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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 6 



mother and left another tray with bread. The 

 godmother then divided this bread among all those 

 who were present, by which action they considered 

 themselves invited to the wedding, and obligated to 

 help by contributing brandy, cigarettes, or food for 

 the wedding feast. The following day the mother of 

 the bride-to-be sent j)ieces of the bread she had re- 

 ceived to the houses of friends, similarly inviting 

 them and asking their help. Thus the projiosed mar- 

 riage was formally accepted and plans could con- 

 tinue. 



In other cases the family of the boy has been 

 known to ask the active intervention of the 

 priest to strengthen its cause, particularly if 

 relations between the two families are not too 

 cordial. In each case the actual procedure of 

 asking probably varies a good deal owing to 

 special circumstances. The fundamental aspect 

 which sets it apart from the "stealing" is that 

 the girl's parents signify their formal approval 

 of the proposed match, and cooperate in all 

 details of the wedding. 



Stealing, on the other hand, is resorted to 

 when there is little hope of parental approval, 

 or when it is feared that parents may propose 

 a long delay before the wedding. The boy, who 

 has previously arranged the details with the 

 girl and obtained her consent, takes advantage 

 of any opportunity which may present itself to 

 get the girl away from her home or parents at 

 night. He may run with her to his own home, 

 or that of a godfather, or in extreme cases flee 

 to the hills for the night. He will almost al- 

 ways count on the cooperation of his age mates 

 to carry out the robbery successfully. They 

 will be expected to inform the boy's father, in 

 case he does not return home, of what has hap- 

 pened so that the father can carry out his part 

 of the sequence. Next night the father is ex- 

 pected to go to the home of the girl, accompa- 

 nied by the boy's baptismal godfather, and, tak- 

 ing brandy and cigarettes, to ask pardon for 

 what the boy has done and to obtain permission 

 to continue with the wedding. Customarily the 

 girl's father will appear to be very angry, but 

 finally he accepts the fait accompli and gives his 

 consent. 



Sexual relations normally begin the night the 

 girl is stolen, and, should the girl remain thence- 

 forth in the home of the boy, continue during 

 the period preceding the religious ceremony. 

 Should the girl return home after the civil mar- 

 riage the youth is allowed to visit her only 



during the day, and when others are in the same 

 room. 



The next act in the sequence is to arrange 

 the civil marriage, which takes place as soon 

 as possible, often the Sunday following the 

 elopement. Ideally, parents of both young people 

 should come, as well as all of their godparents, 

 and especially the baptismal godparents. In 

 some cases, however, if the girl's parents have 

 actively opposed the elopement, they will not 

 come. The ceremony itself is prosaic. The 

 municipal president reads a standard civil act, 

 the data are recorded, and the couple and two 

 disinterested witnesses sign the register. High- 

 lights of the civil acts are the statements — in 

 large part in opposition to the teaching of the 

 Church — that marriage is a social (as contrast- 

 ed to religious) contract, that it is dissoluble 

 either through death or divorce, that it is the 

 only moral way of establishing a family and of 

 propagating the human species, that the husband 

 must protect and care for the wife who, in turn, 

 owes him obedience and must treat him with 

 veneration. 



After the civil ceremony the couple must visit 

 the priest in the company of parents or god- 

 parents for the "presentation," or announce- 

 ment of intent to wed, to receive formal Church 

 approval for the new union (since they are not 

 yet considered married by the Church) and to 

 arrange for the banns. Banns must be read on 

 three consecutive Sundays during Mass before 

 the religious ceremony can take place. 



Sometime during the interval between the 

 civil and religious ceremonies the boy's father 

 or godfather will ask a friend to serve as mar- 

 riage godfather to the new couple. Also during 

 this period the couple will go to Patzcuaro with 

 the boy's parents and, perhaps, the baptismal 

 godparents to buy wedding clothing and foods 

 for the wedding feast. 



The formal blessing of the union by parents 

 and godparents may take place on the day of 

 the civil ceremony, if there is a fiesta after- 

 ward. Often, however, it will occur during a 

 small gathering on the night before the Church 

 ceremony. Parents and baptismal godparents 

 of both young people ideally should be present. 

 Lacking any of these, other close relatives, or 

 godparents of confirmation may substitute. Boy 

 and girl kneel together on a petate in front of 



