DANCING AT THE ALTAR

After a short while in Mexico it is hard to believe there was a time when the Catholic church prohibited dancing in the church grounds or even the grave yard. In fact, according to Barbara Ehrenreich (2007), there were many attempts to stop festival dancing in the event that it might lead to an uprising. The Spaniards also did this when they arrived in Mexico to find a strong tradition of ritual dancing and mask wearing. So it was with some surprise that I saw private dancing in the church. We were exploring the large and beautiful church in Nuevo San Juan, Michoacan, when an older couple began doing a simple dance step towards the alter. They took a couple of steps forward and one backwards and were doing a version of the step familiar to most Mexicans. They were then followed by a young man carrying a child doing the same dance.

What was this about? Ralph Beals, in his 1940 anthropological description of Cheran, Michoacan, (not far from Nuevo San Juan) gives us some answers. He reports that a great many Tarascans (Purepechas) have a strong belief in the miraculous powers of the Christ image in San Juan Parangaricutiro (a town destroyed by a volcano in the 1940s and relocated as the village of Nuevo San Juan). Associated with this belief was the ritual of dancing at least part way to the church upon entering the town to make pilgrimage. (Usually around September 14). If one laughed at those dancing they risked becoming paralyzed and then must dance to become cured. Others danced within the church or in front of the alter and this ritual was thought to cure illness.

I think it is clear that it is a version of this previous belief system and ritual that was witnessed in 2009. If anyone knows how extensive this practice remains it would be great to hear from you.

PS. It should be said that other forms of ritual dancing in the church are not uncommon. I have witnessed the Moors entering the church with their band, being blessed by the priest and then dancing. On another occasion the viejitos did the same thing and on another the viejitos and the Moors entered the church and remained in the centre aisle through the service and then danced outside. Indeed the Moors almost always enter the church to experience the mass and then go through the church at the end of the dance (to symbolize their conversion in my belief). Even the Mojigangas (giant figures of about 15 feet) have been seen dancing in the Basilica. We have also seen the Curpites, joined by their band, dance in front of the altar.

LOS CABALLITOS DE CUANAJO

Having observed events of the day of dead in Pátzcuaro for four years and each time am so overwhelmed by the richness and complexity of the week that I have not known what to say. This year we attended a small event that needs to be described. This was the caballitos of Cuanjo, an event we had no idea of what to expect.  Arriving in the village we asked where the caballitos where and everyone knew and pointed us down one of two streets. Not knowing how we would know if we found the house it became obvious when we saw the flowers surrounding the door. We where encouraged to go into the house while some family members continued to onload refreshments and other goods. On entering the house it became clear what we had stumbled into. A baby had died during the year and before us stood the first ofrenda for the child. I am assuming that the child had not yet gone to "heaven" as she had died young, so this was an important part of the cycle of transition for the baby and the family.

The ofrenda had many of the elements of others in the region. A tall display of wild flowers surrounded an image of the virgin of nativity and on the lower table-like structure was a photo of the baby surrounded by fresh fruit. The room we had entered had a dirt floor and open walls and the ofrenda was surrounded by wooden planks on which family members would spend the night. The distinctive feature of this ofrenda, and where it derives it name, where the nine little wooden horses (caballitos) in front of the ofrenda looking towards the viewer. These each stood about 15 inches high and their legs formed a trestle on which where hung food items (squash, corn, apples, oranges, bread) and more wild flowers. Each also had a burning candle and the horse on the left carried a wooden cross. When asked the family member attending to our querries said the horses where to carry the items to the next life. The baby was now going to heaven and would feel at home.
While I am an outsider to this it seemed to me that in other ofrendas the spirit of the dead is thought to return on November 2 and the ofrenda is there for the spirit, the candles to act as a guide, and the family spend the night to be with the ancestor. The loved one is not gone for ever but just resides in a different state and place and returns once a year. For the child, however, the day was one of transition, a transition to that other form and place of life. The child would be expected to return the next year and the usual ofrenda would be constructed in the home and the cemetery.
This was a moving experience partly because of the clear objectification of beliefs.

Here is another example of the "little horse" from Santa Fe da la Languna. the tradition came from Cuanajo probably through intermarriage.  The tradition of Santa Fe is to use what I call small spirit houses for dead children (you can just see the corner of one on the same grave).  You can clearly see the horse on the grave and loaded with flowers and gifts of food.