscape in efforts to eke out a living in hard times.

A major drought occurred about the time the Maya began to disappear. And at the time of their collapse, the Maya had cut down most of the trees across large swaths of the land to clear fields for growing corn to feed their burgeoning population.

They also cut trees for firewood and for making building materials. They had to burn 20 trees to heat the limestone for making just 1 square meter of the lime plaster they used to build their tremendous temples, reservoirs, and monuments, explains Sever."

So maybe the Maya caused their own decline and not the Spanish conquistadors. May this be a lesson to all of us!


CONCLUSION

The following link will open my large album on the Maya of Mexico and Guatemala.  For best viewing I would recommended clicking on the first photograph and then click on the "burger" in the upper right hand corner and select "view as slide show."  Enjoy!

THE MAYA OF MEXICO AND GUATEMALA PHOTO ALBUM

And last, but not least,  are the links to my previously published blog postings on the Maya ruins of Mexico and Guatemala. Many thanks for joining me on my introduction to the Maya. Until next time, wishing you wonderful travels and excursions wherever they may take you. Laura

THE MAYAN RUINS OF TIKAL

MAYAN RUINS OF PALENQUE, UXMAL, AND TULUM

THE MAYA RUINS OF COPAN, HONDURAS

THE PYRAMIDS INCLUDING CHICHEN ITZA

With my sincere thanks to the wonderful Maya people of Mexico and Guatemala including the above students in Merida who wanted to learn English from a few of us ex-pat women and to the many lovely Maya ladies we met along the way.