Day of the Devil - December 7th
December 7th each year is called, "Day of the Devil" or "Burn the Devil Day".
On
this date, people ceremoniously burn a figure of the devil out in the street in
front of their house. They also take trash from their home and place it in a
mound on the street to burn.
<--- "Devils" , just hanging around, waiting patiently to be purchased and
... burned.
Starting at 6 pm sharp, everyone lights the fires . . . right in the street!
Lots of fireworks are also set off and there is general festivity and
pandemonium.
However there is a negative side. The smoke and pollution is incredible, the
dense smoke makes it very difficult to drive and traffic is completely snarled
and in some places, grid-locked. Many children get burned from the fires, and
hurt from the fireworks. In the newspaper there have been constant warnings from
the fireman and emergency rescue about the need for parents to keep their
children safe.
The 3-foot high devil figures are made the same way as they make pinatas here.
The body is a wire frame, covered with newspaper and then colored paper. A
popular variation this year are the 'devils' made to look like "Osama bin Laden.
In Anitgua this afternoon a group had built a 16 ft x 16 ft platform with a huge
Osama bin Laden figure, surrounded by fireworks on all sides. They'll set that
on fire at 6 pm and it should be quite a sight. We make it a point of being in
the house before 6 pm and not going out after that.
Apparently, the idea is that this 'burning of the devil', and taking trash out
of the
house to burn, symbolizes the purifying the house for the Christmas (Navidad)
season. But this is also in a City where the big "city Christmas tree" in the
most prominent place in Zone 10, has the sign of the beer company on the top.
And, many ads show beer bottles as Christmas tree ornaments. Hmm...
The following day, December 8th, is the day for a procession called "Virgin de
Concepcion"
(Immaculate Conception). Large processions, carrying a statue of Mother Mary on
a
platform, are held in certain areas of the City of Guatemala and some of the
larger towns.
Devil day is not 'practiced' by evangelical (protestant) Christians, nor by
those in the more rural villages/areas.
-end-
