For nine days before Catholic Christmas, a number of Latin American countries celebrate posadas — Christmas holidays. The celebration is intended to remind believers of the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem before the birth of Christ. Posadas — an important part of the religious, cultural and social life of Mexico. Their history goes back to the period of evangelization of Mexico after the arrival of the Spaniards.
One of the first missionaries, the Augustinian monk Diego de Soria, requested permission from the Pope to organize nine masses in the days leading up to Christmas. Diego de Soria relied on local traditions. During these days, the Aztecs in Central Mexico held major festivals dedicated to their god of war, Huitzilopochtli. The Indians also had another custom - to buy a slave, who during these nine days was supposed to portray the god Quetzalcoatl. According to their beliefs, Quetzalcoatl descended to earth to mortals during holidays in remembrance of the old sun. After nine days, the slave was sacrificed in honor of the Moon, and on that same day the appearance of Quetzalcoatl was celebrated in all the temples. Augustinian monks decided to replace the characters of the holidays in order to displace the Indian gods and pagan beliefs. The ceremonies themselves were preserved, but the missionaries gave them a Christian meaning. The celebrations served as a preparation for believers to accept Jesus into their hearts on Christmas Day and spread Christian messages.
Performances were performed along with the masses. The monks organized performances to more clearly convey the gospel story to the Indians. The performances depicted the hardships and difficulties that the Virgin Mary and Joseph experienced on the road until they managed to settle down for the night in a stable in Bethlehem. These nine performances and the composition of the posadas cycle. They start on December 16 and end on December 24, Christmas Eve.
After the end of the masses, they celebrated the holiday with music, set off fireworks, lit lights, performed villancico and, of course, broke a piñata.
In the 18th century, the celebration of posadas, xfromya, continued to be held in churches, took to the streets, to the central squares of urban areas and into homes. Church chants are complemented by folk songs and dances.
Breaking a piñata is one of the most popular traditions during posadas in Mexico. Classic piñata — a large toy made from a clay pot of impressive size, covered with colored paper and glitter. Its traditional form — a seven-pointed star, and each ray represents one of the main sins. The piñata must be broken with a pole representing the power of faith. The piñata is broken by trial and error, since the participant in the ceremony is blindfolded. After the pot is broken, sweets and fruits fall out of it — as spiritual rewards and gifts for victory over sin. Gifts are offered to all those present.
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In modern Mexico posadas — family holiday. They have the opportunity to be held every day in different houses, if the family is large, and during the holiday all the relatives gather. Neighbors living on the same street or in the same block can organize holidays. During the 9 days of the holiday, people pray and sing Villancico with religious content. The hosts of the holiday treat guests to punch, sugar cane, oranges or tangerines, and in addition give a bag of sweets and peanuts as a gift. Piñatas full of fruits and sweets are always present.
In some places, the tradition has been preserved to hold the holiday in the courtyard of the parish church, so that all residents of the town would come there. Representatives of the clergy choose from among the residents who are responsible for each day of the posadas. Consequently, nine families organize nine days of celebration. Families provide hospitality to guests — They treat everyone who comes with fruits, sweets, drinks and light snacks. This requires a lot of effort and resources, but such responsibility is very honorable. For this reason, people dispute among themselves the right to become the organizers of the holiday.
The ceremony itself goes like this. People gather in a procession, accompanying the “sacrament” — statues or people dressed as Joseph, Mary traveling with a donkey, and an Angel. The procession moves on, chanting litanies and villancicos, until it comes to a house where they ask for shelter. The people inside also sing songs. At first they tell the strangers to have shelter, but then, when they find out that it is Joseph and Mary, they let the whole procession in, singing “Come in, holy strangers.” After this, the Rosary is said and it is time to break the piñata. The hosts treat guests to punch.
Nowadays, the name “posadas” has spread to any festive events, even of a secular nature, taking place from 16 to 24 December. Nowadays, many Christmas parties are also called posadas, and modern piñatas are made in any shape — in the form of objects, people and living things, and not just stars.
Based on ¡It's all Mexico!