FRAGMENTS: DAILY LIFE, NUESTRA SENORA DE LA SALUD

Fragment #6 -- A day in Pátzcuaro. When we return to Canada from Mexico we are invariably asked, “What do you do there?”, or, “What would an average day be like?” There is of course no typical day, but the day described here is not uncommon.

Awakened by the sound of bottle rockets at about 5:30 am. Who knows what the celebration - it could be a birthday, but today it is most likely people starting to celebrate the day of San Jose (Joseph, the saint of families, carpenters and many other trades). 10:00 time to head to the plaza for the parade for the first day of spring. All of the pre-school children take to the streets dressed as birds, elephants, trees, butterflies and so on, often carrying signs urging the audience to look after the environment. The parade takes up 5 blocks and the traffic in the centre of town is shut down for 3-4 hours. Just as the adorable kids are beginning to disperse here comes a small procession with an image of San Jose, carried by, and followed by, a dancing group of Purepehca people. What’s this? About 100 motorcycles have roared into town and parked in the main plaza. It appears to be a club of BMW owners doing their spring ride. Lovely bikes and the riders all have matching sweaters identifying their ride. After an ice cream and a quick look around the plaza they take off, following their “staff” leaders. Home for a rest and then out for a free concert of classical music. There is also a free jazz concert that night but leave that for the next day. Walking home around 9:00 pm and the bells of Templo San Francisco are clanging loudly and urgently. It is Friday, the second last before Good Friday , and the regular procession with an image of Jesus is proceeding from San Francisco to Templo Calvario, stopping at the stations of the cross. Next Friday there will be a fiesta at Calvario after the last procession prior to the fateful day. In the distance the sounds of people enjoying themselves flow down from La Loma, a neighborhood up the hill, for whom San Jose is their patron saint. Soon ready for another day.


# 7 Nuestra Senora de la Salud

Living in Patzcuaro, Michoacán necessarily means learning something about Neustra Señora de la Salud, the Virgin of Health. Her home is the Basilica, she is the Patron Saint of Pátzcuaro, a queen - having been crowned in 1899 with the authority of the Pope, the source of much religious tourism and the reason for many special masses and events. But there are at least two things about this Virgin that seem quite special. First, she is the first image of Mary actually made in the new world. Don Vasco de Quiroga ordered her fabrication in 1540 and she was made by the local indigenous artisans who were experienced in working with what is called pasta de caña. As I understand it this is created by mixing the dried and ground central part of a corn stock with pine pitch, giving a substance that can be shaped and even carved. (Her original shape was later altered to allow for the wearing of garments and this is what we now see.)

The other thing that many visitors do not know about the Virgin, is her miracle life. The miracle that interests me here is her saving of the local markets (two blocks from our house) and presumable lives during the 1995 fire. In the section of the market serving hot foods and drinks a propane tank exploded, soon engulfing the surrounding stalls and part of the building itself. People ran in panic and gave up hope of extinguishing the fire (note there is still only a volunteer fire department but one day they demonstrated their ability to put out a propane tank). In this chaos a woman appeared dressed in black clothing - she was unknown to anyone. She approached the fire and put out her hands, demanding the fire to stop. She gradually lowered her hands into the fire. The fire went out. The next day people noticed that the hands of the Virgin of health, located in the Basilica, were a little charred and then, to lend credence to the miracle story, the restorers found they could not remove the darkened parts of her hands.

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.