At Navidad, one of the main decorations you see in Mexico is the Christmas Star Piรฑata. Even after being here for 20 years, we didn’t realize there was a meaning behind this 7 spiked star until our friend and cafe owner Ivette of Lola y Moya mentioned it the other day.
The original Christmas piรฑata is shaped like a star with seven different points. Each of the points represents one of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, anger, envy and pride. The piรฑata’s bright colours are meant to attract you to these sins.
The stick used to break open the piรฑata is a symbol of goodness or virtue to overcome the seven deadly sins. And the blindfold the person wears, while using the stick to break open the piรฑata, represents blind faith, guided by a higher power to destroy evil. The breaking of the piรฑata is a symbol of good triumphing over evil. The candies and toys inside the piรฑata represent the riches of the kingdom of heaven.
Traditionally, a piรฑata is filled with candy and small toys. It is strung high above a yard or street on a rope that can be pulled to raise or lower the colourful paper machรฉ star. As the children swing a stick like a baseball bat, trying to hit and eventually break open the piรฑata, the adults playfully raise, lower and swing the piรฑata while onlookers sing โDale, Dale, Dale,โ the traditional piรฑata song. You can hear it here and sing along!
Spanish
Dale, dale dale
No pierdas el tino
Por que si lo pierdes,
Pierdes el camino
Ya le diste uno
Ya le diste dos
Ya le diste tres
Y tu tiempo se acabo
English
Hit it, hit it, hit it
Don’t lose your aim
Because if you lose it
You will lose your way
You hit it once
You hit it twice
You hit it three times
And your time is up
When the piรฑata finally splits open, candy and toys scatter over the ground. The kids clammer to grab the colourful prizes.
We here at InPuertoMorelos.com and Casa de los Viajeros, hope that you have a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas from our home in Puerto Morelos to yours!
