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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



Minor Societies 



Daughters of Mary {Hijas de Maria). — The 

 Daughters of Mary is a society made up of un- 

 married girls. Its function is vague, though dur- 

 ing Church processions its members wear blue 

 sashes over their shoulders and carry lighted 

 candles. 



Catholic Action {Accion Catolica). — This so- 

 ciety is composed of girls of marriageable age. 

 It was recently founded by Father Tovar and 

 has as its purpose the propagation of the Catho- 

 lic faith. Like all other Church organizations, 

 it has its president, secretary, and treasurer. 



The Catechists {Las Catequistas) . — This is a 

 small society for teen-age girls directed by the 

 priest and led by his two youngest nieces. The 

 purpose of the members is to teach the Catholic 

 doctrine to children of less than 7 years of age. 



Propagation of the Faith {Propagacion de la 

 Fe). — This society for men has as its purpose 

 the propagation of the Catholic faith. It appears 

 to be moribund. 



The Cord of San Francisco {La Cuerda de 

 San Francisco). — This is an organization for 

 small children. Their fathers have certain finan- 

 cial and ceremonial obligations which are deter- 

 mined by the priest. 



The Tuesdays of San Antonio {Los Martcs de 

 San Antonio). — This was a society for women. 

 It ceased to exist when the image of San Anto- 

 nio de los Martes was destroyed with the parish 

 church. Members went each Tuesday, lighting 

 candles in front of the image of San Antonio, 

 and asking for anything they desired, not infre- 

 quently a sweetheart. 



THE CEREMONIAL YEAR 



The people of Tzintzuntzan, like those of all 

 other Mexican towns, organize and participate 

 in a series of fiestas and observances. In some 

 of these, such as that of the Rescate, the relig- 

 ious elements find strong competition from the 

 commercial, and for some people may be sub- 

 ordinate. In others, such as the activities of 

 Easter Week, the religious theme, though inter- 

 twined with social and recreational motives, 

 clearly is dominant. Some of the observances 

 involve few people, and produce no significant 

 slackening in the pace of work, while others 

 are the excuse for a week or more of "vacation" 



for everyone in the community. Except for the 

 observances of Independence Day and the an- 

 niversary of the founding of the Municipio of 

 Tzintzuntzan, already described, all have suffi- 

 cient Church background so that they are best 

 discussed as a part of the total religious picture. 



EPIPHANY (JANUARY 6) 

 (D'la de los Santos Reyes) 



Observances of the New Year are lacking in 

 Tzintzuntzan, so the first event of the ceremonial 

 calendar is the dramatization of the visit of the 

 Three Kings to the Christ Child. This rite takes 

 the place of Christmas festivities, which are al- 

 most entirely absent. In the afternoon a proces- 

 sion winds its way through the village, led by 

 a 14-year old girl on horseback, clad in white 

 and carrying a staff with a white paper star. 

 On foot follow three choir boys in black, and 

 then three mounted youths, dressed to represent 

 kings, with false whiskers, colorful robes, and 

 oriental turbans. Finally come a dozen young 

 girls dressed as gilares, wearing traditional Ta- 

 rascan costume. 



Father Tovar is on hand to see the proces- 

 sion off. "Regional dancing," he explains to 

 us, and then to the sacristan, "Go now and pass 

 by every corner in the town. I must go to visit 

 a sick person." The procession lasts about an 

 hour, periodically stopping for the girls to 

 dance. Perhaps 200 spectators follow behind. 



CANDLEMAS (FEBRUARY 2) 

 (La CandeJaria) 



Formerly in the giiatapera there was a fiesta. 

 Now there is nothing except the Mass at which 

 candles are blessed, to be used when a person 

 is dying. 



FIESTA OF NUESTRO SEIZOR DEL RESCATE 



Every Mexican village which has any claim 

 to size or importance has one fiesta which is 

 larger and more interesting than those of the 

 remainder of the year. Ordinarily it is the pa- 

 tron saint who is so honored. Although Tzin- 

 tzuntzan has a fiesta for the patron, San Fran- 

 cisco, it deviates from the usual pattern in that 

 the big celebration of the year is in honor of 

 a painting of Christ, known as Nuestro Seiior 



