iMOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMLrNITi'— GILLIN 



145 



are so continuously suffering."^ The "conscience" is, 

 . of course, a complex of "acquired drives" of a pun- 

 ishing sort "' which are created within the individual 

 by cultural (frequently religious) training. Such 

 training usually also includes learning of responses 

 (habits or customs) which, if performed by the 

 individual, will lower the anxiety drives and thus 

 relieve him of their punishing effects. In Moche, 

 the "average person" is ignorant of many of the 

 anxieties. 



Fear of hell is not a particular obsession with 

 Mocheros. The living worr}- somewhat about the 

 condition of the souls of their departed relatives in 

 purgatory, an anxiety which is connected with the 

 potential willingness of such souls to intervene on 

 behalf of the living, but such anxieties can be easily 

 lowered by offerings and masses for the repose of 

 the dead. And it is always desirable that burial 

 should be in hallowed ground with benefit of clergy. 

 Finally, many of the problems of everyday life can 

 be referred in a familiar manner to the saint to whom 

 one is devoted. 



Although the church offers fairly simple ritualistic 

 means for quieting the anxieties which it creates, 

 most of these rituals cost money in themselves and 

 also for the peripheral expenses. Funerals, for 

 example, are classified into first, second, and third 

 class, each with its set fee. In a first-class funeral, 

 the priest officiates at the church, at the house, and 

 at the cemetery. In a second-class funeral, he offi- 

 ciates only at church and house, and in a third-class 

 burying only at the church door. Because of the 

 inhibition on approaching the priest for a service of 

 this kind without having the fee in hand, several 

 individuals are said to have been buried without the 

 services of the priest, simply because the family could 

 not raise the money. 



I have never heard women express verbal aggres- 

 sive attitudes toward priests, but they are very 

 common among men, to whom the priest does not 

 occupy a generally respected social status, although 

 his status as a religious officer is never questioned. 



SOCIALIZING FUNCTIONS 



In Moche, religion has certain socializing func- 

 tions. In the first place, the fact that practically all 

 Mocheros are Catholics provides practically the only 

 generally accepted basis gf real, if somewhat vague, 

 unity present in the community. 



®* This generalization is based on notes of numerous conversations 

 and discussions. 



" See Gillin, 1942, and references cited tbere. 



In the second place, the fiestas celebrated in con- 

 nection with the various images in the church build- 

 ing itself, are occasions for general community partic- 

 ipation as well as for effective organization and 

 group activity in the responsible mayordomlas in 

 charge of the respective fiestas. 



In the third place, the church looks with a tolerant 

 eye upon the recreational features of the cere- 

 monies — the feasts, parades, dances, drinking, fire- 

 w-orks, and displays — which, with the passing of 

 time, have become as much a part of the life crisis 

 ceremonies and saints' day celebrations as the per- 

 formance of the holy offices themselves. Puzzled 

 outsiders are often at a loss to understand the hold 

 which the church has over the population of Latin 

 American countries. However, it should not be 

 forgotten that in Moche one may "enjoy himself" at 

 the same time he is "being religious." Devotion and 

 recreation, one might say, are combined, rather than 

 separated into distinct areas of experience. In 

 Moche the religious fiestas are the only activities in 

 which all members of the community may spon- 

 taneously participate and are therefore of importance 

 in promoting a certain degree of social unity. And 

 the fact that they are accompanied by a feeling tone 

 of satisfaction and enjoyment accounts, I believe, for 

 much of the strength of the church among the 

 population. In psychological terms, it is more re- 

 warding to be a Catholic than not to be one or than 

 to be a practitioner of puritanical Protestant patterns. 



RELIGIOUS FIESTAS 



Although there is not a large attendance at Sunday 

 mass, the tcmplo is full of people on the days when 

 the fiestas are celebrated. In general, each fiesta is 

 in charge of a mayordomia, organized as previously 

 explained in the section on Economics (p. 75). A 

 few fiestas, such as that of Nuestro Senor de la 

 Misericordia (which was held on October 20-22), 

 are a charge of a permanent group called an herinan- 

 dad, although these groups are gradually dying out. 



The general pattern of a fiesta is, in outline, as 

 follows. Some days before the central date of the 

 fiesta, the cncargados (those in charge, members of 

 the mayordomia or hennaiidad) pass through the 

 streets, taking up a collection. (See p. 75.) In the 

 night previous to the day of the fiesta, the priest 

 performs the rite of the vispera in the presence of a 

 large crowd. After this the viayordomos, followed 

 by a musical band and carrying paper lanterns, lead a 

 parade out of the church through the streets of the 



