Posada Research Paper

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Many cultures celebrate similar holidays, however most cultures have their own traditions that define the importance of their heritage or religious influence. In some cases the celebration embodies both, this is true concerning the traditional celebration of Posada. While the original celebration came from Spain it has become a holiday associated more closely with Mexico and Guatemala. When Spain began to conquer the natives in the America’s its primary objective was to bring Catholicism to the people. This actually came in the form of a directive from the King as a priority to their colonizing new territory. Their religious teachers saw the Posada as a way to help teach the local culture about the birth of Christ. Friar Diego de Soria introduced this tradition in 1578 as an alternative to the Aztec tradition. In December the Aztecs would honor their god Huitzilopochtli with a celebration and since the Spaniard…show more content…
To begin a song is sung to symbolize Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay. In the biblical story of the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph are searching for a place to stay because Mary is going to give birth soon and needs a safe place. Due to the census taken by the government there is no rooms available and they have to keep moving. For the Posada there are people who are walking out in the streets and those in houses which the homes to knock on. They come up to the door and a question and answer song begins. They ask if there is room for them to stay and the people inside answer, no. This continues until they come to the either a church or a house in which they finally find shelter and are allowed to come inside. People will hold candles, sparklers and carry poinsettias while walking around the street. Some traditions still take place in churches, where they just walk around the

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