December, a month full of holidays and fun, is a special time of year for many Spanish-Mexican people of New Mexico and Colorado. From the serenades of Mañanitas Guadalupanas on December 11 and 12, to the nine nights of Posadas leading up to Christmas, plenty of opportunities exist to bring communities together and continue traditions that are hundreds of years old. Luminarias, also called farolitos, are unique decorations that make the holiday season special.
Posadas have their roots in 16th century New Spain (Nueva España) which later became Mexico. The combination of Spanish and Native American skills and designs enriched both communities, including the Mestizo offspring of both ancestries. Popular songs, dances, crafts, foods, and faith blended together. Creative priests and friars came up with charming and imaginative ways to teach people about Christmas such as La Pastorela, a shepherd’s play, and Las Posadas, a simple drama told in song about the events in Bethlehem. Posada means “inn” or “shelter” in Spanish.
In traditional Posadas, children wear costumes and reenact the journey of Mary, Joseph, and a donkey from house to house; in modern Posadas participants typically carry statues. They gather Doingoutside to sing alternating verses until the homeowner lets them in. Once inside, guests and hosts may share food, play games, recite a rosary, or break piñatas.
Traditional piñatas were typically made of clay in the shape of seven-pointed stars. Filled with treats, they were broken during the Posadas beginning on December 16 and ending on Christmas Eve. Over the centuries, Spanish-Mexican people brought the Posadas as a tradition to the northern fringes of New Spain along various Caminos Reales to what would become the southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.
Holidays are celebrated in many important ways, such as with decorations. Long before mass produced reindeer and snowmen, the Spanish-Mexican people of New Mexico and Colorado marked Christmas Eve with bonfires called farolitos, the diminutive of farol. Later, they began placing lighted candles inside small paper sacks filled with sand or dirt.
Do you say farolito or luminaria? Both names are used interchangeably and sometimes as synonyms. However, the dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy (Real Academia Española) distinguishes them as follows:
farol: caja de vidrio u otra materia transparente, dentro de la cual se pone una luz (a glass box or other transparent material with a light placed inside.)
luminaria: luz que se pone en ventanas, balcones, torres y calles en señal de fiesta y regocijo público (a light placed in windows, balconies, towers, and streets as a sign of celebration and public rejoicing.)
In some communities, farolitos or luminarias are lit outside homes hosting a Posada starting on December 16. Later, on Christmas Eve entire neighborhoods may turn off electric Christmas lights and revel in the soft, flickering glow of farolitos and luminarias breaking the darkness. They are lit again by some people on New Year’s Eve to usher in the new year.
These decorations are part of the Colorado Christmas experience, too. They have graced Morrison’s annual “Farolito Lighting and Pinecone Ceremony” in November, Santa Fe Drive in December, and “Las Posadas” on Christmas Eve at the Tesoro Cultural Center.
It is easy for you to make your own farolito or luminaria. Stop by the Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales ideaLAB to pick up a paper bag, sand, and a votive candle, while supplies last. Our staff will be happy to assist you in English or Spanish.
[Public domain photo of luminarias or farolitos in Albuquerque - freeabqimages.com ]