The steady sound of drums from down the street filled the house from where we were staying.
It was nearly ten in the evening.
Leaning out the window I saw drummers, then some young men carrying a tarp full of fire, followed by altar boys carrying lanterns, then the people from the neighborhood mostly dressed in white were carrying candles that they had decorated with flowers and ribbons. A priest, led the neighborhood's parishoners, carrying a large Paschal Candle to the square around the corner to the church.
For the last forty days the church's altar has been covered in a purple cloth.
Before the neighborhood parishioners entered the church, the purple cloth of Lent was taken down… Symbolizing that the time of sacrifice and grief are put aside, with birth and joy taking over.
Winter has passed and Spring arrives.
I have seen many crosses these last few days in Merida, most of them have been a simple wooden cross with a piece of fabric drapped across them. I was told that the Catholic Maya rarely have Christ on the Cross.
A colorful Yucatan cemetery.
At a cemetery near Merida candles and fresh flowers were on the graves.
I noticed that though the tombstones, crosses, and other symbols of grief and death were old- Though the writing on the graves were often re-painted black and recent.
One of them in particular struck me… a baby blue cross with a childlike necklace draped over it. Inside the relic-holder gravestone: A whistle, a clay formed hand from a statue, gum, and a lit candle rest.
"The Maya exhuming their family members, due to the custom of taking the bones out of the grave after two years in order to make room for future burials, this is because of the limited burial space in Yucatan cemeteries."
In an old Yaxcopoil Hacienda a large canvas painting,
of Christ Taken From the Cross, hung.
The Yaxcopoil Hacienda is a mixture of European and Mexican architecture and design (More about that later next week.)
Signs of Christianity are easy to find in Mexico. In a small roadside "snack-bar" Elizabeth and her daughter served us a handmade tortilla quesadilla. On the back wall I noticed a makeshift altar on the shelf above the sink.
Fresh flowers, the typical green fragrant herbs carried at Easter, a candle, and a childlike relic of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I asked Elizabeth, "Who is the Saint in the picture?" She said, "It is Saint Martin."
I looked at Chelsea and blinked.
On an altar in the chapel at the Yaxcopoil Hacienda, instead of Christ on the Cross sat front and center a Yucantan Statue of a man with a straw hat and a purple cape. Next to it was a statue of Jesus pointing to his Sacred Heart.
"We are one in the heart of God", is what it said to me.
Colorful, playful decorated skulls… plenty of them, everywhere in Mexico. I asked the taxi driver why? He said, "We are not afraid of death. We make fun of it." I looked surprised, and repeated, "Fun? Are you not sad too?" And he replied, "In our culture we are taught that death is another chapter, a better chapter, and we are not afraid of a happy future that death will provide. We are not making "fun" of death as you would think, maybe it is better to say we tease it (in objects of art) knowing it cannot harm us."
As we drove to the Mayan ruins of Uxmal I thought about the symbols of death in our culture and how they do not often speak of happiness, but of sadness.
"Didn't Easter teach me anything?" I wondered.
Happiness and sadness can sit side by side. One doesn't always eliminate the other.
The mostly abandon Hacienda Uayalceh in the Yucantan surprised me. After walking around taking photos (which I will share in the days to come) in the 100 degree heat, I found the door to the chapel. In front of the door was the chapel's bell rope. I pulled it not expecting it to ring, though it did.
I rang it for each person in my family and uttered a prayer. Then I thought to myself, "Now that was a pleasant surprise, maybe the door to the chapel is open too?" I pulled on it and sure enough it opened.
Immaculately prepared for Easter.
The Paschal candle holder was waiting… expectantly.
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On the same note but with a different melody…
Last week when my nieces dressed up for the Vintage Easter Parade (A few blog posts back), I bribed my five year old nephew to dress up too….
May the Message of Easter Bring You Joy!
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