Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Corpus Infanti



A few years ago, we visited some friends who had retired to a village in the Mexican mountains: no jet skis, no parasailing, no mai tais by the pool; in short, not a tourista-type place. While we were there, the local populace had a celebration called "Dia de Los Locos" (the Day of the Crazy Ones). It was great fun, lasted all day and into the night, and a good time was had by all. One of our friends noted that this was the reason he thought many Mexicans were poor: they had a festival every couple of weeks and spent all their money in that fashion. Maybe so, but it WAS fun. Every time I see a story about a festival somewhere, I think of the great people in San Miguel de Allende.
Many such festivals had religious origins, of course, whether to ensure a good crop or sufficient rain or fertility of another kind or seeking forgiveness for transgressions...you get the idea. However, I think the people in Castrillo de Murcia, Spain, have gone off the charts just a bit; more research is needed on this one, but I want to be the first to break the news (after the BBC, of course!)
This past Sunday was the celebration of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ) in the Catholic Church. Normally, there's a procession of the faithful and general adoration of God. Some are more elaborate than others, but I have never seen anyone jumping over babies. Yes, you read that correctly. As you have already seen in the accompanying photo, to celebrate Corpus Christi in this village in Spain, grownups dressed as "Colacho" (the devil) leap over groups of babies who are lying about on mattresses attempting to look casual and unafraid in an attempt to ward off said evil being. Of course, it's not Evel or Robbie Knieval jumping 24 trucks or fountains at Caesar's Palace, but these are real babies, and a miss would be mnore than embarrassing! You're probably thinking it's just a tourist-type thing...maybe so, but it's been going on since 1620! That means that initially, nobody wore Air Jordans for the leap, and there HAD to be more babies over which one must leap...a recipe for disaster if ever there was one! And is your baby safer from the devil if he or she is at the beginning of the pile or at the end when the jumper is tired? I know I'd be asking myself that particular question if Darrell Jr was in the aggregate.
Really, how superstitious (or faith-filled) must a parent be in order to have somebody attempt a flying leap over a pile of babies? My guess is that the jumpers were not exactly sober at the time, either, due to the hideous influence of El Diablo. And why hasn't Spain had an Olympic champion long-jumper? Must we consider a policy in Spain of ZPG? There are definitely mysteries here which bear investigation.
For the time being, however, all babies are safe though some were reported to have messy diapers after the festivities.

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