CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO
              by Allan Wall   
          

Mexico has a rich collection of  Christmas customs,  some  from Spain, some developed in Mexico, and some new ones  borrowed from the U.S.A.  
           One aspect of the Christmas season that is prominent in Mexico and other Spanish countries is the “nacimiento”- the creche or nativity scene.  In Mexico  they are often more elaborate than the ones in the U.S.  The nacimiento might include other unexpected features,  like cactus and ducks (I’ve even seen ducks with a halo).  Other  scenes from the life of Christ are included in  some nacimientos. My Mexican wife Lilia  has fond memories of the nacimiento belonging to her late grandmother . The little ceramic statues belonging to that set   have long since been distributed among family members.
           In northern Mexico, the traditional gift-giving occasion is the night of December 24th-25th.     In southern Mexico, the big gift day is January 6th, Epiphany, or more commonly Day of the Magi  Kings,  which  commemorates the  presentation of the gifts by the wise men to the Baby Jesus    The wise men are presented in Mexico as riding on three different animals – a horse, a camel and an elephant! 
                 The Piñata is probably the most famous Mexican Christmas custom, although it is not exclusively a Christmas custom-it is also used  throughout the year at children’s birthday parties.  The piñata is suspended in mid-air and the children hit it with a stick until it breaks, if there’s candy inside it falls on the ground, to the children’s delight .   In the U.S. the most famous form of the piñata is in the form of a donkey.  But in Mexico there are piñatas in many forms.    The most traditional piñatas are big balls, with spikes sticking out.  Originally the piñatas had 7 spikes, each representing one of the 7 cardinal sins, while the piñata represented the devil.   It was a teaching device, used by friars to teach morality.  Breaking the piñata represented defeating resisting temptation and defeating the devil and the candy inside  represented the blessings that result from that victory.
             The Posada is a  musical call-and-response.  Some people are inside and others are outside of the house.  The inside and outside people both sing different parts of a song, with the outside people singing the part of Joseph and Mary asking to stay in the inn, and the people inside sing the part of the innkeeper.  The singers go from house to house until everyone ends up at one house, where the celebration takes place.   A special drink, containing exotic fruits is drunk, and traditional candies are eaten.
          The Pastorela is a special type of Christmas play.  Its history goes back to the Bible dramas of medieval Europe.  The pastorela focuses on the shepherds, (the Spanish word for shepherd is “pastor”).  In the pastorela , the shepherds hear from the angel about the Christ Child, and then they set out for Bethlehem to see Him.  Along the way they encounter  the devil, who puts various temptations in their path  so they will not arrive to see the Baby Jesus.  The pastorela is a type of morality play, since each shepherd is especially tempted by a particular sin.  But they resist the temptations and at the end of the play, they reach the Christ  Child.
                From the gringos  Mexicans have borrowed the Christmas tree and  Santa Claus,and  added them to the Mexican Christmas.
         Christmas trees are popular where I live, department stores sell both artificial and natural trees. In December of  1996, my wife and I were in Mexico City and saw a
gigantic artificial Christmas tree set up in the plaza  in front of the capitol building.  Some might criticize the use of Christmas trees as a foreign influence in Mexico since the practice came from the U.S. But don’t forget that we Americans got the Christmas tree custom from the Germans!
          Santa Claus  is  well-known in Mexico now, and you can see  impersonators around Christmas time.  One Santa Claus I saw in Mexico had on the standard  costume, but his fake beard and moustache were drooping down and his real black moustache  was peeking out! 
                       Just as in the U.S.A., Christmas is very commercialized in Mexico also.   In  the U.S. it seems like every year, the merchants promote Christmas earlier.  That goes on here in Mexico too.  I’ve actually seen Christmas items going   on sale in the month of August.
                                No matter how or where you celebrate it , the most important thing about Christmas is a living encounter with the mystery of the Incarnation – how God became man to save us, though we didn’t deserve it.  And so I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas, or as they say in Mexico –
¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!

 (Allan Wall allan39@prodigy.net.mx is an American citizen who lives and works in Mexico).