Christmas in Mexico - Piñatas

Piñatas are a favorite feature of Christmas parties and Posadas as well as of birthday and Easter parties in Mexico. Though no one knows where or when piñatas originated, they have been used in many countries for hundreds of years. Some say they originated in China and were brought to Italy by Marco Polo. Piñatas became popular all over Europe in the 14^th century and were mainly used in celebrations leading up to Lent.

When Spanish missionaries came to North America, they brought the piñata tradition with them. They used piñatas to attract the indigenous people to their religious ceremonies in hopes of converting them to Catholicism. Interestingly, the Aztecs already had a similar tradition of breaking an intricately carved clay pot that had been covered with feathers and filled with tiny treasures during the celebrations for the god of war at the end of each year. The Mayans also had a game in which a blindfolded player used a stick to try to break a clay pot suspended by a string.

In Mexico, which is predominately Catholic, piñatas traditionally were in the form of seven-pointed stars, which represented the devil and the seven deadly sins. The candy, fruit, and toys inside represent the blessings and goodness of God that the devil is trying to keep us from receiving.

The earliest piñatas were made of clay covered with crepe paper. However, when the piñata was finally broken, the pieces of clay often cut the hands of the children scrambling to retrieve the goodies. To prevent injuries, people started making piñatas from papier-mâché covered with crepe paper.

Though the seven-pointed stars are still popular, piñatas come in many shapes and sizes. There are various animals, people, and even cartoon characters like Winnie-the-Pooh, Teletubbies, and the Simpsons. At a Christmas party I attended this year, one of the piñatas was Patrick, the starfish character from the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon.

The piñata is hung by a rope from a tree branch or from the rafters or ceiling if the event is indoors. An adult pulls on the rope to raise and lower the piñata to make it more difficult to hit. The children are usually blindfolded (to symbolize faith) and are given a stick with which to "beat" the devil (the piñata) and release the blessings. Sometimes, the blindfolded child is spun around several times to disorient him or her even further. The adults and other children call out instructions, often misleading or completely wrong, to the child who is trying to break the piñata.

While hitting the piñata, the following rhyme is commonly sung:

Dale, dale, dale,

no pierdas el tino;

Porque si lo pierdes

pierdes el camino.

Ya le diste una,

ya le diste dos;

Ya le diste tres,

y tu tiempo se acabó

Which translates as:

Hit it, hit it, hit it (or "go, go, go")

Don't lose your aim

Because if you lose it (your aim)

You will lose the path.

You've already hit it once

You've already hit it twice

You've already hit it three times

And your time is over

The children enjoy trying to break the piñata and grabbing the candy, fruit and toys when someone finally succeeds in breaking through the piñata's thick shell. The adults enjoy giving "helpful" suggestions to the child whose turn it is to hit the piñata and singing the rhyme. And, if they are lucky, the children will share some of the "loot" with them!