Taxco,
Friday, April 14, 2006, 8:18 pm
Hello from Taxco – Experiencing the
Good Friday Processions: An Eerie Yet Strangely Beautiful Experience
My last couple of days in Mexico were approaching fast and furiously.
I packed my overnight bag early this morning and took the 9:15 am
bus to Taxco again. I had already been
here last week for the Palm Sunday Procession
and had decided that I wanted to return to this famous Mexican silver
city to see its famous Semana Santa processions. I sat
back in the comfortable Estrella de Oro bus and let the
Mexican landscape pass me by, reflecting back on my weeks here in
this beautiful country.
Although we stopped in a local village, we arrived punctually at
10:45 am right in front of the Posada
de la Mision, again my comfortable home base for my overnight
adventure in Taxco. I checked in and said hello to Fabiola who had
been so kind last week as to give me a nice
local tour of town last weekend.
I checked in and went for a nice walk through town. Shortly before
noon I sat down on a little balcony on the second floor of one of
the restaurants overlooking Taxco's zócalo (main
square) with a perfect view of the Santa Prisca Cathedral. The local
crowd was already gathering for this procession which is entitled
"Las Tres Caídas" and refers to the three
times that Jesus falls down on his way to his crucifixion.
The noon-time procession on Good Friday in Taxco
My egg breakfast had to wait since the procession started to arrive
and surprisingly they were coming into the town centre from another
street, so I realized I didn't have the best seat in the house after
all. A local family was sitting on the balcony on other side of
the restaurant and had a much better view and I asked them if I
could stand behind them to take some photos of the procession. They
were very gracious and squeezed in for me so I would be able to
get a better view of the happenings.
A throng of people had congregated in front of the Cathedral, and
there was a reenactment of Christ's walk towards his crucifixion.
Several people were carrying a a statue of Christ bearing a cross
on a wooden frame. This statue would be lowered three times to represent
Christ falling three times on his way to his crucifixion.
The whole process probably took an hour or more and after I finished
eating my now cold eggs (not an enticing proposition, I might add)
I headed back to the Posada
de la Misión to catch a bit of rest. The last few days
had been so jam-packed with action that I just needed to regain
my strength a little.
The casket carrying the statue of Christ
At 4:30 I got up again and went to a local Internet café
to check my messages. Again, at 5 pesos per hour (about C$.60) the
price is extremely affordable. Since I only had one memory card
on me for my camera, I was even able to download my images and burn
them onto a CD for another 20 pesos. I must say, I have been very
impressed with the Internet cafés here in Mexico - they are
reasonably priced, you can play online games, listen to music and
even download data and burn CDs.
At around 5 pm I went to Taxco's Ex Convento (the former
convent, now one of the churches in town) where one of the most
famous Good Friday processions in the entire country was about to
start. This procession was called El Santo Entierro (the
Holy Burial, representing the burial of Christ).
The mood in town was downright somber, there were many hundreds
of people in the streets, from small children to the very elderly,
but hardly anyone spoke a word. Many people were dressed in black.
I was waiting patiently under a small ornamental tree right in front
of the Ex Convento to see what would happen next.
Animas
A group of women dressed all in black was lining up and they would
participate in the procession as animas (spirits), part
of the 3 groups of penitentes (repenting sinners) that
participate in Taxco's Easter week processions. The suspense was
getting too much, and finally the procession started. Group after
group of encrucijados (men with a naked upper body, with
a black hood covering their face, and a black robe from the belly
down) were carrying heavy rolls of thorny blackberry bush stalks
with their arms stretched out as if they were being crucified.
The roll of thorny blackberry bush stalks represents the cross
and there were what seemed like hundreds of hooded men that came
out of the Ex Convento intermittently. With this heavy
bundle on top of their shoulders, they would have to bend down to
the main entrance of the church and pay their respects. Each man
had three other helpers accompanying him for safety purposes. They
proceeded to walk slowly towards the Santa Prisca Cathedral.
One of the encrucijados
The women, dressed all in black as animas, meanwhile,
were walking barefoot as well, and they were also wearing black
hoods, their legs were shackled with a chain and in each hand they
were holding a candle. Much of the way they would be walking bent
over. All you heard was the shuffling of the chains along the cobble-stoned
streets.
The third group of penitentes is called flagelantes, these
are men, again hooded, with a naked upper body, barefoot and with
a black robe from their mid-section on down. These men were all
carrying a heavy wooden cross and a whip made of rope that had little
nails embedded in the end section. And with this whip they were
flagellating themselves every time the procession came to a stop.
Some of the men carrying the thorn bundles already had scabs on
their back from being flagelantes earlier in the week.
Flagelantes, carrying their crosses
Some of these flagelantes even came out of the Ex
Convento already with a bloody back and the procession would
still go on for two or three more hours. Again, the atmosphere in
the town was extremely eerie, everything was quiet, traffic had
been blocked off, there was no music anywhere, hardly anyone spoke.
A total contrast to the normal lively ambience in Taxco.
I watched this until about 6:30, there were literally hundreds
of animas, encrucijados and flagelantes coming
out of the Ex Convento to participate in this procession and I have
to admit I felt quite overwhelmed by this extremely realistic re-enactment
of pain and suffering.
At one point I left the procession and walked into the town which
was eerily quiet with no street vendors or street life of any kind.
I felt I had to get away from this scene of black hooded people
who were intentionally inflicting pain on themselves. In Taxco this
is a time-honoured ritual, but when you are not used to this kind
of demonstration it does have an impact on your psyche.
Self-flagellation
I decided to grab a dinner in one of the pizzerias overlooking
Taxco's main square, right next to the Cathedral. The building was
about 4 stories high and the top two stories were part of the restaurant
with the top portion holding the kitchen and a partially open terrace.
It was a beautiful place with a perfect view of the Santa Prisca
Cathedral, the Zócalo, and the landscape stretching south
from Taxco, overlooking the rooftops of the city. I sat down by
myself and reflected on all the images that had been burning themselves
into my retina. No doubt the Easter week processions in Taxco are
a very unique and strangely esthetic special event.
In some ways these processions remind me of a bullfight, both of
these rituals share a long tradition, they involve suffering and
blood, and they are both an integral part of the psyche and the
identity of the locals, while foreigners may feel overwhelmed by
these experiences.
Beautiful lily with Santa Prisca in the background
I for one found it was difficult to remain totally emotionally
detached and the image of all these people in black robes, black
hoods, shackled, carrying heavy thorn bundles or flagellating themselves
until their entire back is bloody no doubt affected me. I heard
that there was going to be another procession tonight at midnight,
with almost everyone dressed in black, holding candles, again including
the penitentes.
At this point I realized I just didn't have the psychological stamina
to head out for another one of these processions, no less at midnight,
by myself, when everything is dark and the atmosphere is even more
eerie. So I decided to spend a quiet night in the hotel, reflecting
on these visual experiences.
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Hello from Taxco - An eerie experience: Visiting
Taxco's famous Good Friday procession
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one of the penitentes and enjoying my last day in Mexico
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