Beginning in the early hours this morning, this family began making a Xuchile – an altar made from bamboo like strips, lashed to twenty five foot poles, then covered in flowers which are made from the root ball of the agave plant, decorated with juniper branches, and marigolds. It will be walked up the street to the Parroquia today in a parade of even more Xuchiles, dancers, and spiritual groups.
It is an offering to San Miguel, the town’s patron saint, whose birthday was September 29th, but celebrated this weekend. We spent several hours talking with the family about the history of this craft over the centuries.
As the morning progressed, we were invited by Juan, the head Xuchile maker (pronounced soo-cheel-ay) to go into the house and present ourselves to the altar, eat soup and spend some time with his family.
They are working on Calzada Estacion,
An incredibly busy street.
Because of the new highway to Guanajuato
Which has just opened as a ‘shorter’ route to the city,
We now have semis, dump trucks, buses plus very other kind of car
On this once quiet road to San Miguel Viejo and Cienaguita.
Nevertheless, Juan and his crew are not bothered.
By 9:30 am they are this far along.
There is one young woman,
A young man, and Juan Cordova
Lashing this together, weaving agave stem flowers,
Cutting pieces the size and shape they need,
With a machete.
Another woman is making corner pieces
By stripping the stems
Then adding flowers to the top.
Juan is lashing juniper greens
Guiding the process along, making decisions.
The shiny spoon like pieces
Are from the Dasylirion acrotrichum plant,
Locally known as the cucharilla, or little spoon plant.
The woman in the top photo makes these flowers.
She adds each piece, with the stem,
One at a time, each overlapping the previous one,
Weaving the stems into a basket weave,
Holding itself together.
When we arrived,
These two guys were sitting on the sidewalk
Refusing to play their drum and flute for us.
As the morning went by, they moved to the center divider,
Feet in the street, daring the trucks and cars to run over them,
Sleeping in the shade.
We took a little walk to the saturday market at the train station
Where hundreds of horesemen and women from the ranchos
Came riding into the church patio
For pozole, bolillos, pan dulce and cafe de olla
Before riding up into town for the noon mass at the parroquia.
That’s another post though.
Upon our return, and to watch the progress on the Xuchiles,
We were invited downstairs into the patio
Where Juan’s entire extended family
Was eating soup and tortillas,
Playing musical instruments that were made
From the shell of an armadillo.
But the real surprise,
Tucked away in a small room, was an altar to San Miguel,
Pink and silver ballons and streamers hung at the ceiling,
With two large statues on either side, of Jesus on the cross.
There are hand painted waves adorning the wall behind each cross,
Burning candles and copal incense smoking inside sahumarios.
You could barely see the room through the smoky incense,
The side walls lined with family sitting on benches, eating,
Soaking up the smell of the copal, the flowers, the quiet.
On the floor in front of the altar
There are baskets filled with cempzuchitl (marigolds)
Also called cempasúchil, depending on where you are from.
Along with other flowers, candles and copal.
Periodically, several women pass through the room
With more soup, bottles of soda, tortillas.
Meanwhile, outside, more marigolds are delivered,
Juan and his helpers are moving through the work
Which will be done by 3pm
Then gathered on top of the shoulders of about 10 men
To be walked into town for the parade at five.
Even Juan must eat,
Bowl resting on top of his work,
Smiling as he has been doing all day.
Sunday morning:
Before the parade began at 10 am
I went over to photograph the Xuchiles at the Parroquia.
They made their way in yesterday’s parade
From below the bridge on Calzada Estacion
To the church, where they were erected, and will remain this week.
Click on the photo below to view the slideshow,
Which includes a video of the process,
The Altar
The Musicians,
The walk to the parade
And various stills of the completed Xuchiles in front of the church.
CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW FOR THE VIDEO
Copyright, all rights reserved: Suzanne da Rosa 4th Oct. 2009
Thank you. This is a wonderfully informative post. I enjoyed reading it and looking at the photos very much. I am already looking forward to your next post. They seem to be getting better and better all the time.
Bob,
I put the movie of the day up at the bottom of this post – click on the last photo – from the arrival when they were making it, to the making of the flowers, the family altar, the musicians, walking it to the parade start etc… I think you’ll enjoy it.
this looks like a very interesting combination of folk belief and Catholicism.
Wow, I can see you putting together a narrated documentary one of these days. The video is very nicely done. They would say in Sranish that “Estas pintada para esto” or “You are painted for this” meaning that you obviously have the talent for taking interesting pictures and making videos. I know a secret too…most people don’t realize how much personal energy that it takes. I bet you are physically drained afterward.
Funny you should say that (about a narrated documentary) because I’ve been thinking about adding voice to some of them lately- however, it’s a new dimension that will require some thought and figuring out just how to do it and have it turn out as good as the idea sounds.
We’ll see how that goes. I’m enjoying the video/movie editing though. As for the secret – it’s true how much time and energy it takes – especially organizing the movies. I’ve always wondered if you ever sleep, given the amount of research and writing that goes into your blog because I know you do this on top of your work day – you must be driven by it, like I am so that the act of doing it isn’t diminished by basic things like a tired body or mind!
You are so right. Sometimes I spend two weeks researching material that goes into one of my blogs, especially the historical type or the food type that I am about to post. Then, I get one or two comments and sometimes none at all. I don’t do it for the comments though. I do it to learn and to record what I learn and to share it with others no matter be it many or few. Like you, I am a bit compulsive in that regard. I think that there is a bit of an artist in both of us yearning to breath free 🙂